The Banking Executive Magazine - October 2023

COP28 Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Min- ister of Industry and Advanced Tech- nology, and COP28 President, told Presidents of the world’s biggest de- velopment banks that “we need more ambition, we need trillions not billions,” to fix climate finance. Speaking at a virtual meeting, at- tended by Presidents of 9 multilateral development banks (MDBS), and Managing Director of the Interna- tional Monetary Fund (IMF), Dr. Al Jaber said, “Addressing climate fi- nance is a cornerstone of the COP28 Action Agenda.” Dr. Al Jaber told the MDBs they have already made “good progress” on re- form, including an endorsement by shareholders of a new vision for the World Bank: to create a world free of poverty on a liveable planet. But with less than a month until the start of COP28, now was the time to show “more ambition, we need tril- lions, not billions. We are pushing shareholders to adequately recapi- talise MDBs, but we also need MDBs to do better,” Dr. Al Jaber said. The COP28 President outlined his main asks for MDBs ahead of COP28. He said, “I have three asks for you, MDBs must work through country platforms, revise climate fi- nance targets for coming years, and lower the risk for the private sector. the BANKING EXECUTIVE 24 ISSUE 178 OCTOBER 2023 COP28 President: MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS NEED TO WORK FASTER TO ADDRESS CLIMATE FINANCE