The COP is, as we all know, a vast and complex landscape of actors, alliances, and initiatives, all of which have contact with the negotiation process. We are seeing that wider landscape push the process toward higher ambition. The question after Day 3 is whether this can hold, and whether legal decisions will be actionable and actualized.
A lot more is happening than what we cover here, but we want to recognize a series of important steps forward that make it possible the COP28 could deliver real upgrading of ambition:
- More than $420 million (USD) in funding was committed to address and support the overcoming of loss and damage. This is a small amount compared to the need, but a significant first step at a crucial moment.
- 134 nations joined the COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action. (Kazakhstan became the 135th by end of Day 3.)
- A Leaders Declaration re-committed to advancing innovative modes and expanded sums of adaptation finance.
- New funding was announced along with major commitments to reduce methane emissions, and support the shift to economy-wide all-GHG national climate plans. $1 billion will go to methane emissions abatement, while a Global Decarbonization Accelerator will support ongoing funding for critical innovations and technology deployment.
- The United States announced it will deliver $3 billion to the 2nd replenishment of the Green Climate Fund; Vice President Harris announced plans to work with Congress to boost US climate finance funding to $11 billion per year by the end of next year.
- Overall, climate finance funding still lags far behind where we know it needs to be to support prosperity aligned with 1.5ºC, but this is an important sign of increasing support.
- A new Net-Zero Data Public Utility was announced, which will make it far easier to get reliable, standardized, multifaceted, and improving climate data to not only more institutions, but to more marginal communities and small-scale innovators. (CCI has long called for more freely available and integrated data systems, as part of our Resilience Intelligence work.)
We are very proud to have opened the 3rd year of the People’s Pavilion digital platform, which is providing remote access to the landscape of advocacy and negotiation for people around the world.
There are also promising signs in the negotiating process, so much so, we have decided to highlight the following key language in the draft Global Stocktake report from the SB co-chairs in our forthcoming Right to Resilience report.
The draft text released on Day 2 of the COP28 by the SBI and SBSTA co-chairs on matters relating to the Global Stocktake, includes the following key provisions, among others:
- “Underlining the critical role of multilateralism based on United Nations values and principles… and the importance of international cooperation for addressing global issues…”
- “climate change is a common concern of humankind…”
- “Parties should… respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, the right to health, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity…”
- “Noting the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including in forests, the ocean and the cryosphere, and the protection of biodiversity, recognized by some cultures as Mother Earth, and also noting the importance of ‘climate justice’, when taking action to address climate change…”
- “Underlining the urgent need to address, in a comprehensive and synergetic manner, the interlinked global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss in the broader context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals…”
- “the vital importance of protecting, conserving, restoring and sustainably using nature and ecosystems for effective and sustainable climate action…”
- “sustainable and just solutions to the climate crisis must be founded on meaningful and effective social dialogue and participation of all stakeholders…”
- “the importance of accountability and credibility of climate action…”
- “Recognizes that the impacts of climate change will be much lower at the temperature increase of 1.5°C compared with 2°C and resolves to pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C…”
- “phase…out fossil fuels… no new coal…”
If the COP28 adopts a global consensus agreement including, honoring, and acting on these provisions in a coordinated, cooperative, and accelerated way, it will be setting the world on course to honor the right to resilience and to build a future that is livable, secure, and prosperous. If it falls short on including and activating any of these, the right to resilience will be in real peril, for people of every country and region.
On Day 3 of the COP28, CCI formally signed onto the Non-State Actors Call to Action on Transforming Food Systems for People, Nature, and Climate. We aim to advance climate-aligned healthy food systems by:
- Advocating for economy-wide, upgraded NDCs;
- Support citizen participation through the Food, Finance, and Democracy Project and the Capital to Communities approach to stakeholder-informed climate finance;
- Advancing the Right to Resilience as a critical engine for human-centered ambitious climate action;
- And supporting innovative, inclusive non-market multilateral climate cooperation.
Last, but not least, we should mention that there are new countries signing onto the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, including Colombia, itself one of the top 20-25 oil exporting countries. Others should follow, so we can make good on the Convention mandate to prevent dangerous climate change and secure a climate-resilient future.
If you want more information on what’s happening in the negotiations, don’t forget to check the Earth Negotiations Bulletin from IISD for daily reports.
CCI COP28 activities are outlined at:
Climate Value Exchange 