Colleagues and friends.
My deep thanks to His Majesty The King for honouring us with his presence in Nairobi, the centre of action on the environment, and for launching the Sustainable Markets Initiative back in 2020.
We are meeting ahead of the COP28 climate summit. And ahead of the third round of negotiations on the treaty to end plastic pollution, taking place in Nairobi in a few weeks. These are two important moments when the private sector can step up on the triple planetary crisis: the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss, and the crisis of pollution and waste.
Tomorrow, UNEP releases new research that shows the adaptation finance gap is growing bigger, not smaller. By not financing adaptation to climate change, we are leaving vulnerable populations to face the savagery of extreme weather impacts without any shield. Policymakers, multilateral banks, investors and the private sector must make COP28 the moment that the world commits to innovative action on financing to protect low-income countries and disadvantaged groups from climate impacts.
The private sector also must engage fully on plastic pollution – which damages nature and human health and warms the climate. A strong deal can deliver a cleaner environment, decent jobs, lots of R&D and new business opportunities for early movers. But we need the private sector leading, not following, on the creative redesign of products and investment.
Friends,
At the Africa Climate Summit, hosted by Kenya and the African Union, Kenya’s President William Ruto spoke about the need for an “audacious leap frogging”. The Summit generated US$23 billion for green growth, mitigation and adaptation across Africa. This is progress.
We also see the private sector engaging with the UNEP Finance Initiative on low-carbon and nature-positive investments. Banks representing 45 per cent of global banking assets are signed up to the UN Principles for Responsible Banking. The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance has investors committing to align their portfolios with a 1.5°C pathway.
Still, commitments and promises have yet to turn into cold, hard investments in the right places at the right level at the right time. And that is what events like today’s – alongside strong leadership at CEO level – must change.
