The UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), began a string of thematic days on 4 December with Finance Day, followed by Energy Day on 5 December. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) covered selected events on both of these days.

To coincide with Finance Day, a high-level panel addressed the escalating challenges and opportunities related to climate-resilient infrastructure investments for developing countries, with speakers discussing strategies for bridging the substantial investment gaps in sustainable infrastructure. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Adaptation Gap Report 2023, which was discussed during the event, finds that adaptation costs for developing countries during this decade are between USD 215 billion and 387 billion per annum, while international public adaptation finance flows to developing countries were around USD 21 billion in 2021, representing a 15% decrease compared to 2020. 

Ministers from Botswana and Indonesia spoke during the event, highlighting, respectively, that 60% of Botswana’s national budget goes to infrastructure development, with 7% dedicated to infrastructure for climate resilience, and Indonesia is working to restore two million hectares of degraded peatlands, which store carbon.

Representatives from the Volvo Group and the African Development Bank (AfDB) also spoke, noting that:

• the Volvo Group aims to decarbonize its business operations towards net-zero emissions and make 35% of its products electric by 2030;
• the AfDB is partnering with others on the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa to unlock up to USD 10 billion for green infrastructure projects, with USD 175 million in pledges made at COP 28; and
• the USD 25 billion Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, launched in 2021, is the world’s largest adaptation programme. 

The event was organized by the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment (UN-SPBF).

Another UN-SPBF event convened on Energy Day, during which a high-level leadership dialogue focused on unlocking investment flows and harnessing the power of industry to advance renewable energy development in socially just and inclusive ways. Genilson André Kezomae, a Brazilian Indigenous rights activist, underscored that Indigenous Peoples, by law, must be consulted when renewable energy resources are being developed on their lands and recognized as the owners of the water that runs through their land.

Other speakers highlighted:

• partnerships with local stakeholders and tailored solutions while pioneering new technologies, such as low-wind speed projects in the UAE;
• diversity in energy systems and the possibility for a gradual transition to a decarbonized energy grid in the next couple of decades;
• the key role of investment at scale to unlock the potential for renewables in Africa and the ability of pooled energy funds invested across countries to achieve economies of scale;
• the essential role of copper and mineral industries in decarbonizing, with the copper industry committed to achieving net zero by 2050; and
• the need to put Indigenous communities at the heart of renewables by providing them with jobs and energy and ensuring their full participation in social and economic development.

Another 5 December event was organized by Women Engage for a Common Future, part of the Women and Gender Constituency, which coordinates the Gender Just Climate Solutions (GJCS) Awards presented annually at the COP. The GJCS Awards, first presented at COP 21, bring together environmental defenders drawing on gender equality and women’s rights approaches to combat the climate crisis through gender-just and locally driven solutions. The year 2023 saw the greatest number of applicants – 973 applications from 90 countries.

During the awards ceremony, the Technical Solutions Award went to the architecture charity AzuKo for the project, ‘Build for Safety: Women Contributing to Climate Resilient Housing in Bangladesh,’ which is empowering more than 300 women to construct climate-resilient houses in a male-dominated building sector, utilizing eco-friendly design and local materials. 

The Non-technical Solutions Award was presented to the Paran Women Group in Kenya for a project that focuses on improving water and food security, including establishing kitchen gardens, organic briquette making, native tree planting, beadwork, medicinal herb collection, and beekeeping to generate alternative income sources.

The Transformational Solutions Award was presented to Baithak – Challenging Taboos and Doosra Dashak – Foundation for Education and Development, for the ‘Feminist Framework for Gender Equitable Climate Disaster Response’ project, a framework tool for policymakers and practitioners to prioritize the specific needs of women and girls, emphasizing their reproductive health, well-being, and safety during crises. The framework tool emerged from the unique experiences of women and girls living in conflict areas and aims to end gender-based violence, which is also prevalent during war and conflict.