Cop26: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed meets US secretary of state

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation is leading the UAE delegation

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation at the Cop26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. AFP

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, met US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on the sidelines of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.

During the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah and Mr Blinken discussed the longstanding historic relations between the UAE and the US, as well as regional and global issues of mutual concern.

Sheikh Abdullah, who is leading the UAE delegation at Cop26, emphasised the strong and strategic UAE-US relations and the continuous co-operation development in all fields between the two sides.

Also at the meeting were Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and the UAE's special envoy for climate change, and Mariam Al Mheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment.

Dr Al Jaber also met US climate envoy John Kerry on Wednesday, when they took part in a session organised by the American think tank, the Atlantic Council, alongside the Kenyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rachel Imamu, and Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE special envoy for climate change, centre, with Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, left, John Kerry, US climate envoy, right, and Raychelle Omamo, Kenya’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, far right, at Cop26 in Glasgow. Photo: @uaeclimateenvoy

Writing on Twitter, Dr Al Jaber said they discussed "the importance of investing in climate initiatives that are inclusive and financially sustainable, and [how to] reduce emissions without affecting economic growth".

Earlier this year, the UAE launched a bid to bring the Cop28 climate summit to Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Abdullah said if the UAE were confirmed as hosts, the goal would be to make Cop28 “as inclusive and action-oriented as possible, a Cop that brings together developed and developing countries and unites all sectors – public, private, academic and civil society – around a focus on tangible solutions".

Day four of Cop26 - in pictures

Rishi Sunak, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, holds his green box at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, before a meeting a group of finance ministers. PA

Indigenous leaders in ceremonial dress gather at the McLennan Arch in Glasgow Green to march to the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, announcing their arrival at the Cop26 summit. PA

Rishi Sunak delivers a speech to Cop26 delegates. Getty Images

Police officers guarding an inflatable Loch Ness Monster at Govan Dry Dock after it was seized in a dawn raid in Glasgow. PA

Police and demonstrators at a Extinction Rebellion protest on Buchanan Street, during the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. PA

Mark Carney, the former Bank of England governor, speaks to a TV crew at the summit. PA

A quote from a message delivered by Britain's Queen Elizabeth to the Cop26 Summit taking place in Glasgow is displayed at Piccadilly Circus in London. AFP

Alok Sharma, president of Cop26, makes his point. AP Photo

Indigenous Amazon delegate Romancil Gentil Kreta wears a Cop26 branded face mask. Reuters

Delegates arrive for another day at the summit in Glasgow. AP Photo

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivers a speech at the opening of Finance Day at Cop26. AFP