The 28th annual meeting of the Conference of Parties (more commonly known as COP 28) is being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and has these main aims:
First, to work towards closing the emissions gap. Second, to structure a global finance system that allocates funds to developing countries in order to strengthen the global fight against Climate Change. Then, to secure a unanimous commitment to the loss and damage finance facility, which aids those communities disproportionately affected by climate change. Finally, countries will decide on the first-ever global stocktake, which will show us where we are on track to meeting the aims of the Paris Agreement, and where we are not.
The Paris Agreement was established in 2015 at COP21 - a legally binding treaty with an overarching goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In recent years, however, it has become obvious that we need to see a stronger implementation of the Agreement, with the first global stocktake indicating we are not on track to the 1.5-degree goal. Alongside limiting global temperature rise, greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by 43% by 2030 compared to 2019, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Failure to do so will lead to more adverse weather conditions, such as severe rainfall, drought, and heatwaves.
COP28 began on November 30th and has seen some promising change, with President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of UAE announcing a $30 billion fund for the Climate Emergency, alongside a collective $700 million fund from the parties at COP allocated to lower-income countries. The conference will conclude on December 12th, hopefully having secured a stronger commitment to the Paris Agreement.
