The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from November 30 to December 12, 2023.
- Officially, COP 28 stands for the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC.
- More than 85,000 delegates attended COP28, including the member states (or Parties) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- Representatives from 197 countries showcased their efforts to limit global warming and prepare for future climate change.
- This was the first time where countries formally assess their progress under the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
Host:
The host government and presidency of the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP28) was the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
- Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and United Arab Emirates Special Envoy for Climate Change, served as the COP28 President.
» Every COP is hosted in a different region based on a rotational schedule between the five United Nations regional groups:
- The African Group, the Asia-Pacific Group, the Eastern Europe Group, the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC) and the Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
» The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) was an opportunity to identify global solutions for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
- It was also an opportunity to inform countries’ preparations for revised and more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (national climate plans) due by 2025, accelerate the green transition that is already happening and ultimately achieve the delivery of the Paris Agreement goals.
» Each day’s programme incorporated four cross-cutting themes that underpin effective, interconnected delivery.
- These were: Technology & Innovation, Inclusion, Frontline Communities and Finance.
Key Takeaways of COP 28:
» The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) was particularly significant as it marked the conclusion of the first ‘global stocktake’ of the world’s efforts to address climate change under the Paris Agreement.
» Having shown that progress was too slow across all areas of climate action – from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to strengthening resilience to a changing climate, to getting the financial and technological support to vulnerable nations – countries responded with a decision on how to accelerate action across all areas by 2030.
- This includes a call on governments to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels to renewables such as wind and solar power in their next round of climate commitments.
India at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28):
World Climate Action Summit:
» The first part of the high-level segment for delivery of national statements by Heads of State and Government took place from 1 to 2 December during the World Climate Action Summit.
» At the invitation of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the World Climate Action Summit of the COP-28 on 1 December 2023.
» Prime Minister participated in the COP-28 Presidency’s Session on “Transforming Climate Finance” on 1 December.
Focus:
- The event focussed on making climate finance more available, accessible, and affordable to developing countries.
» During the session, the leaders adopted the “UAE Declaration on a New Global Climate Finance Framework”.
- The declaration includes elements on, inter alia, delivering on commitments and achieving ambitious outcomes and widening the sources of concessional finance for climate action.
» Prime Minister called for the COP-28 to deliver on the following issues related to Climate Finance:
- Progress in New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance
- Replenishment of Green Climate Fund & Adaptation Fund
- Affordable Finance to be made available by MDBs for Climate Action
- Developed countries must eliminate their carbon footprint before 2050
Phase-II of the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT 2.0):
» Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi together with Mr. Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden, co-launched the Phase-II of the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT 2.0) for the period 2024-26, at COP-28.
- India and Sweden also launched the Industry Transition Platform, which will connect the governments, industries, technology providers, researchers and think tanks of the two countries.
» India and Sweden hosted the LeadIT Summit 2023 on the sidelines of COP28.
» Phase II LeadIT 2.0 has been developed on three pillars:
- Global forum for a just and equitable industry transition
- Technology transfer and co-development
- Industry transition partnerships for coordinated multilateral assistance
» India and Sweden had co-launched LeadIT at UN Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019. The LeadIT Summit serves as an opportunity for governments and industry to discuss plans and policies for low carbon transition of the industrial sector to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Green Credits Programme:
» Prime Minister Narendra Modi together with President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of UAE, co-hosted the High-level event on ‘Green Credits Programme’ at COP-28, on 1 December. Prime Minister invited all nations to join this Initiative.
» The Green Credit Initiative has been conceptualized as a mechanism to incentivize voluntary pro-planet actions, as an effective response to the challenge of climate change.
- It envisions the issue of Green Credits for plantations on waste/degraded lands and river catchment areas, to rejuvenate and revive natural eco-systems.
Aim:
This global initiative aims to facilitate global collaboration, cooperation and partnership through exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practices in planning, implementation and monitoring of environment positive actions through programs/mechanisms like Green Credits.
Global River Cities Alliance (GRCA):
» National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, launched the Global River Cities Alliance (GRCA) at the 28th Conference of the Parties.
Led by:
- National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India is leading the Global River Cities Alliance (GRCA).
Under this, in 2021, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) along with NMCG formed the existing River Cities Alliance (RCA), the reach of which is being expanded extensively.
» GRCA is a unique alliance covering 275+ global river-cities in 11 countries, international funding agencies and knowledge management partners and is first of its kind in the world.
- The GRCA has been launched with countries namely India, Egypt, Netherlands, Denmark, Ghana, Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Japan and river-cities of The Hague (Den Haag) from the Netherlands, Adelaide from Australia, and Szolnok of Hungary.
- International funding agencies the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and knowledge management institution like KPMG also entered into a partnership.
The launch of GRCA, signifies a momentous step in global efforts toward river conservation and sustainable water management. Following this, partner countries are poised to coordinate post-COP activities, shaping the architecture of GRCA for effective implementation.
Indian side event:
» Impacts and implications of Climate Change Vulnerability in the Himalayan Region and ways of creating ‘Climate Resilient Development in Indian Himalayan Region by making mountain communities green and resilient were discussed the side event hosted at the India pavilion at the UN Climate Conference COP 28 on 3 December.
Quad Climate Working Group (QCWG) Side Event:
» The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India organised a side event under the Climate Ambition Pillar of Quad Climate Working Group on “Localising Climate Action” at the India Pavilion on the sidelines of COP 28.
- The event focused on recognizing and amplifying the role of local communities, local and regional Governments in supporting sustainable lifestyles.
» Furthermore, MoEFCC, Government of India along with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) organised another side event under the Adaptation Pillar of Quad Climate Working Group on “Capturing the Resilience Dividend: Quad Achievements under the Climate Adaptation Pillar” at the India Pavilion.
About COP:
- COP stands for the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- It is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention.
- It brings together the 198 Parties (197 nations plus the European Union) that have signed on to the Framework Convention.
- The UN Climate Change conferences (or COPs) take place every year, and are the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change with almost complete membership of every country in the world.
- The first COP was held in Berlin in 1995.
- The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on December 11, 1997. Owing to a complex ratification process, it entered into force on February 16, 2005. Currently, there are 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
- The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on November 4, 2016. That agreement set the goal of limiting global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F), and preferably to 1.5 C (2.7 F), to avoid catastrophic climate change.
- COP27 was held from November 6 to 18, 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.