COP28 sets sights on first global stocktake; encouraging signs on $100-bn pledge

As countries head to the UAE this week to negotiate climate targets at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, there’s wide anticipation for the first ever global stocktake, meant to assess collective progress towards implementing agreed climate goals.

There are also encouraging signs with regard to the $100-billion pledge by rich countries towards climate aid, which has seen several missed deadlines.

The event, commonly known as COP28, will be held in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December. COP28 refers to the 28th conference of the parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Given the urgent need to keep the earth from warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius, countries need to take aggressive action by 2030 to reduce emissions, build climate resilience, and transform climate finance, all of which are to be measured as part of the global stocktake. 

“A big part of COP28 is global stocktake. This is the first global stocktake and it is dedicated to understanding where the planet is and how the countries are doing,” said Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). 

“It will also be an opportunity to put accountability at the heart of climate negotiations, because we keep discussing climate in the form of raising ambitions, but we never really ask ourselves who is achieving what. And if you are not achieving, how are you being held accountable?” Ghosh said. “So how we establish an accountability mechanism will be the real sticky point in the discussions at COP.”

Over 20 companies across oil and gas and heavy industries sectors have agreed to commit to curb emissions at the UN's COP28 climate summit, with more expected to join the group before the conference, COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber informed in October. 

“From an Indian industry perspective, the potential outcomes of COP28 hold several opportunities for accelerating decarbonisation in India, and that would enable stronger business-led climate action,” said Jamshyd Godrej, managing director of Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group.

“Discussions on the outcomes of the global stocktake will serve as a guide for businesses. It will enable them to refine decision-making on climate action and direct investments towards opportunities in energy transition, technological advancements, finance, and climate resilience,” Godrej said.

Participants at COP28 are also focusing on a substantial gap in climate finance for developing countries, and the urgent need to address the shortfall, according to climate experts.  

“The G20 New Delhi Declaration’s call for $5.8-5.9 trillion for developing countries pre-2030 to implement NDCs underlines this need,” said Koushik Chatterjee, executive director and chief financial officer at Tata Steel.

NCDs, or nationally determined contributions, as part of the Paris Agreement, requires countries to outline and commit to climate actions towards reducing emissions.

“As we approach COP28, time is of essence, and hence critical for all nations to focus on establishing the deployment mechanism that will facilitate and enhance funding for decarbonisation across nations to help the global transition to a more sustainable planet,” siad Chatterjee.

Progress on replenishment of the Green Climate Fund and encouraging signs on the $100-billion pledge are being noticed, say experts. Also, over 85% of the global economy is expected to commit to tripling global renewable capacity, and the world’s biggest economies—the US and China—are likely to align around methane emission reductions. 

COP28 will be the first climate summit to include business and philanthropy in its official agenda. As many as 1,000 CEOs from across the world, including Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, will join and negotiate to meet the $4 trillion funding gap on climate change. 

Additionally, COP28, which will take place between 30 November and 12 December in the presence of world leaders in Dubai, is bringing together the world’s governments to support action on food and health through both our declarations and a call for real action.

Puja Das is in Dubai for a training programme organised by IMF and Thomson Reuters Foundation ahead of COP28