Amy, Qahir, welcome.
Amy, to you first:
What are your impressions of COP 28 so far?
What are the some of the big themes that are coming out?
Well, the major news for us is the news around the loss and
damage fund because we hear from so many—especially
small—countries that are facing real climate vulnerabilities
that having the financing they need to respond to adapt has
been the most significant barrier.
So we're really, really pleased to see that progress. And of
course we're pleased to see just the excitement and energy level
of stakeholders from around the world. Qahir, are you seeing
that as well, that energy, that excitement?
Do you think as well that climate migration is high enough
on this year's agenda?
The excitement and agenda is clearly there.
The issue of climate migration is not high enough on the
agenda.
I think we need to bring it up.
We've done a lot of thinking and analysis and discussion around
assets and net zero and emissions.
But the people dimension is so critical, and we need to bring
that up into the discussion.
I mean, when I asked Qahir that question, your eyes went...Yes,
I'm nodding, I'm nodding, Yeah, I think we agree.
Yeah, it's not high enough on the agenda. 100%.
I mean, we know over 20 million people were displaced last year
because of climate-related disasters.
We know the number of people living in vulnerable communities
is in the hundreds of millions, and we're just not talking about
it enough.
So we're glad that there is some talk about it.
Admitting we have a problem is the first step, right?
But now we need some action to help communities adapt.
Tell me about the action that you're doing, UN International.
Yeah, there are a couple of angles.
First, it's what we call solutions for people to stay,
right?
So most people don't want to leave.
They want to be able to stay at home, to make a living, to have
a future for themselves and for their children.
So wherever we can build infrastructure, work with
communities to adapt to the jobs of their future, that's number
one.
But number two is really solutions for people to move.
Right now we're not hitting the green climate goals because we
don't have enough people to do the jobs.
So, and that's thanks to work that you all have done.
We recognize that migration is actually part of the way we
solve the problem.
What role, to that then, does the private sector have to play,
Qahir? A huge role.
I think that we are seeing a deficit in the number of people
willing to do jobs, and migrants come in, and if their training
is right, if the industry is playing its role, you'll have
companies hiring migrants to take these jobs.
And that's where the change will happen.
This is the most exciting piece of the work because we actually
see inherent in the challenge, so inherent in the displacement,
is actually a solution: enabling people to get access to the
jobs, enabling people to migrate safely so that they can
contribute to the goals that we're all trying to reach.
Amy, Qahir, thank you so much.
It's a pleasure.
Thank you.