Another COP has come to an end. This year, once again, The Bridge Tank’s board members hit the ground running for what was an action-packed two weeks in Dubai. We take a look back at COP28 and our board members’ contributions on site.
Lead picture from left to right: Raphaël Schoentgen, Founder & CEO, Hydrogen Advisors, board member of The Bridge Tank ; Claire Martin, VP Sustainability, CMA CGM, board member of The Bridge Tank ; Amadou Maiga Mahamadou, Deputy Managing Director, Banque agricole du Niger ; Joel Ruet, Chairman of The Bridge Tank ; Abdoul Razak Baraze Saida, Director of Study Credit and Partnership, Agriculture Sector, Banque agricole du Niger. Our other board members present at COP28: Judit Arenas & Martha Delgado Peralta. See below for more.
Human rights, gender inclusivity and urban development
Our board member Martha Delgado Peralta, former Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shared her experience and that of Mexico on a diversity of priority topics for a sustainable and inclusive climate action. She notably took part in a side event organised by UNFPA, WHO, & United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner on the “Road to ICPD30: Enhancing Rights-based NDCs and Integration of Gender-Transformative Approaches” (left picture).
At the COP, Martha Delgado Peralta was recognized for her commitment and leadership as first President of the UN-HABITAT Assembly from 2019 and 2023. Her tenure significantly contributed to the implementation of New Urban Agenda of UN-Habitat, defending the rights of inhabitants and promoting the sustainable development of cities around the world (right picture).
Supporting change makers
For our board member Judit Arenas, of APCO Worldwide, COP28 was another opportunity to support change makers from around the world taking action to build a more sustainable future. One of these change makers was Calixto Suarez Villafañe, an advocate for indigenous peoples and leading figure of the Arhuaco indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia.
This year’s subjects of interest for Judit Arenas also included two new topics of the COP’s agenda, namely conflict matters – notably through the contribution of the Munich Security Conference to the COP, as well as trade, to ensure a climate-smart growth and greater supply-chain resilience. Other topics on the agenda were the water, food and climate nexus and the need for integrated health and climate action.
Ocean sustainability & blue economy
Our board member Claire Martin, VP Sustainability, CMA CGM, was involved in a number of panels and side events dedicated to the sustainability of ocean resources on COP28’s Ocean Pavilion, notably a panel on “Return on Ocean Investment: Building the Ocean Investment Protocol” by UN Global Compact and the Ocean Stewardship Coalition and another on “Blue Economy and Finance.”
Claire Martin presented the efforts undertaken by CMA CGM in accelerating a transition towards a sustainable use of ocean resources, i.e. financing the decarbonation of vessels and fuels, fostering cooperation among different stakeholders, supporting research, using nature-based solutions to preserve biodiversity of operation sites, and engagement with local communities.
Energy transition and carbon pricing
Raphael Schoentgen, Founder & CEO, Hydrogen Advisors, and Joel Ruet, Chairman of The Bridge Tank, attended a side-event organised by the Task Force on Carbon Pricing in Europe, presided by Edmond Alphandéry, former Minister of the Economy, France (see The Bridge Tank’s participation in the Task Force) – and the think tank The Climate Overshoot Commission, presided by former World Trade Organization Director General, Pascal Lamy. The side event addressed the challenges of “coping with global warming and reducing the risk of a warming climate.”
The side event was an opportunity for Joel Ruet and Raphael Schoentgen to reunite with Edmond Alphandéry, who had interacted with The Bridge Tank on multiple occasions, notably to discuss carbon pricing, and Lord Adair Turner, Chair of the COP26 Energy Transitions Commission, whom Joel Ruet had engaged with at the Summit of Minds 2021, ahead of COP26.
