UAE Consensus Marks The Beginning Of The End For Fossil Fuels 

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed with an agreement that signals the "beginning of the end" of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition to clean fuels. Negotiators from nearly 200 Parties gathered in Dubai to discuss the world's first 'global stocktake,' which aims to ramp up climate action before the end of the decade. The agreement aims to keep global warming below 1.5°C, the limit set by the Paris Agreement. Global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 43% before 2030 from the 2019 levels to achieve this.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell concluded that the Dubai outcome did not mark the end of the fossil fuel era. But it is the beginning of the end. The most significant outcome of COP28 is the global stocktake, which contains all the negotiated elements. Countries can use it to strengthen their climate action plans by 2025.

It has been acknowledged through a stocktake that many countries are currently not meeting their goals under the Paris Agreement. Therefore, all governments and businesses must take the necessary steps to turn their commitments into tangible results as soon as possible. The negotiators have shown global solidarity and conveyed a clear message that significant reductions in emissions and increased financing are crucial for achieving a sustainable future for all. Deep cuts in emissions and significant financial investments must support this transition.

In Dubai, negotiators from almost 200 countries demonstrated global solidarity by agreeing on the world's first 'global stocktake'. This stocktake will help increase global action to combat climate change before the decade's end, aiming to keep the global temperature limit to 1.5°C.

"Whilst we didn't turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end," said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in his closing speech. "Now all governments and businesses need to turn these pledges into real-economy outcomes, without delay."

The stocktake calls on Parties to take action towards achieving a global 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.

The World Climate Action Summit, which lasted for two weeks, began with the participation of 154 Heads of State and Government. A significant agreement was reached during the conference on operationalising the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements. A substantive decision was made for the first time on the first day of the conference. Upon this, funds poured in, totalling more than $700 million.

An agreement was reached on the loss and damage agenda, which resulted in progress. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Office for Project Services will host the secretariat of the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage. This platform will provide technical assistance to developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Parties agreed on targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its framework. The GGA framework outlines where the world needs to go to be resilient to the impacts of a changing climate and assesses countries' efforts. The framework reflects a global consensus on adaptation targets and the need for financing, technology, and capacity-building. 

Increasing climate finance 

Climate finance took centre stage at the conference, with Stiell repeatedly calling it the "great enabler of climate action."  The Green Climate Fund (GCF) received a boost to its second replenishment, with six countries pledging new funding at COP 28. The total pledges now stand at $12.8 billion from 31 countries, with further contributions expected.

At COP 28, eight donor governments announced new commitments to the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund, totalling more than $ 174 million to date. The participants pledged nearly $ 188 million in additional funds for the Adaptation Fund. However, the global stocktake highlighted that these financial pledges are far short of the trillions eventually needed to support developing countries with clean energy transitions, implementing their national climate plans, and adaptation efforts.

The global stocktake underscores the importance of reforming the multilateral financial architecture and accelerating the ongoing establishment of new and innovative sources of finance. Discussions continued at COP28 on setting a 'new collective quantified goal on climate finance' in 2024, considering developing countries' needs and priorities. Starting from a baseline of $ 100 billion per year, the new goal will be a building block for developing and implementing national climate plans that need to be delivered by 2025.

At COP 28, some 85,000 participants attended to share ideas solutions, and build partnerships and coalitions. World leaders were joined by civil society, business, Indigenous Peoples, youth, philanthropy, and international organisations in a spirit of shared determination to close the gaps to 2030. The COP 28 decisions underscore the critical importance of empowering all stakeholders to engage in climate action, mainly through the action plan on Action for Climate Empowerment and the Gender Action Plan.

In parallel with the formal negotiations, the Global Climate Action space at COP28 provided a platform for governments, businesses, and civil society to collaborate and showcase their real-world climate solutions. Under the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, the High-Level Champions launched their implementation roadmap of 2030 Climate Solutions. These are a set of solutions, with insights from a wide range of non-party stakeholders on practical measures that need to be scaled up and replicated to halve global emissions, address adaptation gaps, and increase resilience by 2030.

Looking ahead, the negotiations on the 'enhanced transparency framework' at COP28 laid the ground for a new era of implementing the Paris Agreement. UN Climate Change is developing transparency reporting and review tools for Parties. These were showcased and tested at COP28 and will be available to Parties by June 2024. 

COP28 also saw Parties agree to Azerbaijan as host of COP29 from 11-22 November 2024 and Brazil as COP30 host from 10-21 November 2025. The following two years will be critical. At COP29, governments must establish a new climate finance goal, reflecting the scale and urgency of the climate challenge. At COP30, they must come prepared with new nationally determined contributions that are economy-wide, cover all greenhouse gases, and fully align with the 1.5°C temperature limit. 

"We must get on with putting the Paris Agreement fully to work," said Stiell. "In early 2025, countries must deliver new nationally determined contributions. Every commitment – on finance, adaptation, and mitigation – must bring us in line with a 1.5-degree world."