Land and Drought Resilience Pavilion at UNFCCC COP28 (2024)

FAQs

Was COP28 a success or failure? ›

Both were achieved, yet both fell short of the victories they should have been. While opinion is divided as to whether to hail the outcomes as successes or failures, I leave COP28 with the sense of one very clear success story and one clear failure.

COP28 marked the first time that nearly 200 countries agreed on the need to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems – with action accelerating in this critical decade to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, in keeping with the science.

COP 28 closed with an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.

It was billed as a critical moment to “keep 1.5˚C alive” as global temperatures fast near this threshold. The headline outcome of the conference was an agreement to “transition away from fossil fuels” as part of the global stocktake (PDF), the first COP text to mention a global shift away from using fossil fuels.

The role of fossil fuels in Gulf economies made the question of phasing out fossil fuels a particularly contentious issue at COP28.

The UN Climate Change Conference COP 28 in Dubai has ended in disappointment: The demand for an urgently needed phase-out of oil, gas and coal was reduced to a toothless “transition”.

This summary document provides an overview of the key outcomes of global climate action across the four pillars set by the COP 28 Presidency: i) fast-tracking a just, orderly, and equitable energy transition; ii) fixing climate finance; iii) focusing on people, lives and livelihoods; and iv) underpinning everything ...

U.S. Center at COP28

The U.S. Center will feature a full schedule of events throughout the two weeks of COP28 and will feature a diversity of sectors, issue areas, perspectives, and experiences that are informing global action and the implementation of climate solutions.

Some 85,000 participants attended COP28 to share ideas, solutions, and build partnerships and coalitions.

The COP28 decisions haven't solved the climate crisis – no single multilateral process could do so. But countries have taken a decisive step to transition away from fossil fuels, deliver on global targets on adaptation, and start to scale up finance for climate action.

What is the main agenda of COP28? ›

COP 28 is an opportunity to identify global solutions for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, inform countries' preparations for revised and more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (national climate plans) due by 2025, accelerate the green transition that is already happening and ultimately ...

The final text, released on 13 December, avoided calling for the “phase out” of coal, oil and gas, as many nations had hoped. But it did stipulate the tripling of new investments in renewable energy and the “transitioning away” from fossil fuels in power systems.

It includes accelerating efforts globally towards net zero emissions energy systems and transitioning away from fossil fuels in our energy systems. The new resolution from COP28 is considerably tougher than the first draft which caused consternation among many of the delegates at the conference.

The Global Goal on Adaptation now includes a specific target to accelerate the use of ecosystem-based adaptation by 2030. COP28 also shed light on the challenges faced by mountain ecosystems and proposed concrete steps for intervention in 2024 under the Nairobi Work Programme.

The slogan "UNITE. ACT. DELIVER." explicitly emphasises that, for the first time, the Global Stocktake must be delivered, showing the progress the international community has made in implementing the Paris climate goals and the concrete measures that have followed from it.

The COP28 conference had both positive and negative outcomes for Africa. On the positive side, progress was made on crucial climate change issues such as loss and damage, climate finance, adaptation, food, and energy.

Several commentators have described COP21, which involved 196 countries, as a diplomatic success. For the first time all parties – from industrialised to low-income – have committed to work together to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The purpose of the Fund is to assist developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in responding to economic and non-economic loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events.