DUBAI - United Nations climate talks here kicked into high gear on Dec 1 with about 140 world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, gathering for a summit meant to accelerate global climate action.

During the two-day, high-level World Climate Action Summit, at the start of the two-week talks, leaders will spell out their actions to tackle climate change.

These include renewable energy investments, new finance pledges and calls for greater urgency in global efforts following what is set to be the hottest year on record scarred by a series of catastrophic weather disasters.

The United Arab Emirates is hosting the negotiations, called COP28, which are due to end on Dec 12.

Delegates from nearly 200 nations are tasked with agreeing on a deal in Dubai that will put the world on a safer path.

But that deal needs to spell out a clearer transition away from fossil fuels, accelerate investment in green energy and a massive ramp-up of finance to pay for the green transition, especially in poorer nations. Many poorer nations remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels and do not have the money to quickly shift to green energy without support.

In a boost for COP28, UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed announced a US$30 billion (S$40 billion) climate fund for global climate solutions at the start of the leaders’ summit.

The fund, called Alterra, is designed to bridge a wide climate finance gap – with a focus on transforming emerging markets and developing economies – and aims to stimulate US$250 billion of investment by 2030, he said.

In his opening address, Britain’s King Charles told world leaders the dangers of climate change were no longer a distant risk, and urged them to take more action.

“I pray with all my heart that COP28 will be another critical turning point towards genuine transformational action,” he said, in reference to the 2015 UN summit held in France that adopted the landmark Paris climate agreement.

Mr Modi called for a fairer global deal to tackle climate change, including the transfer of green technology and more climate finance.

He said India supported a tripling of renewable energy by 2030, which is one of the key goals of COP28. The UAE is hoping the talks will lead to a global agreement for tripling of renewable energy generation to 11,000 gigawatts by 2030.  

The Indian leader said poorer nations were bearing the brunt of a century of economic development driven by rich nations.

“We do not have much time to correct the mistakes of the last century. Over the past century, a small section of humanity has indiscriminately exploited nature,” he told the summit, urging all leaders to act responsibly. “We have to succeed. We have to be decisive.”

He also said India planned to host COP33 in 2028.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that earth’s vital signs are failing. “Record emissions, ferocious fires, deadly droughts and the hottest year ever.”

“We are miles from the goals of the Paris Agreement – and minutes to midnight for the 1.5-degree limit,” he told the summit, referring to one of the Paris Agreement’s key goals of limiting average global warming to 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels.

“But it is not too late. You can prevent planetary crash and burn.”

And he had a strong message for the fossil fuel industry: “Your old road is rapidly ageing. Do not double down on an obsolete business model. Lead the transition to renewables.”

Language around phasing out fossil fuels, the burning of which is the main cause of climate change, has long been resisted at UN climate talks.

But COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber has said fossil fuels must be part of any final climate deal negotiated over the next two weeks. Dr Al Jaber, the UAE’s special envoy on climate change, is also head of Abu Dhabi’s national oil company.

The talks received a major boost on the opening day on Nov 30 when delegates approved a global fund to help pay for climate disasters suffered by poorer nations, many of which are facing worsening floods, storms and droughts that are draining their economies and ruining the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.

The early adoption of the loss and damage fund, to be initially hosted by the World Bank, quickly attracted initial pledges of about US$549 million.

But that is a far cry from the climate-related damage that is expected to cost developing countries between US$280 billion and US$580 billion per year by 2030.

The Brazilian president called for more investment in renewable energy.

“The world is already convinced of the potential of renewable sources of energy. Now is the time to face the debate about the slow motion pace of the decarbonisation of the planet, and to work towards an economy that will be less reliant on fossil fuel. We have to do it, and in a way that is urgent and fair,” he said.

The Alterra fund, created in partnership with global asset managers BlackRock, Brookfield and TPG, has committed US$6.5 billion in investments, and India will be an early focus.

“Immediate capital investment has been earmarked for the development of over 6GW of new clean energy capacity in India. This includes the construction of 1.2GW of wind and solar projects that will begin producing clean power by 2025,” the COP28 presidency said in a statement.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also pledged to spend £1.6 billion (S$2.7 billion) on climate projects, including £500 million to tackle deforestation.