DUBAI — COP28, the UN climate summit, had long been a key date on the calendar of Rob van Riet, senior adviser at the Center for Nature and Climate, part of the World Economic Forum. Van Riet heads the First Movers Coalition (FMC), a joint initiative of the WEF and the US State Department that President Joe Biden introduced in November 2021 at COP26, in Glasgow.
FMC focuses on businesses taking action to reduce carbon emissions in seven “hard to abate” sectors — aviation, chemicals, cement, shipping, steel, trucking and aluminum — that collectively account for more than a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. If nothing is done to reduce the environmental impact of these sectors, they are projected to account for half of global emissions by 2050.
The FMC launched with 35 company partners, one government partner — the United States, represented by the US special envoy on climate, John Kerry — and commitments made in four sectors. Today the initiative has 13 government partners, including the United Arab Emirates and India, 95 companies, and commitments across six of the hard-to-abate sectors and carbon capture. It has 120 commitments from companies that include Alphabet, Apple, Fortescue, General Motors and PepsiCo.
The idea is for market leaders to render green solutions bankable as quickly as possible to help address the climate crisis. The current commitments from the coalition represent around $15 billion in investments.
