By Yemi Olakitan
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) launched its 28th Session on Thursday, November 30th calling for an urgent acceleration of global climate action. The meeting was held during the warmest year in human history and as the effects of the climate crisis wreak unimaginable havoc on people’s lives and means of subsistence all over the world.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s COP28, which takes place in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, is regarded as a critical opportunity to fulfill climate promises and avert the worst effects of climate change. This year’s president of the UAE, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, will lead the country at COP28.
The “global stocktake,” the first evaluation of the world’s progress toward implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, concludes with this year’s COP. The results are startling: by the end of this century, the world will not have managed to keep global warming to 1.5°C.
Although it acknowledges that nations are creating plans for a net-zero future and that the switch to renewable energy is accelerating, it is very evident that these developments will not stop warming within the present goals.
According to a recent UN Climate Change report, national climate action plans, or “NDCs,” would collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions to levels 2% below 2019 by 2030, even though it is scientifically evident that a 43% reduction is required.
As countries are ready to submit updated national climate action plans by 2025, the global stocktake needs to serve as a spur for increased ambition in achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. It outlines steps for quickening the reduction of emissions, bolstering resilience to climate impacts, and supplying the funding and support required for the shift.
“More than 160 world leaders are traveling to Dubai because only international cooperation will allow mankind to return to the race. But COP28 is more than a picture opportunity. The message is clear: leaders must deliver, according to UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell. “And after the inaugural summit, leaders should send an equally clear message to their negotiators: don’t return home without a deal that will actually change things.”
At the center of this change is climate financing. Restoring the Green Climate Fund, tripling the amount of money allocated to adaptation, and putting the loss and damage fund into operation are essential to limiting global warming to 1.5°C without abandoning anyone.
The truth is that a renewable energy revolution will remain a mirage in the desert unless significantly more funding is provided to developing nations. It needs to be made a reality by COP28, Stiell continued.
Building confidence in other negotiating areas and laying the foundation for an even more ambitious “New Collective Quantified Goal” for climate finance, which has to be in place next year, will depend on the success of climate finance at COP28.
Additionally, it will pave the way for a fair and equitable switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and their eventual phase-out.
Stiell emphasized the necessity for cooperative efforts to address climate change, an area in which nations can work together effectively to assure a sustainable future for people and the earth in the face of escalating conflicts and tensions around the world.
“There isn’t any time to waste. In order to cut emissions, we must act quickly. With the goal of maintaining 1.5°C within reach, every nation and business would be held accountable at COP28, according to COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber.
Al Jaber continued, “Everyone involved should be ready to present a high-achievement decision in response to the global stocktake that reduces emissions while protecting people, lives, and livelihoods.”
“It is of crucial importance to continue building on previous achievements, but more importantly to implement what we already agreed upon,” stated Sameh Shoukry, the president of COP27 and the minister of foreign affairs for Egypt. Without everyone’s support—especially the Global South—we cannot accomplish our shared objectives.
“We must begin implementing climate justice and give the necessary resources for funding loss and damage, including the creation of a fund, as we already decided in Sharm el-Sheikh. For the fund to be fully operationalized and funded, one of the main outcomes of COP28 is required.
Important COP28 occasions
Heads of State and Government will meet at the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS), which is being hosted by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates. The first portion of the COP28 high-level segment will also take place during this time. December 9–10 is when the high-level phase will resume.
Heads of State or Government have the chance to raise climate commitments, build on decisions made at past Conferences of the Parties, set the tone for COP28, and encourage concerted action to combat climate change during the WCAS.
The diverse range of stakeholders present at the conference are invited to participate in discussions on theme areas, which will be opened by the COP28 Presidency.
