The Abu Dhabi Global Market ('ADGM') announced, on 27 June 2022, that along with the international banking group, BNP Paribas, it had co-authored a white paper entitled 'UAE and the Energy Transition: Towards COP28'. In particular, the ADGM stated that the paper formalises a discussion between prominent business leaders who had attended a roundtable on the topic in the UAE back in November 2021, noting that the paper, along with discussions with private sector partners, aims to set the scene for a more collaborative approach on defining how to achieve net-zero goals ahead of the UAE's hosting of COP28 in 2022. In this regard, the ADGM highlighted that key findings from the paper include: 

• increased focus on public-private sector collaboration, a lack of which was noticeable in COP26, which caused global negotiations to be referred to as 'fragile agreements';
• governments and regulators' role in ensuring effective reporting of climate action, establishing clear and achievable rules and guidelines in order to make actors more accountable and reduce the risk of greenwashing; and
• the criticality of financing with regards to transition, in relation to which it was noted that a toolkit should be made available, which includes government incentives, support from regional Sovereign Wealth Funds and ESG-dedicated financial institutions, and a carbon tax scheme supported by an active carbon credit trading market. 

Notably, the ADGM emphasised that it will continue to host knowledge-sharing activities with key stakeholders in the UAE in the lead up to COP28.

You can read the press release here and the paper here.