São Paulo – The minister of International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates and CEO of Expo City Dubai Authority, Reem Al Hashimy (pictured above), said that the local authorities are working to deliver a meaningful, relevant, and inclusive edition of COP. The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), which will occur from November 30 to December 12, is expected to bring together more than 70,000 participants at Expo City, the legacy venue of Expo 2020 Dubai.
Al Hashimy, the force behind the bid that brought the World Expo to the Middle East for the first time, highlighted the symbolism of the city hosting the event. “The spirit of the Expo was action-oriented, and it was very global. So, what better forum to bring people together to try to find solutions in a collaborative way and host a COP, especially at this time?” she expressed.
Amid the preparations for COP28, Reem Al Hashimy gave an interview to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), a partner of ANBA, in which she spoke about the event, Latin America’s participation and cooperation with Brazil about COP30.
WAM: Could you explain how symbolic it is for Expo City to host COP28 later this year amid the need for international cooperation to tackle climate change?
Al Hashimy: It is incredibly symbolic for the Expo site to host COP once more. As you know, the Expo Site during Expo 2020 was able to bring 192 nations together. We got a little over 24 million visitors to come to the Expo in the span of six months, and we were able to do that while collectively battling a global pandemic. So, it is something I am incredibly proud of and incredibly grateful for the people of the UAE, and since we closed, which was in March of 2022, we have been preparing how we transition from an event into a city. And as we have gone through that transition into a city, one of the main things we looked at is how we remain true to the spirit of the Expo, the spirit of collaboration. One of our sub-themes was sustainability. The spirit of the Expo was action-oriented, and it was very global. So, what better forum to bring people together to try to find solutions in a collaborative way and host a COP, especially at this time? The global community is truly struggling with climate challenges, and we are hopeful and optimistic in a practical way that we are a very solution-driven COP and that we will be able to bring people together to find those solutions and scale them accordingly.
How is Expo City preparing to host COP28?
In many ways, we are doing things similar to what we did during the Expo, but in many ways, a COP is very different from an Expo. So, for example, there is an allocated Blue Zone, which is only for accredited UN officials, and then there is a Green Zone, which is open to the general public. We are making sure that our delivery, operations, and programming continue to be meaningful and relevant and, most importantly, inclusive. So, we want to bring people from all around together to solve these challenges. So, you would see students on set. You would see university professors, interns, entrepreneurs, ministers, and activists. We want to be open to anybody who has a voice and wants to add to how we can solve for the problems of the future.
What do you expect as an outcome of this COP to the UAE – and the world?
COPs are processes that are built on consensus. So, it is less what we want and more what the international community will decide on and, very importantly, agree on. What we have put forward, which remains so important, is how do we maintain the ambition of keeping 1.5 degrees alive? That is so important for our planet’s health and the livelihoods of the people living on the planet. But we also know that it is going to be incredibly important to increase renewable energy for people all around the world so that they can have access to energy. We also strongly believe that we need a just energy transition so that people who are reliant on fossil fuels find other alternatives as energy sources. And, of course, there is climate mitigation and adaptation, and the most important pillar, at least through our lens, is climate financing. How do you support communities in reaching their development goals by still maintaining or allowing access to the necessary finance for them to build a climate-conscious environment?
You have recently visited Latin America this year – the last time for the Amazon Summit in Belém. What do you expect from Latin American countries at COP28 – and specifically about Brazil?
The countries of Latin America have a very strong voice. In many ways, the countries of Latin America, at least eight of whom I have seen when I was in Belém, are the custodians of the Amazon. They also represent the indigenous communities that take care of this nature-based solution. As you have always heard, the lungs of the entire planet. So the delegations from Latin America are delegations that are going to come, I believe, not only with an important focus on nature but also with an important focus on entrepreneurship and technology because what I have also learned in my trips to several countries in Latin America, including the Caribbean, that many local solutions exist that need support for both financing but also for scale. And I think if we start being more solution-driven to try to address a localized context, not something that works here would work there, something that is designed for a particular built environment, we will be able to learn from each other, and we will be able to advance more progressively forward. I visited Brazil three times in 2023, so a lot more than three times. And I think what always impressed me about Brazil is the sense of innovation that I found in the industry there. So, the business community, the entrepreneurship community, and the technology community are a risk taker. They are very practical and solution-oriented, they are great to be around, and they also have very ambitious goals for their own communities. I think that has added to the type of conversations that I have been having with them or that we, as the UAE team, have been having with them. It also speaks of much promise for the future because the UAE and Brazil do have a strategic and special relationship that we are committed to growing and deepening further.
What investment and cooperation opportunities could be developed in the short term between the UAE, Latin America, and the Caribbean?
There are several thematic focuses which we would like to go into. Renewable energy is key, so how do you provide clean, accessible renewable energy to communities? That would be one important pillar. Infrastructure is very important for us. As you have seen in the UAE, we have worked very hard on developing high-class infrastructure that helps support business growth. Whether it is roads, bridges or airports, those are really important elements for us that we look at a lot. We are interested in transportation. So, if it is ports or connecting different access points to one another, that is also a big interest of the UAE, and we look a lot at technology as well. How do we support technology that is driven to solve some of the challenges that we all face? And, again, the big “S” word, how do you scale that both in your region and ours?
Brazil is hosting COP30 in Belém, the city you visited in August. How can the UAE collaborate with Brazil, having COP30 in sight?
When we were in Belém, we offered the Brazilian team an opportunity to embed the Brazilians in our preparation for a COP if that is something that they want. To not only look at some of the complexities that exist but also to look at some of the operational delivery angles because, for the very first time, the COP that is happening in the UAE will have the Green Zone and the Blue Zone next to each other. And the idea of doing that is we do not want teams to be in separate vacuumed chambers. They need to know what the other person is saying, so we are hoping that we can create a little bit of pollination, cross-pollination where you have people from the Blue Zone walking 50 feet into the Green Zone and attending a lecture by a young student who is speaking about an innovation that she was able to do for her own school community, for example.
So I think that Brazil’s global leadership, but particularly its leadership in the countries of the South, and particularly as it begins to prepare to host COP30 in 2025, will bring a very practical, homegrown response to climate action, and because we are at the doorstep of the Amazon, a clear sort of understanding of what we all have to lose if we lose our nature-based solutions which exist.
And I think in that regard, Brazil is also very forthcoming about finding new businesses and scaling them. When President Lula visited the UAE in April, and as Brazil prepares to host the G20 next year, and of course, as Brazil is an active member of the BRICS, there are just so many touch points that we find a natural partnership with them.
The Minister of Environment of Brazil, Marina Silva, has been in office since the beginning of the year. How do you see her work?
She is phenomenal! I met her briefly in Belém. I met her with the Brazilian Minister for Indigenous People, with whom I also had the pleasure of sharing a meal – the second time I went to Brazil. The third time I went, I met them both.
I think we need all voices committed to positive change to be brought forward. She has a depth of insight that will enrich the COP discussions here on the Expo site. I also think that when you combine different profiles of people, you bring the indigenous, the minister, you bring them from Africa, and you bring them from South America, you bring them from Western Europe, you bring them from the Arab world and Asia – across the different spectrums, whether they are like I said, entrepreneurs or Ministers or farmers, you complete the picture. And then, all of us are responsible for responding to the complete picture, not our own version of the truth, but how the truth in its entirety responds to my life and your life and that of our children. And I think that the inclusivity angle, and we are very committed to the indigenous presence and voice in the COP when they come, will add an angle that we need to look at carefully and integrate into our larger policy making.
Interview by Pablo Relly & Renan de Souza
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
