The Cop27 Egyptian presidency and the City of London Corporation are to join forces to host a Net Zero Delivery Summit in May.
The summit will seek to ensure the financial services industry can strengthen its commitment to keep global warming to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels.
The date is the halfway point between the end of Cop27 in Sharm El Sheikh in November and the Cop28 meeting in 2023 in the UAE.
It will bring together leaders of finance, business, government and other institutions from around the world.
Chris Hayward, policy chairman of the corporation, told The National that the meeting would seek to promote the climate finance focus on Africa and emerging nations that was seen in Egypt, and planning for the UAE meeting. The overall theme is a "just transition".
"We're focusing very much on ensuring that climate action works for everybody in a just and a fair way," Mr Hayward said.
"The idea of the Net Zero Delivery Summit is that it comes exactly halfway between the two Cops.
"What we have to do is to keep the pressure on in terms of action. The prospect of 1.5ºC is still alive but it's on life support.
"We're not moving fast enough and we're not getting the money to where it needs to be fast enough.
"I think our focus in the in the West, in the global north as it were, is how we get those funds out to those countries most in need. Because if we don't do that, then we will fail to tackle net zero by 2050."
One of the achievements of the Cop26 climate meeting in the UK in 2021 was the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (Gfanz), which committed firms with $130 trillion under management to backing net-zero goals.
The City of London sees itself as a leader in getting the financial industry into a position to deliver on those promises.
"We must keep Gfanz together," Mr Hayward said. "It's absolutely essential that we act with one voice and one purpose.
"I think it's incumbent upon not just the City of London, but all of us in the financial services sector in the United Kingdom to stand behind those Gfanz commitments and those Gfanz 550 companies.
"We can't afford the [alliance] fraying. It is a dynamic situation. But I think we need to just make sure collectively we keep our messaging on course, not least because we in the City of London regard ourselves as the global capital for green finance.
"Green finance policies are a key tool to driving this whole Cop and climate action agenda."
The summit planners want to prioritise the advantages of technology so that data that could track the changing climate is properly exploited.
"One of the challenges we face at the moment is there is inadequate data, which is consistent across the globe to meet the standards that we need to achieve," Mr Hayward said.
"We have to ensure that there is adequate credible data flow in order to establish global standards.
"Otherwise we'll end up really feeding greenwashing and other methods that frankly are undermining the process.
"We need better data and we need global standards, so that everybody is being measured against the same standards and there are not inconsistencies across the globe."
By unlocking the power of finance, the City hopes to give the world's poorest economies the ability to address the climate crisis.
"The challenge for the emerging markets in Africa and India is a huge need for investment in infrastructure projects," Mr Hayward said.
"What we have in the City of London is the critically important capital flows and we have expertise. We have expertise in things like project management.
"So when you're looking at these huge infrastructure projects in emerging markets, you know, the City of London could provide that expertise as well as finance."
