COP28: an oasis?

COP28 was held in Dubai from November 30 to December 13, 2023 to make substantial progress on the Paris Agreement and negotiate many vital issues to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The first and most important outcome of the conference was the announcement made on the first day to operationalize the Loss and Damage Fund (L&D), followed by $700 million pledges made by various countries for the L&D Fund. While this was appreciated by the countries present at the conference, there are several challenges ahead for the L&D Fund to fully operationalize and achieve its objectives.

First, the $700 million pledged to the Loss and Damage Fund covers less than 0.2 per cent of the amount required to cover the losses faced by developing countries because of climate change catastrophes.

There are key questions related to the working of the L&D Fund: the mode of fund distribution, mechanism of selection of recipient country, accountability of fund utilization in the recipient countries, etc. The parties need to deliberate and find sustainable mechanisms for the smooth functioning of this Fund.

The second central outcome of COP28 was the Global Stocktake agreed by a majority of the 200 participating countries. According to the UNFCCC, the stocktake “calls on Parties to take action towards achieving, at a global scale, a tripling of renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency improvements by 2030.”

The list also includes accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power, phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and other measures that drive the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable manner, with developed countries continuing to take the lead. However, the language contains certain loopholes to provide opportunities for fossil fuel industries to maintain their monopoly.

The use of the words ‘phase down’ and ‘transition’ instead of phase out signals to gradually shift from fossil fuels rather than immediately eliminating fossil fuels. This kind of terminology will slow down the overall process of elimination of carbon emissions instead of generating pressure on rich nations to shut down their fossil fuel industries.

The lack of any kind of accountability mechanism in case of failure to meet the phase-down targets also undermines the set targets. In addition to that, many countries that agreed on the stocktake are expanding their industries of fossil fuels. This also raises the issue of climate justice. It seems that only those countries with less contribution to global carbon emissions will end up carrying the burden of the transition to renewable energy resources.

Developments made in different areas of climate finance are also considered important progress. Six countries pledged new funding at COP28 for the Green Climate Fund with total pledges of $12.8 billion from 31 countries. This development is also important but still far short of the initial promise of collecting $100 billion annually in the GCF. This also puts a question on the success of other funds like the Loss and Damage Fund.

Some important developments in other areas were also made during COP28. It discussed the important issues of inclusion and the role of gender. The negotiations also highlighted the importance of young people, indigenous communities, and differently-abled persons. Similarly, COP28 became the first climate conference to recognize ‘resilient food systems’ as an important strategy for adaptation.

The Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action has now been endorsed by 158 countries. It also signifies the vulnerability of the agriculture system and the need to adapt it according to the challenges of climate change.

COP28 also produced positive outcomes for the protection of biodiversity. It also discussed the role of artificial intelligence in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. The platform also analyzed the challenges for the environment to apply artificial intelligence to fight climate change.

Regardless of the failures and successes that evolved during COP28, the annual climate change conference is an important forum to discuss and highlight the issue of climate change. It gathers the highest number of stakeholders all around the world including politicians, diplomats, business owners, civil society, and representatives of vulnerable communities. It provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to engage in negotiations and present their points of view.

Due to the persistent effort of years, many positive outcomes have been produced during these annual conferences. However, we need to accelerate this process before this planet can no longer bear the heat of the unsustainable development process of mankind.

The writer is a graduate of University of Oxford in Public Policy. She tweets/posts @zilehumma_1