Recently, the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention") concluded in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and achieved important results.
The conference completed the first global stocktake since the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, summarized achievements and gaps, and adopted for the first time important decisions of concern to developing countries, such as the framework of global adaptation goals and the work programme on just transition pathways. Commentators generally agreed that the conference was not only an important milestone, but also demonstrated the current efforts of the international community to jointly address climate change.
One. The first post-Paris Global Stocktake was the highlight of the conference from the outset, and its eventual success was seen as one of the most critical outcomes.
The Global Stocktake acknowledges the current progress of global climate action. Under the current scenario in which all NDCs are fully implemented, the average global temperature rise could be limited to 2.0 by 21001 degree Celsius 2In the 8 degrees Celsius range, this is a significant improvement over the 4 degrees Celsius set out in the Paris Agreement.
At the same time, the inventory confirms that economies that account for more than 87% of the world's GDP have proposed "net zero" targets, but this strategic goal has yet to be fully implemented.
At the same time, the inventory also reaffirmed the importance and urgency of the temperature target proposed in the Paris Agreement, and clearly pointed out that there is still a large gap in the current global response to climate change, and it is off track in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. By 2030, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to be reduced by 43% from 2019 levels to limit temperature rise to 1A global temperature target of 5 degrees Celsius.
Another important "first" outcome of this conference is that for the first time, countries have included the expression of fossil fuels in the text of the agreement of the United Nations Climate Conference, and agreed to formulate a roadmap for "transition away from fossil fuels", which further clarifies the direction and path of future global climate governance.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that after years of efforts, "fossil fuels" are finally mentioned in the outcome document as the main cause of climate change. He stressed the need to end the fossil fuel era in a just, orderly and equitable manner.
Relatedly, the agreement also clarifies that by 2030, global renewable energy capacity will be tripled and energy efficiency will be doubled.
Two. In order to effectively promote global climate action, it is important to reach consensus and form agreements, but the core and most critical issue is to be able to truly implement consensus and agreements. To achieve this, adequate and strong financial guarantee is indispensable.
In terms of climate finance outcomes, more than $85 billion was mobilized for climate action. Of these, nearly $800 million has been raised on the first day of the conference, where nearly $800 million has been raised.
In addition, the outcomes of COP28 in terms of climate finance include: the establishment of a US$30 billion climate climate by the UAEMany countries have increased their investment by US$3.5 billion to the second phase of green climate**;The World Bank announced an additional $9 billion in funding for climate-related projects in 2024 and 2025, among other things.
While the results are impressive on paper, this amount of funding is still far from enough to pay for the massive global climate action, let alone whether and when it will be available.
According to the latest Adaptation Gap Report 2023 released by the United Nations Environment Programme, according to modelling estimates, developing countries currently need about US$215 billion to US$387 billion per year to adapt to climate change, while in 2021 these countries received only about US$21 billion in adaptation finance from developed countries, a decrease of 15% from 2020, and the funding gap is as high as US$194 billion to US$366 billion.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency, Dennis Francis, President of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, said that he welcomed the historic resolution reached at the conference, and called on the international community to focus on two areas: tackling the problem of "loss and damage" and advancing financing for adaptation to climate change. In addition, Francis urged developed countries to make good on their pledge to provide $100 billion a year in climate finance to developing countries as soon as possible.
Three. Some ** commented that this UN climate conference can be called the "most difficult" in recent years.
The UAE presidency previously set the deadline for reaching an agreement at 11 o'clock local time on December 12, but because many parties felt that the text of the agreement "could not fully respond to their concerns" and that there were "serious opposing and ** views" between the parties, the Dubai climate conference went through an intense "overtime" phase before reaching a final agreement on the 13th.
Despite the arduous and tortuous process, the final series of important outcomes of the conference demonstrate the international community's efforts to jointly address climate change, and also reflect the willingness of all parties to uphold multilateralism and actively demonstrate more flexibility and constructiveness.
As UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said, "In our divided world, COP28 can show that multilateralism remains humanity's best hope for addressing global challenges."
In the face of the global challenge of climate change, multilateralism is the only way to solve the problem of climate change. Upholding the principles of fairness, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities established by the Convention and its Paris Agreement is not only a matter of international fairness and justice, but will also greatly affect and even determine the success or failure of global climate action.
Developing countries are the biggest victims of climate change, but in the process of global climate governance, many legitimate concerns of developing countries have not been fully addressed and addressed. In particular, some developed countries have long failed to take their responsibilities seriously and have been slow to deliver on their commitments, resulting in a serious shortage of support for climate action in developing countries.
The international community expects developed countries to earnestly fulfill their obligations to take the lead in reducing emissions and provide financial, technological and capacity-building support to developing countries, so as to promote the comprehensive, balanced and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.