Gordon Rayner
Fri, 10 November 2023
Mr Jafar says business must be 'at the table and not on the menu' if the summit is to be more than just a 'talking shop' for politicians - Dave M Benett/Getty Images
Environmentalists must drop their “capitalism equals bad” attitude and embrace business if next month’s Cop28 climate summit is to stand any chance of success, a former oil industry boss who is helping host the event has said.
Badr Jafar, who is chairing a business and philanthropy forum at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, said business must be “at the table and not on the menu” if the summit is to be more than just a “talking shop” for politicians.
Eton and Cambridge-educated Mr Jafar, who is a former president of UAE-based Crescent Petroleum and former chairman of Pearl Petroleum, said previous Cop summits had failed to reach their goals because “business has not been properly engaged in the process”.
Only by working with industry, private finance and philanthropists will the world be able to find the £2.5 trillion estimated annual cost of reaching Cop28’s stated net zero goals of trebling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, he insisted.
He told The Telegraph: “Business can’t be seen as something that’s acted upon - it has to be acted with, so we need to make sure that business is at the table and not on the menu.
“For far too long the climate conversation has been seen through the lens of activists equals good and capitalism equals bad. And this needs to change if business is going to be a big part of the solution.”
The then Prince of Wales is given an award at the Accounting for Sustainability conference by Mr Jafar during a Royal tour of the UAE in 2016 - Arthur Edwards/Getty Images
He added: “We’ve all witnessed over the years the flip flopping by various governments with warring political parties playing ping-pong politics with climate policies, and some even pushing net zero off the cliff to suit domestic agendas. The constant failure of many nations to abide by climate finance pledges is also a reason that we can’t simply rely on pledges.”
For the first time, a Cop summit will have business and philanthropy embedded in its agenda, reflecting what he describes as “an all hands on deck moment”.
“It’s clear we are way off track [on climate goals],” he said. “If we continue aiming for linear progress, we’re simply not going to get there.” Instead, he said, an “exponential shift” is needed in green investment which will only happen if businesses, rather than just politicians, are driving it.
More than 500 chief executives and philanthropists will attend the summit, along with representatives of King Charles III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mr Jafar also accused critics of the decision to host Cop28 in Dubai, which has built its wealth on oil, of “childish finger pointing”.
He said: “To solve our world’s biggest challenges we need less preaching and finger pointing and more extending hands with cooperation”, adding that people needed to “look in the mirror” and ask themselves whether they were “actually helping the situation as opposed to playing self-interested politics”.
In recent days there has also been criticism of the decision to invite Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, to the conference given that he has caused huge environmental damage with bombs and chemical weapons in his country’s ongoing civil war.
Mr Jafar said the guest list was in the hands of the UN and that all signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, including Syria, were automatically invited.
‘I’m 12 and I advise the UN on climate change’
Noah Eastwood
Fri, 10 November 2023
Madhvi Chittoor has been selected to join a team of young advisers to the UN
The United Nations is hiring advisers as young as 12 to consult on climate change as the “Thunberg effect” takes off.
Madhvi Chittoor, 12, skipped school to attend climate rallies after watching a documentary on the impact of plastics on the Pacific ocean.
At the age of seven, and with the help of her parents, she published a book called “Is Plastic My Food?” on Amazon and last year she was selected to join a team of young advisers to the UN.
Ms Chittoor is one of a growing number of young people advising world leaders on climate change.
Iranian-American Sophia Kianni, 21, has a CV that could well be one of LinkedIn’s most enviable.
Sophia Kianni, 21, says ‘meeting the Pope was an unparalleled experience’ - Sophia Kianni
The Stanford University student is an adviser to the UN, a co-chair of a working group at the World Economic Forum and has a seat on the advisory board of Lady Gaga’s non-profit organisation, as well as almost a dozen others.
And that’s to say nothing of her frequent appearances alongside international A-listers such as Deepak Chopra, Malala Yousafzai and even Pope Francis.
Ms Kianni became an overnight sensation in 2019 when, at the age of 17, she skipped high school lessons to attend a hunger strike led by Extinction Rebellion at politician Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washington D.C.
Ms Chopra, who was the youngest activist present, explained that she joined the protest to take “a stand for the pressing environmental and societal issues” and that she felt it was her “duty” to attend.
“I believed that my actions would ultimately contribute to a larger conversation,” she said.
Soon afterwards, in a column for Teen Vogue, she made a call to action for other teens around the world to follow her example.
In 2020, after founding Climate Cardinals, a youth organisation that translates information about global warming into different languages, she successfully applied to join the UN’s Youth Advisory Group.
The panel is made up of seven young people who volunteer from different UN countries and serve two year terms, making recommendations about how to fight climate change to Secretary-General António Guterres, according to the UN website.
Mr Guterres described the members in March as having completed “tireless work throughout their two-year term to bring youth perspectives directly to me”.
At the end of her term, Ms Kianni stayed on at the UN and explained that her work is voluntary. Her typical day outside of the UN is “spent on Zoom” hosting meetings with firms like Google and Unicef to “discuss strategies and brainstorm on new climate projects”.
She broadcasts her visits to international summits and conferences on climate change with her over 137,000 followers on Instagram and in June was invited to meet Pope Francis at a festival celebrating World Environment Day in Rome.
“Meeting the Pope was an unparalleled experience,” she said.
He told her that “we have a responsibility before God to protect the earth” which she believes is “under constant attack from devastating effects of climate change”.
‘Thunberg effect’
In 2021, Anandita Sabherwal, a doctoral student at the London School of Economics, wrote a paper analysing the phenomena of children who have copied the actions of Greta Thunberg and missed lessons to protest about environmental issues.
Ms Chittoor says she was inspired by the famous activist.
