THE United Arab Emirates (UAE) has named Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of the state oil company Adnoc, to lead COP28, the annual climate summit that will take place November this year in the Gulf country.

The conflict of interest inherent in that appointment does not bode well for the climate meeting, and raises the risk that the world will fall further behind in its climate goals. There is both need and opportunity for Singapore to step up its efforts to develop a hub for climate-related capital and services to help the region get back on track and to prepare for climate change.

Al Jaber’s appointment has not been received well by environmentalists. Zeina Khalil Hajj, head of global campaigning for environmental group 350.org, told the BBC that it was “the equivalent of appointing the CEO of a cigarette company to oversee a conference on cancer cures”.

To be fair to Al Jaber, he also chairs renewable energy company Masdar, and diplomats appear to be less upset about his role. At the World Government Summit in Dubai this week, Al Jaber said that his country was “running towards” energy transition.

Al Jaber was right when he said that it is important to “have the energy industry working hand in hand”, but given the industry’s track record in downplaying the climate impact of their products and support for questionable mitigation technologies, it might not be the best idea to put the industry in the driver’s seat.

The COP28 summit has the potential to be a consequential one, because it coincides with a “global stocktake” of climate progress. The consensus expectation is that the world is still behind where it needs to be to keep global warming within key thresholds. COP28 could be an opportunity for the international community to find a more effective path forward; the fear is that the chance will be squandered.

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Not all hope is lost, however. While some governments may waver, strong political and commercial will still exists, especially when long-term horizons are forced to confront the risks of climate change. In South-east Asia, lands rich in natural capital fuel optimism that climate action can also be good for growth.

But enabling those forces to create impact requires work, and that is where Singapore needs to double its efforts. A few areas are worth pursuing.

The sustainable finance drum has been beaten many times, and very loudly, but more work needs to be done to scale up activity and to address quality concerns. Issuance in the region is still dominated by public entities, and greater private-sector involvement is needed. Singapore can help to close risk gaps by leveraging its position as a financial hub to provide solutions such as local-currency hedging.

Creating win-win structures to establish emerging regional green markets, such as carbon credits and renewable energy, is also critical. Cross-border scale and liquidity can bring important capital to producers of carbon credits and renewable power in the region, but that can happen only if everyone is willing to share some of their slice to create a bigger pie.

Finally, financial solutions to improve the financing of adaptation projects, which prepare for the effects of climate change, can help to reduce a large gap between adaptation and mitigation work. Success will require an ecosystem approach. If Singapore can muster its resources to achieve this, it could have benefits that extend beyond its borders.