COP28: Global Stocktake adopted; Experts criticise the final draft

DUBAI: Established under Article 14 of the Paris Agreement, the Global Stocktake (GST) is designed “to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of The Paris Agreement and its long-term goals.” Those goals include cutting greenhouse gas emissions to limit global temperature rise; building resilience to climate impacts; and aligning financial support with the scale and scope needed to tackle the climate crisis.

The process is designed to assess the global response to the climate crisis every five years, with the first-ever Stocktake concluding during the UN climate conference-COP28 (28th Conference of the Parties).  

After several rounds of negotiations, the draft text summarising the outcomes and decisions of the Conference of the Parties, serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, was released today, providing a comprehensive overview of global efforts to combat climate change.

From delving into various critical aspects of climate change, the final draft also called for the swift reduction of unabated coal, implementing constraints on new unabated coal power generation, and expediting global efforts towards achieving net zero emission energy systems, utilising zero and low carbon fuels well before it crashes the threshold.

After overrunning the release date by a day, it was adopted with no objection at the closing plenary. COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber hailed countries and organisations for coming together on the revolutionary text.

Although, while following the last draft which presented a list of actions on fossil fuels countries “could” take, the adopted iteration seems to have stronger language. The final draft gave priority to “phasing out” over the “phasing down” strategy of all fossil fuels and the phase down of coal no longer includes a stop to new coal generation.

Also, an earlier point on “reducing both consumption and production” of fossil fuels has been replaced with “transitioning away”.

The document also pushes forward the concept of Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) which is a highly controversial technique for carbon removal. It aims to store emissions from large polluting sources by means such as injecting them into deep geological formations (CO2 into a subsurface formation so that it will remain safely and permanently stored) – and scientists say there is no evidence yet that CCUS will help reduce the impact of greenhouse gases on global warming. Abated fossil fuels are those where CCUS technologies are used to “capture” most of the emissions released. In the case of unabated fossil fuels, the emissions are released directly into the air.

Reiterating the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement, the document emphasises the need for accelerated financial support for developing countries to enable effective climate action. It also addresses the importance of managing risks, responding to loss and damage associated with climate change impacts, and minimising negative economic and social effects of response measures.

Furthermore, it outlines activities to enhance international cooperation, stimulate ambition in the next round of NDCs, and keep the 1.5°C temperature goal within reach. It calls for a dialogue on implementing global stocktake outcomes, a high-level ministerial dialogue on scaling up adaptation finance, and the doubling of climate finance for adaptation to developing countries by 2025.

The proposal encourages the scientific community to continue enhancing knowledge on adaptation and climate change impacts, urging alignment with global stocktakes. It also calls on relevant bodies under the Paris Agreement to integrate global stocktake outcomes into their future work.

On the other hand, experts exclaim that the final draft is “disappointing”, “weak”, “a mess”, “watered down”, and with “no intention of fossil fuel phase-out.”