SCOTLAND will be represented at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates at the end of the month.
Humza Yousaf has confirmed he will be attending the international climate conference in Dubai alongside Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition Secretary Mairi McAllan (below).
The First Minister said it will provide an opportunity to highlight Scotland’s commitment to addressing the twin crises of climate and nature as a “good global citizen”.
Yousaf has called on world leaders to take greater action and provide loss and damage funding for countries suffering the worst impacts of climate change ahead of the event which starts on November 30.
He is set to be joined by delegation of Scottish companies from across a variety of sectors including renewable energy.
Yousaf said: “COP28 provides an opportunity to underline Scotland’s commitment to being a good global citizen and making a constructive contribution to addressing global challenges such as the biodiversity and the climate crisis.
“The Scottish Government will use COP28 to call on all to urgently step up to address the injustice at the heart of climate change by supporting those communities who are suffering the most but have done the least to cause climate impacts, including through our leadership on loss and damage.
“That is why the gathering of the global community at COP28 is so important. Only by working together can we meet the need and urgency of the task that lies ahead. We simply do not have time to work alone when it comes to our just transition to net-zero.”
He added that COP28 would allow the Scottish Government to advance international relations and build partnerships.
“It’s also an opportunity to attract investment in strategic net zero sectors in Scotland,” Yousaf said.
Former FM Nicola Sturgeon (below) announced an additional £5 million of funding from Scotland to tackle loss and damage at COP27 last year, taking the country’s commitment to address the issue to £7m.
The EU’s climate chief Wopke Hoekstra said this week a UN-level agreement on a Loss and Damage Fund to compensate vulnerable countries for natural disasters caused by climate change opens the way for higher climate mitigation goals at the COP28 summit.
The fifth meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Transitional Committee on Loss and Damage concluded on Sunday with agreement on a list of recommendations for implementing funds, which will be taken forward at COP28.
Once up and running, the fund will provide particularly vulnerable countries with funding to support recovery from the impacts of climate-related disasters such as floods and droughts.
