Introduction
The agenda of the meeting is the energy transition to cleaner energy, fix climate finance with a major focus on helping poor and badly affected countries, and foster inclusivity to follow a new path that encourages parties to accelerate ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets in their next nationally determined contributions.
Negotiation Summary As per expectations, the UAE presidency brought a lot to the world, fighting with the climate urgency. The meeting extended over two weeks from November 30th to December 13th, 2023 the hosted Presidency facilitated an agreement to operationalize Loss and Damage, resulting in commitments of $792 million by the end of the conference. The consensus was made on the following points:
- Nearly 11 declarations were made under the action agenda.
- Modification of the standards for health and food systems.
- Eco-friendly renewable energy production.
- Decarbonizing heavy industry.
Due to the meaningful discussion and international solidarity, 19 countries committed $792 million towards the fund and funding arrangements related to loss and damage, including $100 million from the UAE. COP28 also delivered a Just Transition Work Programme, which will drive ambitious, equitable implementation across all pillars of the Paris Agreement, and a Mitigation Work Programme that effectively showcases opportunities and barriers to closing the ambition and implementation gap.
The conference agreed upon generating over $85 billion in funds, including $3.5 billion to replenish the Green Climate Fund (bringing the second replenishment to a historic total of $12.8 billion) and almost $188 million toward the Adaptation Fund. COP28 also launched the world's largest private market climate investment fund with $30 billion and brought together 52 national and international oil companies to agree on ambitious decarbonization targets.
A significant milestone was achieved in this meeting they agreed that all future COP Presidencies should appoint a Presidency Youth Climate Champion to help facilitate the engagement of children and youth in climate action, including in the UNFCCC process.
There are several programs to be implemented, such as the first Annual GST Global Stocktake, an initiative for analysing the previous global progress on the issue and directing them for the next move, remarkably it was called for the fossil fuels transmission. In this context, dialogues will be held in June 2024, where countries will share best practices on using the GST outcome to inform their next NDCs. The UAE, Azerbaijan, and Brazil Presidencies will take forward the "Road map to Mission 1.5o C" to ensure that international cooperation stimulates ambition in those NDCs.
Actions to Perform
The Emirates Framework for Global Climate Resilience will launch a work program in 2024 to further strengthen the indicators at the heart of the new framework, and countries need to provide written inputs to help inform this by March 2024.
The Just Transition Work Programme will convene at least two dialogues before COP29 in a hybrid format to ensure inclusivity, and countries need to provide further written evidence and inputs for the work program by March 2024.
The Mitigation Work Programme will hold two global dialogues through 2024, with countries submitting proposals for the topics they address by February 2024.
Early in this Summit COP28 the UAE Presidency with the US and China produced groundbreaking results by mobilizing $1.2 billion to support the reduction of methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across sectors. A call for whole-of-economy NDCs encompassing all GHG emissions was reiterated, and governments and national and international oil companies discussed effective pathways to zero methane emissions by 2030.
Efforts to accelerate global decarbonization in heavy emitting sectors and transport produced concrete results, with 38 companies and six industry associations endorsing the Industrial Transition Accelerator and the launch of the Buildings and Cement Breakthroughs together with the Climate Change High-Level Champions to advance the decarbonization of the construction sector by 2030.
International Financing
Multilateral Development Banks have announced over $180 billion in additional climate finance commitments through multi-year programs, marking a significant change in their programmes.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched the Nature Solutions Hub for Asia and the Pacific to attract at least $2 billion in investment for programs incorporating nature-based solutions, focusing on capital markets.
The UAE has successfully launched the Global Climate Finance Centre, a cutting-edge think-tank based in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), to spearhead the transformation of the sustainable finance sector through robust policy implementation, innovative solutions, capacity building, and advocacy for best practices.
On the platform, commitments are made to protect nature, lives, and livelihoods through policy and finance from the public and private sectors. At COP28, food security was firmly established as a top priority by 159 heads of state and government. They endorsed the COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action to address the high vulnerability of food to climate impacts and its significant contribution to emissions. Water security was featured for the second time at a COP summit, and $150 million of fresh finance was announced.
On Nature, Land Use, and Ocean Day, stakeholders unequivocally committed to preserving the Amazon Rainforest by announcing a $1 trillion investment through a nature-based asset platform. Additionally, they emphasized the importance of protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030, along with the urgent need to preserve mangroves and oceans. During the World Climate Action Summit, the voices of children, youth, and educators were unequivocally placed at the forefront. This was powerfully demonstrated with the delivery of YOUNGO's Global Youth Statement and the Dubai Youth Climate Dialogue.
The COP28 78 countries endorse the Gender-Responsive Just Transitions & Climate Action Partnership to ensure more effective finance flows, equal opportunities, and just transitions required by the Paris Agreement.
The presence of subnational leaders during COP28 was nothing short of historic, with over 500 mayors, governors, and local leaders participating actively in the Local Climate Action Summit. The COP28 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies took the lead in announcing the creation of the Coalition of High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) Pledge, which received endorsement from no less than 71 countries. It's important to note that this pledge resulted in the mobilization of a significant fund of $500 million.
Conclusion
After a long run, it is concluded that the UAE from the platform of the 28 summit launched several agreements to fight the climate urgency along with other world leaders and organizations. In addition, supporting the GST and other previous agreements to revive. The COP28 Presidency Action Plan is geared towards delivering a transformational impact that will advance key initiatives beyond COP28 and ensure that we keep the global temperature increase under 1.5°C. We must work together and make high-ambition decisions at COP28, including through the UAE Consensus, to achieve real economic action by 2030 and strengthen the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2025, leading up to COP30. We have a unique opportunity to make a significant impact and must seize it with determination and conviction.