Brussels - Dubai: Europe and the Arabs
World leaders will gather in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the Global Climate Action Summit that will kick off the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28). The summit begins today and lasts for two days, but from November 30 to December 12, the United Nations conference on Climate Change (COP28) Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These include the European Union and all EU member states. According to what the institutions of the unified European bloc in Brussels announced in a statement, they added, “The European Union will be represented by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Spanish Presidency of the Council.”
Objectives of the Conference of the Parties 28
Every year, the Conference of the Parties meets to set ambitions and responsibilities for climate action, and to define and evaluate climate measures. This year's conference is hosted by the United Arab Emirates, which holds the presidency of COP28. The presidency’s action plan to implement the pillars of the Paris Agreement focuses on four areas:
Fast track the energy transition
Climate finance reform
Putting nature, people, lives and livelihoods at the heart of climate action
Supports everything comprehensively
The main agenda items for COP28 are expected to be:
Global inventory process
Mitigation action programme
Global goal on adaptation
Climate finance, including financial arrangements for loss and damage
The European Union's position on the COP28 conference
The Council agreed with the European Union's position in its conclusions adopted on October 16, 2023.
In its conclusions, the Council highlighted the opportunities that ambitious climate action provides for the planet, the global economy and people, and the importance of ensuring a just transition towards sustainable, climate-resilient, climate-neutral economies and societies that leave no one behind. behind.
The Council stressed the need to significantly increase global ambition to keep the 1.5°C global warming target within reach, and called for:
Collectively strengthening nationally determined contributions
The global phase-out of fossil fuels is relentless and their consumption will peak in this decade
A fully or mostly decarbonized global energy system in the 2030s
Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies does not address energy poverty or just transition as soon as possible
Global action towards tripling installed renewable energy capacity and doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030
He called on all parties to make greater efforts to integrate climate change adaptation and resilience into existing policies and programs in all relevant sectors.
All countries must step up efforts to mobilize finance to support climate action
The European Union is also determined to work with all parties to:
Continue to strengthen the implementation of the enhanced transparency framework
Promoting an inclusive discussion on the future of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Strengthening the implementation of the Glasgow Action Agenda on Action for Climate Empowerment
Addressing the gender dimension
Discussing the implementation of climate action in the field of agricultural and food security
On October 17, the Council also adopted conclusions on climate finance. The conclusions stressed the commitment of European Union countries to mobilize 100 billion US dollars annually until 2025 to help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change. They expect to achieve this goal in 2023 for the first time.