30 November 2023 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

IHRB will be co-hosting and participating in a series of engagements at COP28 in Dubai. We look forward to working with partners and making new connections to advance the just transitions agenda across energy, finance, and food systems, and the built environment.

IHRB has three objectives at COP28:

  • Contribute actively to the UNFCCC processes, particularly highlighting the importance of civil society, business, and finance roles and voice (as “non-party stakeholders”) in government’s just transitions deliberations. This includes on the content and modalities of the Just Transition Work Programme, Katowice Committee on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures, the Global Stocktake, Article 2.1c, and Loss & Damage processes.

  • Highlight our work on rights-based and responsible climate action across a number of sectors and themes, in particular on Just Energy Transition Partnerships and other emerging climate finance models; our work on the built environment in Europe and globally; our work in the Gulf region; and the role of and impacts on migrant workers across global supply chains. 

  • Building connections remains key to our work. We look forward to connecting with partners in Dubai and making new connections with stakeholders advancing the just transition agenda.

The IHRB team will be represented at COP28 by John Morrison, Giulio Ferrini, Haley St. Dennis, Neill Wilkins, Tamara Juburi, and Marta Ribera Carbó, and we’ve included their contact details and bios below. 

Below is a rundown of IHRB’s main events, as well as those we’re contributing to. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the team.

 

All times listed below are in local time (GST).

 

Balancing Beams: Shaping a Fair and Sustainable Future for Construction Workers, Housing, and the Climate

When: Fri 1st Dec, 11:30-12:20
Where: ILO Just Transitions Pavilion
Speakers:

  • Ambet Yuson, General Secretary, Building & Woodworkers International [recorded]
     
  • Audrey Nugent, Director of Global Advocacy, WorldGBC
     
  • Cassie Sutherland, Managing Director for Climate Solutions and Networks, C40
     
  • Giulio Ferrini, Head of Built Environment, Institute for Human RIghts and Business
     
  • Hauwa Mustapha, Climate Change Expert, Nigeria Labour Congress & ITUC Africa
     

Access the live stream here.

Further details available here.

Private Sector Standards and South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP)

When: Sun 3rd Dec, 9-10:30am
Where: South Africa Pavilion (Blue Zone)
Co-hosts: IHRB, African Climate Foundation, Ford Foundation 

Speakers:

  • Alan Wallis, Senior Advisor, African Climate Foundation (moderator)

  • Sue Lund, Head, Just Energy Transition Investment Plan Projects Management Unit (JETIP PMU) in The Presidency

  • Shameela Soobramoney, CEO, National Business Initiative (NBI)

  • Claude Kabemba, Executive Director, Southern Africa Resource Watch

  • Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions, Institute for Human Rights and Business

Further details here.

Safeguarding the “Just” in Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs): Unpacking Progress from South Africa and Indonesia (COP28 Official Side Event)

When: Sun 3rd Dec, 3-4:30pm
Where: SE Room 2 (Blue Zone)
Co-hosts: IHRB, Ford Foundation, Climate Policy Initiative, Laudes Foundation

Speakers:

  • Rachmat Kaimuddin, Deputy Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investments in Infrastructure and Transportation, Government of Indonesia

  • Joanne Yawitch, Head of the South Africa JETP Secretariat

  • Amanda Brockbank, Director, Just Energy Transition Partnerships, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero (GFANZ)

  • Dr Crispian Olver, Executive Director, Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) of South Africa 

  • Tiza Mafira, Director, Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)

  • Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions Programme, Institute for Human Rights and Business (moderator)

Further details available here.

 

Workshop on the Spectrum of Just Transitions Finance

When: Wednesday 6th Dececember, 2-4pm
Where: Emirates NDB Pavilion 
Co-hosts: IHRB and LSE Grantham Research Institute

Speakers:

  • Nick Robins, Professor in Practice – Sustainable Finance, LSE Grantham Research Institute 

  • John Morrison, CEO, IHRB 

  • Jeremy Buhain, Principal, Neyen Consulting

  • An invitation-only roundtable workshop with a mix of senior finance, business, and civil society professionals

 

Urban Evolution: Championing tomorrow's low carbon and resilient human settlements and transport networks

Date: Wednesday 06 December, 10:00am - 12:30pm  

Where: Global Climate Action (Blue Zone)

(IHRB's Giulio Ferrini is a speaker on the panel)

Further details are available here.

 

One Size Fits No One: Rethinking Just Transitions from Forests to Cities

When: Fri 8th Dec,3-4:30pm
Where: Buildings Pavilion 
Co-hosts: IHRB, Bauhaus Earth, ICC, WBCSD

Speakers:

  • Roland Hunziker, Director of Built Environment, WBCSD

  • Marta Ribera Carbó, Built Environment Europe Programme Manager, Institute for Human Rights and Business

  • Per-Olof Sjoo, President, Building & Woodworkers International

  • Philipp Misselwitz, Executive Director, Bauhaus Earth

  • Anna Dyson, Hines Professor of Architecture, Yale University

  • Judy Zakreski, Vice President Global Services, International Code Council & International Building Quality Centre

  • Juan Caballero, Chief of Programs, BuildChange
     

Further details are available here.
 

External events IHRB is contributing to:

 

South Africa’s Just Transition Financing Mechanism

When: Mon 4th Dec, 10:30-11:30am
Where: South Africa Pavilion 
Co-hosts Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) of South Africa 

Speakers:

  • Saliem Fakir, Executive Director, African Climate Foundation

  • Dipak Patel, Head: Climate Finance and Innovation, Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) (South Africa)

  • Crispian Olver, Executive Director, South Africa Presidential Climate Commission 

  • Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions Programme, Institute for Human Rights and Business

  • Further speakers to be announced shortly
     

Priorities for the Proposed UNFCCC Just Transitions Work Programme 

When: Tues 5th Dec, 1-2pm
Where: Canada Pavilion 

Speakers:

  • Moustapha Kamal Gueye, Green Jobs Programme Coordinator, International Labour Organization

  • Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions Programme, Institute for Human Rights and Business

  • Patrick Rondeau, Director – Environment and Just Transition, Quebec Federation of Labour

  • Aliénor Rougeot, Program Manager, Climate and Energy, Environmental Defence

Find out more: https://www.globeseries.com/pavillon-cop28-pavilion/cop28-event-evenement-835/

 

The IHRB Team at COP28
 

Haley St. Dennis,
Head of Just Transitions

Marta Ribera Carbó
Europe Programme Manager, Built Environment

John Morrison,
CEO

Tamara Juburi,
Gulf Sustain Manager

Neill Wilkins,
Head of Migrant Workers Programme