Cop28 President Dr Sultan Al Jaber met Britain's King Charles III in London on Friday as preparations step up for the next crunch talks on climate change.
King Charles, a lifelong environmentalist, hosted representatives of the UAE, this year's summit host Azerbaijan and next year's host Brazil as the UK looks to regain influence on the global stage.
Dr Al Jaber, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, is working in a “troika” with Azerbaijan and Brazil to build on what was agreed in Dubai last year.
The three hosts are urging countries to make their next green policy plans “truly transformational” as a 2025 deadline to update them looms.
They warn of “clear challenges” unless countries have the money to go green, with the thorny issue of finance set to dominate Cop29 in Azerbaijan.
The troika is “designed to maintain momentum, lock in continuity, anchor implementation and build a bridge of progress between Cops”, said the UAE's Cop28 team after the meeting with King Charles.
Cop29 President-designate Mukhtar Babayev was in London for the Clarence House talks, with Brazil represented by Ana Toni, its National Secretary for Climate Change.
Britain, which hosted Cop26 in 2021 but watered down its own net-zero policies last year, is joining the fray in a bid to “reset the narrative” under a new Labour government.
“The truth is we can't expect other nations to trust us if we're half-hearted about our own plans,” UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.
Mr Miliband announced he would personally lead negotiations at Cop29 in Baku. A junior minister, Graham Stuart, was in charge of the UK team at Cop28, which King Charles also attended.
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Labour has moved swiftly since winning power to approve new solar farms and announce plans for offshore wind turbines on Crown Estate seabed owned by King Charles.
The UK is among about 200 countries who agreed at Cop28 to help treble the world's renewable energy firepower and “transition away” from fossil fuels.
Key delegates have separately been invited to a retreat in Shamakhi, Azerbaijan, this weekend in the hope of finding common ground before November.
The troika presidents plan to use the UN General Assembly in New York in the autumn to allow “early movers”, who submit their new green plans ahead of time, to show off their credentials on stage.
A majlis, or traditional Arab meeting, will separately take place in Brazil with a focus on climate resilience as part of an updated pre-Cop29 agenda.
The three presidencies said recent UN talks in Germany showed there were “clear challenges” unless countries have the “means of implementation” required, notably finance.
“Let us seize this opportunity to affirm our commitment to a sustainable and resilient world for all,” they wrote.
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In a flurry of announcements this week, Azerbaijan has invited fossil fuel producers to contribute, on a voluntary basis, to a $1 billion climate fund.
Mukhtar Babayev, the President-designate of Cop29, described London as a “key hub for climate action and diplomacy” as Azerbaijan looks for support from the UK.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has formally been invited to Baku, previously accused his predecessor Rishi Sunak of going missing on the climate negotiating stage.
Britain's clean power plans are a “powerful signal to the world that we can achieve both energy independence and we can tackle the climate crisis together”, said Mr Miliband.
“From now on, you have a government that will lead at home and lead internationally when it comes to the biggest long-term issue of our time.”
