The annual United Nations Climate Summit begins next week in Dubai. In its own words, it is an annual conference where countries around the world negotiate how to do things. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change“Prevent danger” [human] It’s interference with the climate system. ”
But after nearly 30 years of such meetings, have they achieved anything on climate?
And what will make this COP28 a success? Let’s take a closer look here.
What is COP28?
COP stands for Conference of the Parties and is a party to the 197 countries and one regional economic group that signed the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the parent agreement of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The first COP was in 1995. This is the 28th annual meeting of the COP series. It will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from November 30th to December 12th.
In addition to government representatives, the meeting will be open to accredited “observer” non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations and the media. This year’s conference is expected to attract more than 70,000 participants.
As usual, an area called the Green Zone will be set up alongside the conference to host climate-related exhibits and events open to businesses and the general public.
What is the significance of the COP meeting?
All parties signed a 1992 framework aimed at “protecting the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humanity,” but that framework does not specify how this will be done. was not mentioned.
This is what the COP Summit has been working on ever since.
The purpose of the annual meeting is to “determine ambition and responsibility, and identify and assess climate action,” the UN said. In other words, countries need to agree on what to do next to reduce the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
We also need to adapt to and limit the damage caused by changes that are already occurring, such as increased heat waves, floods, droughts and wildfires, especially in poorer and more vulnerable parts of the world.
Rishi Bhandari, assistant director of the Global Economic Governance Initiative at Boston University’s Center for Global Development Policy, said one of the unique things about COPs is that decisions made there require consensus rather than majority vote. “We really need to involve all countries,” he said. . ”
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What is the focus of this conference?
Mr. Bhandari said the specific agenda items that will be the focus of each COP are determined in advance.Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations I took notes on a few things from Monday’s speech this week.also cited other organizations as noteworthy.
global inventory
Every five years, signatories to the 2015 Paris Agreement will “take stock” of the world’s progress, including emissions cuts, to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while limiting temperature rise to the limit. We are supposed to “pursue efforts” to suppress it. 1.5℃
This year’s global inventory survey is the first of its kind.
This is the focus of many people, including Jennifer Allan, who reports on climate change negotiations for the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Global Negotiations Bulletin.
The inventory will consider “where we are in terms of reducing emissions, building resilience to climate change and supporting developing countries,” he said. Technical fact-finding on inventory has been carried out over the past year and a half. “The next thing is political consequences.”
The goal is to help countries prioritize future climate action and develop their next climate change plans (known as “Nationally Determined Contributions” or NDCs), which must be updated every five years. It is.
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Guterres said in a speech this week: “The global takeover response must light the fuse for an explosion of ambition in 2025.”
To respond to the global stocktake, Mr. Guterres is calling on countries to commit to the following initiatives:
- Renewable energy capacity will triple.
- Double your energy efficiency.
- Deliver clean electricity to everyone by 2030.
- Phasing out all fossil fuels with a clear deadline in line with the Paris temperature limit of 1.5 degrees.
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Allan said the Paris Agreement does not say exactly what form it should take, it could be a political declaration or it could be a decision.
Whatever it is, climate negotiation watchers are eyeing an item on Guterres’ wish list.
Loss and damage and other climate finance
Alan said that “if you count the items on the agenda,” the majority of this year’s COP agenda is financial.
At last year’s COP27, an agreement was reached to establish a loss and damage fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people and countries recover and rebuild due to climate change.
Ahead of COP28, a UN committee has compiled recommendations on how the Fund should be managed, including a proposal for the Fund to be temporarily hosted by the World Bank for four years.
That is something that countries need to try to reach an agreement on.
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Preeti Bhandari, senior adviser to the World Resources Institute’s climate program, said at a press conference ahead of the meeting that she had heard “positive signals” and thought it was unlikely that countries would risk restarting their economies. He said he was “cautiously optimistic” that the meeting would go ahead. Negotiate about it.
Alan agreed. “We’re all probably equally unhappy to some extent, but we hope this means things will go relatively smoothly and we can start raising and deploying funding.”
Guterres is asking for “early and generous donations to help the new Loss and Damage Fund get off to a good start.”
Alan said many other climate finance issues remained to be discussed, many of which related to financing developing countries to adapt to climate change and transition to clean energy. These include how to get global financial institutions, including the World Bank, to align their priorities with the goals of the Paris Agreement, and how to ensure that financing (so far the main source of climate finance) does not burden poor countries too much. This includes how to debt.
He added that many of these countries also need help to aggregate and report their emissions, adding: “This year is critical because the deadline for reporting is approaching.”
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Is COP worth it considering the time and resources?
This will be Alan’s 11th time attending a COP meeting. He acknowledged that despite the annual conference, emissions continue to rise globally. “So by that measure of effectiveness, we’re not there yet.”
But she pointed out that the Paris Agreement grew out of COP21, which changed our trajectory towards reducing emissions and climate change. In 2015, when this agreement was signed, the world was on track to reach 3.6 degrees of warming by 2100. Now heading towards 2.9.
Mr Allan acknowledged that the 1.5-degree and 2-degree targets set by the Paris Agreement were not reached, but said: “So we are making some progress.”
COPs certainly generate “a ton” of political and media attention. “This is the only time of year that everyone is talking about climate change.”
Most importantly, she believes, countries vulnerable to climate change will be able to engage directly with major emitters. “They provide a forum that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
Mr. Bhandari acknowledged that what happens at the COP may seem bureaucratic and slow, given the urgency of climate action.
However, he noted that achievements such as the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund were achieved after years of hard work at many COP meetings.
“I think what you really have to keep in mind when evaluating these COPs is the long-term perspective.”