This week, COP28 concluded with a historic agreement by 198 Parties to deliver a new era of climate action. For the first time, a text agreed at the UN climate summit calls on all countries to make an energy transition away from fossil fuels. The final report recognizes the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions if humanity is to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5ºC.
The largest attended climate COP in history brought together 97,000 delegates, including over 150 heads of state, along with negotiators, business leaders and non-state actors. The climate summit has concluded with a final consensus that lays out an ambitious response to the Global Stocktake and puts forward a plan to close the gaps to 2030. It encourages all nations to submit economy-wide Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), includes a new specific target to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030, and builds momentum behind a new architecture for climate finance.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the conference outcomes reflect a step forward in the right direction. “However, it’s important to note that the UAE Consensus, just like the Paris Agreement, is not legally binding. Therefore, there is a pressing need to define a roadmap for this transition and ensure a swift and effective implementation of the GST by nations,” columnists Hashendra Wijesinha and Laia Barbarà highlighted.
Check out the key takeaways, as reported by the WEF.:
The key outcome of COP28 was the conclusion of the first ever Global Stock Take (GST). The GST was a mid-term review of progress that UN member states were making towards the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Following the International Energy Agency’s recommendation, 117 countries agreed to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and double the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements within this decade. These ambitious yet achievable targets are vital to keep the 1.5°C goal within reach.
Dubai was a key milestone in the convergence of the climate and nature agendas. Overall, the summit was successful in mobilizing over $2.5 billion to bridge the substantial funding gap in nature conservation and restoration for climate resilience.
The summit supported the mobilization of $188 million for the UN’s Adaptation Fund for 2023. another key milestone achieved at COP28 was the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, securing over $726 million in funding to support countries most severely affected by climate change.
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Source: World Economic Forum