WWF: COP28 must be the COP of climate credibility

Posted on 30 November 2023

Climate summit must deliver a dramatic course-correction to reset climate action in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C

DUBAI – World leaders must ensure that the COP28 climate summit is the COP of climate credibility, says WWF. The agreements made in Dubai must be aligned with the urgency of the climate crisis, and the scale of efforts needed to address it.

At the most consequential climate talks since the Paris Agreement was born in 2015, a key decision from Dubai will center 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.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead, and COP20 President said: “COP28 must be the COP of climate credibility, with all plans, pledges, and finance aligned with the speed and scale of action needed to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis. We can still avoid a future of ever escalating climate catastrophes, but we are way off course and time is running out.

“Countries must agree to a roadmap that resets global climate ambition and action in line with limiting global warming to 1.5oC. We cannot afford to have another COP where ambition and action are not ratcheted up. The sooner and more decisively we act, the sooner people and nature can reap the benefits of a cleaner, safer and more stable future.”

Dunja Mazzocco Drvar, Director of the Nature Conservation Program at WWF Adria said: "The recently published report of the UN Environment Programme on the gap between policies in force and those to which countries have committed themselves shows that we are still not able to adequately reduce emissions and that we are on the way to warming of 2.5 to 2.9 °C compared to to the pre-industrial period. All economic sectors must participate in the transformation, and richer countries that also have a greater historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions must commit to ambition and faster action at this COP."

Finance is key to unlocking climate action. COP28’s credibility relies on evidence of significantly scaled up public finance by developed countries to beyond $100 billion per annum. Doubling finance for climate adaptation by 2025 in line with the needs of developing countries is imperative.

WWF calls for strong political signals committing all countries to phase-out fossil fuels. Fernanda Carvalho, WWF Climate and Energy Policy Lead, said: “Leaders must agree to a global plan to phase out all fossil fuels. A failure to act decisively to end the fossil fuel age will condemn the world to increasing climate disruptions. Ending the production and use of fossil fuels and transitioning to 100% renewable energy is the solution that will have the largest climate change impact at scale.”

It is also essential that countries continue to acknowledge that the climate crisis and biodiversity crises are inextricably linked. “Natural systems are being pushed beyond their limits. Decarbonization and nature restoration must happen in parallel. In recognition of this, WWF is calling for a new work program on climate and nature to be established as part of future COP climate summits,” says Carvalho.

climate change

WWF: COP28 must be the COP of climate credibility

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