Why is COP 28 important?

; COP28 is particularly significant because it

marks the end of the first Global Stocktake, which began at COP26 in
Glasgow. Stocktake is a biennial process that occurs every five years. It
assesses the collective progress made under the Paris Agreement and
identifies areas for additional action and support.

COP OF ACTION: The world is "way off track" in its efforts to limit global
warming and that "transformational progress" is needed this decade to
bring about meaningful change. We need to build on the foundation
achieved at Cop27 and move from goals to getting it done. the
international community was "way off track when it comes to the critical
goal of keeping 1.5 alive," referring to the Paris Agreement made at
Cop21 in 2015 to limit global warming to 1.5°C. "Incremental steps will
simply not cut it, we need transformational progress in the next seven
years across mitigation, adaptation, climate finance and loss and
damage,” he said. The Cop28 head urged nations to “scale up all
available zero-carbon energy sources, while minimising the emissions
from all other energy sources. "Governments should therefore adopt
smart policies to incentivise breakthroughs in battery storage and
commercialise carbon capture and the hydrogen value chain. We should
inject a business mindset, short-term KPIs [key performance indicators]
and an ambitious action-oriented agenda into the Mitigation Work
Programme, and remember that the enemy is emissions, not progress.”
Dr Al Jaber spoke of the importance of supporting developing countries
and finding ways to protect fragile biodiversity.

“At a minimum, we need to double adaptation finance and adopt national

policies that build every country’s capacity to adapt to climate impacts,”
he said. "inclusive Cop of action" and urged leaders to deliver
"transformational progress" to deliver on the 1.5°C pledge.

Loss and damage policy is key

Dr Al Jaber stressed the need to realise the goals of the loss and damge
fund, established at Cop27 in Egypt, to compensate poorer nations for
the harm caused by climate change.“We must bring the Sharm El Sheikh
outcome on loss and damage to life," said Dr Al Jaber."This means the
loss and damage fund must be fully operationalised, and we need the
right governance and structures in place to target the most vulnerable

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communities.“The lynchpin to all progress across climate pillars is
finance. We have an opportunity to shape a new financial goal at Cop28
that enables us to chart a new course for greater climate ambition.”

The Emirati minister called for “urgent reform of international financial

institutions" to help fund climate change projects.

"The bottom line is finance needs to be much more available, accessible

and affordable,” he said. Dr Al Jaber called for “solidarity and unity of
purpose,” adding: “There is simply no room for division. "Progress of the
kind we need can only happen through partnership, not polarisation. “The
task ahead represents one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever
faced. But, if we act with urgency, act together and act now, it also
represents one of the greatest opportunities for social and economic
development.”

OUR PLAN OF ACTION

The COP28 Presidency has set out a plan of action, focused on matching the
highest ambition for negotiated outcomes, with a robust action agenda to
implement those ambitions in the real world. The Presidency has called on
governments and key climate stakeholders to take action in four areas:
1. Fast-track the energy;
2. Fix climate finance;
3. Focus on nature, people, lives, and livelihoods;
4. Full inclusivity
5. global stocktake
6. Cop28 will host the global stocktake, which would likely show that
the world was off-target to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,
which aimed to limit global temperature rises to 1.5°C above pre-
industrial levels. Therefore "ambitious actions in mitigation" are
needed.
7. Finance
8. Wealthier nations have been setting a target of providing $100
billion a year to support developing countries in their transition
to low-carbon economies but current contributions have fallen well
short. For that, it’s very clear that we need to deliver real, pragmatic
outcomes, practical solutions, that will get the International

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 Community back on track to achieving less than 1.5°C, and the
financial targets of 100 billion plus,

Agenda for COP 28: Here are a few actionable steps that we can witness
during COP 28 in November 2023:

 The transitional committee set up at COP 27 for the Loss and

Damage Agreement* will be making recommendations on how
to operationalize the fund at COP 28. Its first meeting will take
place before the end of March. Unnikrishnan Divakaran Nair,
head of Climate Change at the Commonwealth Secretariat said
attention needs to be paid to the ways to collect and fill the fund
and disburse it properly. *The Loss and Damage Agreement created
at COP 27 aims to help low-income countries that are facing the
effects of climate change.

 The $100 billion adaptation funding goal set in 2009 at COP 15

is yet to be fulfilled by the high-income countries. Although
there was a daily loss of more than $200 million due to adverse
climate, COP 27 negotiators failed to take a stand on adaptation
finance. COP 28 will definitely witness the creation of a
framework for the global goal of adaptation. This will help
people whose work directly depends on a favorable climate like
farmers.

 General António Guterres, the U.N. Secretary General, launched

a plan at COP 27 that allows all the residents of the Earth to be
covered by a multi-hazard early warning system over the
next 5 years. In 2023, three things will be prioritized –
identifying any gaps and analyzing the capabilities of people to
handle the early warning system, moving ahead with the

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 implementation, ensure that the funding is scaled up. Guterres
will report on the developments at COP 28.

 The Global Stocktake (a 2-year process which happens every 5

years) began at COP 26 and will conclude at COP 28. At present,
it is in its second phase – a time for technical assessment where
the three themes (mitigation, adaptation, implementation and
support) are being discussed through in-person dialogues. The
findings will be presented and analyzed at COP 28.

 The Global Goal on Adaptation established under the Paris

Agreement got a framework at COP 27. This framework will be
discussed before COP 28 and should get adopted at the
convention in November.

 A new food and agricultural security plan was created at COP

27. The only glitch was that the final agreement disregarded the
food systems approach and overlooked important things like
nutrition and dietary shifts, adaptation and mitigation work
plans. The food and land use coalition program agenda
includes pushing for a better outcome at the Global Stocktake
and COP 28. In accordance with the goal of limiting
temperature rising above 1.5 degree celsius, the Food and
Agriculture Organization is ready to release a plan to reduce
emissions from the food and agriculture system. The
AIM(Agriculture Innovation Mission) for climate initiative will
hold a summit in Washington. The initiative is led by the U.S.
and the U.A.E. with U.N. as the founding member. It is aiming to
increase the $8 billion funding for innovation in climate-smart
agriculture to $10 billion by COP 28.

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 The importance of the ocean and oceanic life will be presented
at COP 28. The host UAE in its Nat-Zero 2050 strategy has
already made efforts to restore and enhance ecosystems like
seagrasses, mangroves and salt marshes.