The recently concluded COP28 Global Stocktake in Dubai saw world leaders at the climate change summit falling short on their target for a total phaseout of fossil fuels in energy systems. However, there were more aggressive commitments made on deeper emissions cuts and reinforcements on climate finance.
In his closing speech, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell noted that while the summit did not mark the end of the fossil fuel era, it was the beginning of the end. Stiell emphasized the need for governments and businesses to turn these pledges into real-world outcomes without delay.
Roughly 200 negotiators from around the world convened at COP28, where a common decision was reached to ramp up climate action before the end of the decade in order to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.
Stiell reminded parties that the world is currently on track for just under 3 degrees of warming, which would result in mass human suffering. The major goals set at COP28 included tripling renewable energy investments and doubling energy efficiency improvements on a global scale by 2030.
Additionally, the summit saw an agreement on the operationalization of the loss and damage fund, dedicating approximately $700 million to date to provide assistance to developing countries vulnerable to climate change.
As the summit concluded, pledges for replenishment to the green climate finance levered up to $12.8 billion with commitments from 31 countries. However, these financial pledges are far short of the trillions eventually needed to support developing countries with clean energy transitions and adaptation efforts.
Looking ahead, the COP28 participants agreed to carry on discussions on setting up a new collective quantified goal on climate finance at next year’s COP29 in Azerbaijan and continued deliberations at COP30 in Brazil in 2025. The new baseline target for climate finance is to start at $100 billion annually and serve as a building block for the implementation of national climate plans that need to be delivered by 2025.
In the short-term, countries are encouraged to come forward with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets aligned with the 1.5°C limit in their next round of climate action plans by 2025.
Stiell stressed that every commitment made on finance, adaptation, and mitigation must bring the world in line with a 1.5-degree future by the early part of 2025.
