New Delhi, November 29, 2023: With the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) opening at Dubai, the delegation from the New Delhi-based The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) to the session underscored the need for the global climate negotiations to adopt a people-centric approach, and make headway on long-standing issues of climate finance and loss and damage.
At the most consequential climate talks since the Paris Agreement was born in 2015, a key decision from Dubai will centre on the ‘Global Stocktake’ and its first assessment of progress towards achieving the aims of the agreement. In response, COP28 must deliver a course-correcting roadmap to shape the future of climate action on a global scale.
The TERI delegation will be part of an array of events and be engaged with them in diverse capacities -- as organizer, co-organizer and panellist; and will discuss issues of decarbonization pathways, vulnerability and adaptation, technological change, climate governance, climate finance and enhanced transparency.
With this context, we have formulated TERI's viewpoint on the expectations from COP28.
"In the backdrop of the current geo-political situation and deepening climate crisis, COP28 assumes greater significance than its past editions. There are considerable expectations that the prevailing climate chaos will be dealt with a sense of urgency, providing a clear roadmap for the future,” said Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director-General, TERI. Rooting for clean technologies, Dr Dhawan added. “Technology has a pivotal role to play in building resilient economies and communities. Technology sharing and co-development is the need of the hour. One would like to see the adoption of clean technologies being incentivized in this COP."
“At COP28, Global Stocktake and the issue of Loss and Damage will dominate. Global Stocktake is an opportunity for the world to realize that setting long term goals alone will not save the planet. The UAE Presidency will have its task cut out to ensure that there are ambitious outcomes in terms of actions by countries in Global North well before 2030. It is necessary to bring adaptation financing to the core of COP agenda to address both short term as well as long term interests of all countries in the next commitment cycle,” said Mr RR Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow, TERI.
'Global Collaboration at COP28 must prioritize innovative cooling technologies, robust institutional frameworks and fortified budgetary provisions to ensure sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all. This will help in enhancing the co-benefits of climate action and emission reduction. India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) reflects our dedication to fostering an environment that ignites policy initiatives and investments. Managing thermal comfort safeguards cities ‘resilience and sustainability, which is critical for health, income and productivity goals,” said Mr Sanjay Seth, Senior Director, TERI.
Dr Jitendra Vir Sharma, Senior Director, TERI observed, “The mechanism under article 6.4- providing a framework for the establishment of a global carbon credit market of the Paris Agreement is expected to be finalized during COP 28. It is also expected to include reducing forest degradation under REDD+ mechanism to compensate the efforts of forest dependent communities.”
“The Global Stocktake sets the pace of progress on Global Climate Action. COP28 frames the contours of the Global Stocktake process and expectations are that the reporting processes are made quantifiable and should embed a strong validation process,” said Ms Suruchi Bhadwal, Senior Fellow, TERI.
“COP28 marks the first formal Global Stocktake (GST). The GST process is likely to call for increasing ambition in climate action. It is important that this call is unequivocally assertive on including ambition on global goal on adaptation as well as commensurate commitment of financial flows to developing countries. It is also imperative that the work programme on just transition becomes a part of core agenda for subsequent COPs,” said Dr Manish Kumar Shrivastava, Associate Director, TERI.
Reflecting on the Global Goal on Adaptation, Dr Shailly Kedia, Senior Fellow, TERI, said, “The outcome on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) will be a key determinant of the success of COP28. The IPCC definition of adaptation emphasizes human and natural systems and not countries.”
Stressing on the need for a “paradigm shift in the climate regime” for adaptation, Dr Kedia underscored, “Climate negotiations remain country-driven but for GGA a more nuanced approach to human and natural systems is needed. Language around phasing down of fossil fuels or phasing out of fossil fuel emissions will remain a bone of contention.”
The events TERI will be engaged with at COP28 are spread across the fortnight of the session. To find out about TERI’s presence at COP28, click here: https://teriin.org/teri-at-cop28