-
A man wears a face mask that reads "no climate justice without human rights" during a protest at the COP27 UN Climate Summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. AP -
A presentation at the American University in Cairo Pavilion. Reuters -
Egyptian artist Bahia Sheha stands inside her installation "Heaven & Hell in the Anthropocene." AFP -
Akihiro Nishimura, minister of the environment of Japan, reviews notes with others at the COP27. AP -
US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, right, and Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate greet each other at the COP27 UN Climate Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. AP -
Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva poses for a group photograph with representatives of his country's indigenous people. AFP -
People attend the COP27 UN Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. EPA -
Activists dancing during a discussion on leaflets at the Cop27 climate conference, taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. AFP -
An activist wears a polar bear outfit as part of campaigning. AFP -
From left, Rakia Amandou of Niger, Ba Aminata of Burkina Faso, Kenyan Rosemary Nenini, Fatima Mustafa Ahmed from Sudan and Djeneb Dicko from Burkina Faso at the Indigenous Peoples Pavilion. AP -
Abdulla Nasser Musallam Al Rahbi, Oman's Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative to the Arab League, speaks at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. AFP -
Climate activists demonstrate in the designated protest zone. AP -
Sheikh Abdullah, Director General of Environment at the Public Authority of Kuwait, speaks at Cop27. AFP -
Visitors at the Sharm El Sheikh International Convention Centre. AFP -
A display outside the convention centre. AFP -
A fountain in the green zone at the International Convention Centre at sunset. AFP -
Mohamed bin Daina, right, Bahrain's Special Envoy for Climate Affairs and Chief Executive at the Supreme Council for Environment, at the conference. AFP -
Members of Extinction Rebellion stage a protest at the Glencairn tidal pool outside Cape Town, South Africa to mark Cop27's 'Water Day'. AP -
From left, Fahad Al Maskari of the Khalifa University, Frank Hartmann, Ghaleb Al Breiki of the UAE University, and Mouna Maroun of the University of Haifa, sign an agreement at Cop27. AFP -
John Kerry, US special presidential envoy for climate, at Cop27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. AP Photo -
Australian climate activists offer bananas to climate summit participants. AFP -
Climate activist Sabrina Elba. AP Photo -
Egyptian security forces stand guard during the protest. AFP -
US President Joe Biden. AFP -
Mr Biden with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. AP -
A Cop27 sign in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, provides the backdrop for this woman's selfie. Reuters -
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi speaks to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the climate summit. AFP -
A water wonderland greets this child at an acquarium in the Cop27 Green Zone. Reuters -
Mr El Sisi, second left, takes part in a cycling marathon on the sidelines of Cop27. EPA -
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks in Sharm El Sheikh about 'complicated' talks to set up a protection zone around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. AFP -
Frankie the dinosaur. Reuters -
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Reuters -
Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan, CEO of the Alliances for Global Sustainability; Mariam Al Mheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment and Minister of State for Food Security; and Hatem Dowidar, group CEO at e&. AFP -
Sameh Shoukry, Cop27 president, centre left, poses for photos in the youth pavilion. AP -
A visitor looks at the 'Zero Point' series of collage portraits by Turkish artist Deniz Sagdic, each of which is made from a particular kind of upcycled waste material. Getty -
Participants visit the Ukrainian pavillon. AFP -
Mr Kerry speaks during a session on accelerating the clean energy transition in developing countries. AP -
Youth climate activists. Pictured, from the left, Eric Njuguna of Kenya, Nicole Becker of Argentina, Vanessa Nakate of Uganda, Sophia Kianni from Iran, and Mitzi Jonelle Tan of the Philippines. AP -
Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, right, chairman of the Islamic Development Bank Group, poses for a photo with Mohamed Hadi Al Hussaini, the UAE's Minister of State for Financial Affairs. AFP -
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Bloomberg -
A police officer stands at the entrance of the Sharm El Sheikh International Convention Centre during Cop27. Reuters -
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP Photo -
Former US vice president Al Gore speaks during a session at Cop27. AP Photo -
Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest. AFP
The prospect of Cop28, due to open in Dubai Expo City in November 2023, is regarded by Mr Hayward as an opportunity to unlock the Emirates for a world seeking to adapt to the pressures addressed by the 2015 Paris Accord.
"Certainly from what I I've read, the UAE is really leading the way around climate action," he said.
"There's a commitment, I understand, to have 50 per cent of UAE electricity generated from renewables by 2050. That's an ambitious and a fantastic target.
"The practical steps the UAE is taking are climate action in practice, rather than just in words. So I think the UAE are to be absolutely commended for this, and I think it makes a great country to host the next Cop."
The May summit is modelled on an inaugural meeting in the City's Mansion House headquarters this year that featured speakers including the US special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, and the UN special envoy on climate action and finance, Mark Carney.
The Square Mile has its own climate action plans to reduce emissions from its properties down to net zero by 2027. Primarily, the focus is on medium-term energy-efficiency work on buildings.
Carbon emissions have already been cut by more than 30 per cent on 2018 levels.
Energy consumption has been reduced by more than 20 per cent, with transport and buildings representing the two biggest emitters.
There are more than 600 listed buildings in the Square Mile that require some additional investment.
