UAE, Azerbaijan, Brazil join COP’s Climate ‘Troika’
The three countries are mandated by 198 signatories to the Dubai agreement to work together on a roadmap to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius
The UAE hosted last year’s COP28 conference in Dubai, while Azerbaijan will host this year’s summit, followed by Brazil in 2025.
The three countries were mandated by 198 signatories to the Dubai agreement to work together on a roadmap to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a key climate goal that global greenhouse gas emissions have seriously threatened.
“The Troika helps ensure we have the collaboration and continuity required to keep the North Star of 1.5C in sight – from Baku to Belem and beyond,” COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber said in a statement.
Considering current climate pledges, according to U.N. estimates, the world is still on track to warm between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius this century.
The 1.5-degree Celsius limit will probably be reached between 2030 and 2035, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
According to the final agreement reached at COP28, the Troika partnership should “significantly enhance international cooperation and the international enabling environment to stimulate ambition in the next round of nationally determined contributions.”
This is “with a view to scaling up action and implementation during this critical decade and keeping the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit within reach”, according to the agreement.
Climate financing
At COP28, the world agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels, but there was no progress on unblocking financial flows to developing countries, a central sticking point in negotiations.
This issue is set to be a central theme of COP29 in Baku, where a new target is expected for the financial support developed countries provide for climate change.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, wealthy nations likely met their goal of providing $100 billion in annual climate finance to poorer nations in 2022 – two years later than promised.
The UN’s high-level expert group on climate finance said in 2022 that developing nations (excluding China) must spend some $2.4 trillion annually on clean energy and climate resilience by 2030 – four times current levels.
“We are committed to leveraging our strength as a bridge builder between the developed and developing world as host of COP29 to accelerate efforts to keep 1.5 in reach,” said COP29 president-designate Mukhtar Babayev.
“Key to that will be establishing a new climate finance goal that reflects the scale and urgency of the climate challenge.”
Source: AFP
