The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 12, 2023.

COP28 represents a significant litmus test to assess whether actions aimed at reducing emissions are effective in achieving the 2030 emission reduction targets. By this deadline, it will be imperative to decrease emissions by 43% in order to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. This challenge also involves taking measures for adaptation, within a global context marked by increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events.

In climate diplomacy terminology, this assessment is referred to as the global stocktake (GST), which involves evaluating the progress made by individual countries in terms of emission reductions, as outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Climate finance will be a prominent topic at COP28 as well. Countries in the Global South are strongly advocating for a reform of the global financial structure to channel more funds toward climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is worth remembering that one of the achievements of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh was the establishment of a Loss & Damage fund to assist countries that are most severely impacted by climate change. This fund is now in urgent need of financial support.