COP 28: The UAE Consensus and its impact on climate action
“The world needed to find a new way. We have worked hard to secure a better future for our people and planet. We should be proud of our historic achievement,” said Dr. Al Jaber, COP 28 President, referencing the UAE consensus to end all fossil fuels.
One of the hallmarks of Q4 2023 was the COP 28 event that garnered attention from all over the world. The Conference of Parties (COP) represents the largest decision-making body of world leaders, NGOs, public and private sectors regarding climate change. COP is one of the three instruments of combating climate change by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The rest are the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. COP was borne out of acknowledging climate change and its effects on the environment across all countries. It heralded a series of negotiations and resolutions geared towards combating climate change through specific actions by countries and all stakeholders alike.
The world is changing. Increased human activities in production consumption and the growing population have opened a window of opportunity to innovate how we live constantly. However, our unabated use of natural resources in a quest for industrialization creates severe consequences for the natural environment. Climate Change is one of the threats to human existence.
Quick Background
Just in case you live under a rock and you haven’t heard the term Climate Change, it refers to the change in temperature of the atmosphere to be warmer, wetter, or drier than average. The effects are high temperatures, drought, rising ocean tides, loss of food, etc.
The effects of Climate change on the environment led to the first environmental conference called the Stockholm conference in 1972. and it established the declaration of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment. Subsequently, in 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development also known as the ‘Earth Summit’ was held. This was a crucial step in the fight against climate change as the outcome was the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The COP meeting has been held since 1995 as a global effort to curb the climate crisis.
The details
COP 28 was held last year from the 30th of November to the 12th of December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). It hosted about 85,000 participants and organized 285 press conferences, 152 Global Climate Action Events, 366 Side events, and 195 Exhibits. The conference was dedicated to speeding up existing efforts of Climate Action before 2030. COP 28 sought to help countries strengthen and increase their resilience to the effects of climate change and increase climate finance. At the end of COP 28, the Historic “UAE” consensus was reached. Countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy.
The agenda of the UAE consensus
The UAE consensus heralded the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era agreed by countries of COP 28. The major commitments of the UAE consensus include
- An unprecedented reference to transitioning away from all fossil fuels to enable the world to reach net zero by 2050
- A significant step forward in the expectations of the Next round of Nationally Determined Contributions by encouraging economy-wide emission and reduction targets
- Building momentum behind the financial architecture reform agenda, recognizing the role of credit rating agencies for the first time, and calling for a scale-up of concessional grant finance.
- A news-specific target to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2050
- Recognizing the need to significantly scale up adaptation finance beyond the doubling to meet urgent and evolving needs.
Despite the optimistic commitments of the UAE consensus, small island countries have termed the deal as inconclusive and not considerable to their needs because they are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Developing countries still require finance to transition away from fossil fuels, and their adaptation to the effects of climate change is weak. Major oil-producing states like Saudi Arabia have opposed the agreement. They have, however, referenced its carbon-capturing technology but have failed to invest in it.
During COP 28, The New Loss and Damage fund was expounded upon through the development of National Response plans, addressing the challenges small countries face, like insufficient climate information and data. The fund also promotes equitable, safe, and dignified human mobility in the form of displacement, relocation, and migration. Dubai Became the first country to commit by pledging over $650 million.
In conclusion, The UAE consensus will not be the decisive point of reaching the global average warming of 1.5°C, but it’s certainly a milestone that indicates to the world that the end of fossil fuels is already upon us. It signifies a turning point in the fight against climate change and builds momentum that can hopefully be leveraged to create the needed action for climate change.