Greta Thunberg, centre right, is seen as setting an example for many young people
Noah Eastwood
Fri, 10 November 2023
Madhvi Chittoor has been selected to join a team of young advisers to the UN
The United Nations is hiring advisers as young as 12 to consult on climate change as the “Thunberg effect” takes off.
Madhvi Chittoor, 12, skipped school to attend climate rallies after watching a documentary on the impact of plastics on the Pacific ocean.
At the age of seven, and with the help of her parents, she published a book called “Is Plastic My Food?” on Amazon and last year she was selected to join a team of young advisers to the UN.
Ms Chittoor is one of a growing number of young people advising world leaders on climate change.
Iranian-American Sophia Kianni, 21, has a CV that could well be one of LinkedIn’s most enviable.
Sophia Kianni, 21, says ‘meeting the Pope was an unparalleled experience’ - Sophia Kianni
The Stanford University student is an adviser to the UN, a co-chair of a working group at the World Economic Forum and has a seat on the advisory board of Lady Gaga’s non-profit organisation, as well as almost a dozen others.
And that’s to say nothing of her frequent appearances alongside international A-listers such as Deepak Chopra, Malala Yousafzai and even Pope Francis.
Ms Kianni became an overnight sensation in 2019 when, at the age of 17, she skipped high school lessons to attend a hunger strike led by Extinction Rebellion at politician Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washington D.C.
Ms Chopra, who was the youngest activist present, explained that she joined the protest to take “a stand for the pressing environmental and societal issues” and that she felt it was her “duty” to attend.
“I believed that my actions would ultimately contribute to a larger conversation,” she said.
Soon afterwards, in a column for Teen Vogue, she made a call to action for other teens around the world to follow her example.
In 2020, after founding Climate Cardinals, a youth organisation that translates information about global warming into different languages, she successfully applied to join the UN’s Youth Advisory Group.
The panel is made up of seven young people who volunteer from different UN countries and serve two year terms, making recommendations about how to fight climate change to Secretary-General António Guterres, according to the UN website.
Mr Guterres described the members in March as having completed “tireless work throughout their two-year term to bring youth perspectives directly to me”.
At the end of her term, Ms Kianni stayed on at the UN and explained that her work is voluntary. Her typical day outside of the UN is “spent on Zoom” hosting meetings with firms like Google and Unicef to “discuss strategies and brainstorm on new climate projects”.
She broadcasts her visits to international summits and conferences on climate change with her over 137,000 followers on Instagram and in June was invited to meet Pope Francis at a festival celebrating World Environment Day in Rome.
“Meeting the Pope was an unparalleled experience,” she said.
He told her that “we have a responsibility before God to protect the earth” which she believes is “under constant attack from devastating effects of climate change”.
‘Thunberg effect’
In 2021, Anandita Sabherwal, a doctoral student at the London School of Economics, wrote a paper analysing the phenomena of children who have copied the actions of Greta Thunberg and missed lessons to protest about environmental issues.
Ms Chittoor says she was inspired by the famous activist.
Greta Thunberg, centre right, is seen as setting an example for many young people
- Dylan Martinez/Reuters
The young protester, who lives in Colorado, began missing school to attend climate change marches after seeing Greta Thunberg’s protest in Sweden. “Greta Thunberg inspired me,” she said.
“I participated in many climate rallies at the state capital. I missed school for those rallies.”
In February last year, Ms Chittoor took part in a programme that saw a group of children work with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
She said she helped write a questionnaire that the UN sent to children around the world asking their views on climate change.
The survey was used to produce an unofficial “children’s global charter” which demanded nations and businesses “pay large fines to make up for pollution” and repair damage caused to the environment.
“I shared the survey with many students in my school and I also organised workshops,” she said. “I suggested that the UN give a certificate to every child who participated. Each child can cherish that and feel proud about their contribution.”
Ms Sabherwal explains that “social identification” is responsible for the Thunberg trend “which is basically when we relate to a certain person and we try to do things that they are doing.
“Climate activism appeals to young people and is a general and universal phenomena.
“Because she [Ms Thunberg] is such a relatable figure, she was setting an example for many young people and teenagers.
“This is why she is such an interesting leader. She always in her speeches talks about ‘we’ and mentions her ‘generation’ as a group rather than singling herself out.
“These grassroots movements have been popping up in many parts of the world because they have set a norm that we want to conform to.”
Ms Sabherwal added that this is “leading to more young people feeling like they can be effective” by becoming climate activists.
The young protester, who lives in Colorado, began missing school to attend climate change marches after seeing Greta Thunberg’s protest in Sweden. “Greta Thunberg inspired me,” she said.
“I participated in many climate rallies at the state capital. I missed school for those rallies.”
In February last year, Ms Chittoor took part in a programme that saw a group of children work with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
She said she helped write a questionnaire that the UN sent to children around the world asking their views on climate change.
The survey was used to produce an unofficial “children’s global charter” which demanded nations and businesses “pay large fines to make up for pollution” and repair damage caused to the environment.
“I shared the survey with many students in my school and I also organised workshops,” she said. “I suggested that the UN give a certificate to every child who participated. Each child can cherish that and feel proud about their contribution.”
Ms Sabherwal explains that “social identification” is responsible for the Thunberg trend “which is basically when we relate to a certain person and we try to do things that they are doing.
“Climate activism appeals to young people and is a general and universal phenomena.
“Because she [Ms Thunberg] is such a relatable figure, she was setting an example for many young people and teenagers.
“This is why she is such an interesting leader. She always in her speeches talks about ‘we’ and mentions her ‘generation’ as a group rather than singling herself out.
“These grassroots movements have been popping up in many parts of the world because they have set a norm that we want to conform to.”
Ms Sabherwal added that this is “leading to more young people feeling like they can be effective” by becoming climate activists.
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