International leaders convened in Dubai towards the end of November 2023 to discuss climate-related issues and consider ways to address them under the UN’s jurisdiction.
This summit will cover a wide range of issues, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to extreme climate events, trading carbon emissions, and gender inequality.
The COP28 Summit in the UAE is the largest ever, with over 40,000 people from 197 countries attending.
The primary goals of the summit are to assess the steps that nations have taken to address climate change since the 2015 Paris Agreement and to determine how best to proceed in order to maintain global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Obstacles in the global combat against climate change:
The world will have difficulty reaching this goal because nations have not reduced emissions at the rate that the Paris Agreement promised.
The following are the key challenges:
* Interest differences among nations: When it comes to climate change, nations have different needs and interests.
The developed countries are putting pressure on developing countries to make more stringent pledges to reduce their emissions, as they have historically accounted for the majority of global emissions.
While developing countries think they are entitled to use fossil fuels to boost their economies.
* Difficulty reaching consensus on legally binding instruments and policies: To combat climate change, tough decisions must be made, like cutting emissions and assisting developing countries in addressing the effects of the climate.
Reaching a consensus on binding instruments and protocols to accomplish these ends might be challenging.
* Lack of political will: Not all countries are prepared to take the required action, so fighting climate change will present political difficulties.
The COP28 summit’s role in combating climate change:
In the battle against climate change, the COP28 UAE summit will be crucial. Its top priorities are:
* Assessing national efforts to combat climate change: The summit’s objective is to assess national efforts to cut emissions and assist developing countries in addressing the effects of climate change.
* Taking the required actions to advance towards the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius: The summit will aim to take the required actions towards this goal, including tougher emission reduction pledges from participating nations and sufficient funding from developed countries for developing countries.
* Increasing international cooperation in the fight against climate change: One goal of the summit is to increase international cooperation in the fight against climate change by exchanging knowledge, funding, and technological know-how.
Anticipations for the COP28 summit:
Achieving the following goals would indicate the success of the COP28 UAE Summit:
* Convincing developing countries to make more stringent commitments to reduce their emissions: This is crucial because developing countries are already more severely affected by climate change than developed ones.
* Developed countries secure a pledge from developing countries to assist them in addressing the effects of climate change: This is crucial because developed countries have the resources to assist developing countries in addressing these effects.
* Reaching a consensus on legally binding instruments and procedures to address climate change: This is critical because reaching a consensus on these instruments and protocols will support countries in carrying out their commitments.
The world has a significant chance to combat climate change at the COP28 conference in the United Arab Emirates, but success will not come easily as tough agreements that satisfy the needs of all parties will need to be reached.
