Reporter Zhao Shan.
The 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This meeting will be the first global stocktake of the implementation of the Paris Agreement. We are all looking forward to this conference, which lasts for nearly half a month, to further consolidate the consensus on environmental protection.
At COP28, the agenda that attracted the most global attention was the first global stocktake of the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
In December 2015, 178 parties around the world adopted the Paris Agreement at COP21 in Paris, France, to make unified arrangements for global action on climate change after 2020. The long-term goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit the increase in global average temperature to well below pre-industrial levels2 and to work to limit the increase to 1Up to 5. In order to achieve this goal, Parties need to set nationally determined contributions (NDCs), i.e., targets and action plans to address climate change, based on their economic, social and environmental conditions. In accordance with Article 14 of the Paris Agreement, the COP should conduct its first global stocktake in 2023 and every five years thereafter to assess collective progress towards the goals and objectives of the Paris Agreement.
According to the latest report of the Convention Secretariat, countries' climate action plans are not meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, the UN Environment Programme's 2023 Emissions Gap Report, released on the eve of COP28, also shows that countries must take tougher emissions reductions than they currently pledged in the Paris Agreement or face global warming by 203025 to 29℃。
With the intensification of climate warming, global climate governance has entered a critical juncture.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union's climate monitoring agency, said on December 6 that November was the hottest month on record globally, and the average temperature from January to November this year also set a new record, and 2023 will be the hottest year on record. The UNFCCC secretariat noted that the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, which took place in the hottest year on record, was a decisive moment for meeting climate commitments and preventing the worst impacts of climate change.
As recently as mid-November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a report that issued a serious warning of the escalating climate crisis. According to the report, the concentration of key greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide reached record highs in 2022, with atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations now at about 150% of pre-industrial levels. This means that all parties must strengthen the control of greenhouse gas emissions based on reality, otherwise the achievements of human survival and development may be "vetoed" due to the effects of climate change.
According to the International Organization for Migration, data shows that the number of people displaced by weather-related disasters worldwide reached a record 31.8 million in 2022. Without early and concerted climate and development action, there will be more than 21.6 billion people become "internal climate migrants". It's worrying.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently said that at COP28, world leaders must take action to break the vicious circle of global warming to avoid climate change reaching a "fatal tipping point".
In an era of climate crisis, confidence and cooperation should be the global keynote.
At present, global climate governance is facing multiple gaps. Industry insiders believe that in addition to the emission reduction gap, the most noteworthy is the funding gap and technology gap. Next, clean energy will be an important area for countries to strengthen climate cooperation. In addition, basic work related to carbon emission reduction standards, carbon emission trading, and local cooperation such as the construction of eco-cities also need to be promoted.
Despite the impact of the pandemic in the past three years, the 2021 Glasgow Climate Conference in the United Kingdom and the 2022 Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Conference in Egypt were successfully held. The world continues to advance dialogue and cooperation on climate goals, emissions reduction of non-CO2 wetgases such as methane, loss and damage**, green finance, just transitions, and youth action. In response to the climate crisis, human society is still moving forward step by step. Although this pace is still too slow and difficult, the results achieved each time are very valuable.
Overall, the scale of international climate action is insignificant compared to the scale of the climate crisis, but "the future is not immutable". In a way, COP28 is a defining moment that will see if humanity can turn the climate crisis around by translating climate plans into more ambitious actions. The world must seize this opportunity to usher in a new era of equitable peace and prosperity for all.