The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Simon Stiell has said that the global stocktake slated for this year’s climate summit, COP28, will define the status of climate action.
He made the remarks at the first day of the ongoing Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Paris Agreement includes a provision for a periodic review of how effectively global efforts are performing in accomplishing the treaty’s purpose. The first stocktake began at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) and will finish at this year’s COP28 in the United Arab Emirates. Each stocktake takes two years and occurs every five years.
In his speech, Stiell said that the world’s first global stocktake is “a moment of truth”, that should tell the world where it is and where it needs to go.
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“Since 2015, we have known that COP28 was going to be a momentous one. The world’s first global stocktake is a moment of truth. It must tell us where we are, where we need to go, and how we’ll get there,” he said. “This is not just another synthesis report, this is a moment in history. I want the history books to read: ‘2023 was the year the world stopped dithering and the paradigm shift happened.
Speaking further, he said, “the Global Stock Take (GST) must be a tool which gives us a roadmap. One which can guide our sector by sector, region by region, actor by actor on what surgical interventions must take place to align ourselves with a resilient 1.5 degree Celsius world.
Continuing, he said, “before you put on negotiating hats, whether that be for a government, company or institution, spend some time being philosophical,”. “What does the World really need? How can we present what it needs in a practical and usable form? The GST won’t deliver simply because it’s a date on the calendar — a technical obligation — but because we choose to rise to the challenge of the great opportunity for accelerated action it offers”.
He challenged everyone attending the conference to envision the most ambitious, political outcome needed for the GST.
“I don’t want to hear ‘what’s the bare minimum we need to do.’ This is a unique opportunity. COP28 will also bring home crucial work on several long-awaited deliverables as well – achieving a global goal on adaptation, hammering out the details of the loss and damage finance facility, driving towards a global goal on finance, accelerating both an energy and a just transition, closing the massive emissions gap and work in many other areas.”
This story was adapted from The Cable.
