The global Stocktake is like taking inventory. It means looking at everything related to where the world stands on climate action and support, identifying the gaps, and working together to chart a better course forward to accelerate climate action.

New Delhi (ABC Live): The COP28 is going underway from 1/12/2023 to 12/12/2023 in the UAE city of Dubai.

The ABC Research team at COP reports that the Global Stocktake takes place every five years, with the first-ever Stocktake concluded at COP28 on December 2, 2023.

What is Global Stocktake?

The global Stocktake is like taking inventory. It means looking at everything related to where the world stands on climate action and support, identifying the gaps, and working together to chart a better course forward to accelerate climate action.

It is intended to inform the next round of climate action plans under the Paris Agreement (nationally determined contributions, or ‘NDCs’) to be put forward by 2025.

What Does Global Stocktake tell us?

In short, implementation of the Paris Agreement is lacking across all areas and not where it should be.

The Stocktake calls for a systems transformation, which follows a whole-society and whole-economy approach that mainstreams climate resilience and development aligned with low greenhouse gas emissions. Such efforts must be maintained over decades, supporting sustainable development and the eradication of poverty.

The Stocktake also points to a growing gap between the needs of developing countries and the support provided and mobilized for them, and calls for the unlocking and redeployment of trillions of dollars towards climate action and climate-resilient development.

Why Global Stocktake is so important?

The global Stocktake is unfolding in a critical decade for climate action.

The overarching goal of the Paris Agreement is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

The science from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Crossing the 1.5°C threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts, the IPCC warns.

The findings from the global stocktake’s technical report published in September are therefore both a stark reminder of the urgency of our situation and a call to action.

In this sense, it’s not the Stocktake itself that is the game-changer – it’s the global response, the response by countries as Parties to the Paris Agreement that will make the difference in the form of higher ambition and accelerated action.

@ COP28 Three High-Level events (on Adaptation, Means of Implementation and Mitigation respectively) were held on the 1st and 2nd December 2023, chaired by the first global Stocktake (GST) High-Level Committee (HLC), consisting of the COP 27 and COP 28 Presidencies of the CMA, and the Chairs of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI).  

According to COP28 released documents on the first global Stocktake following are the takeaways:

1. Leaders stressed that the world is facing an unprecedented challenge due to climate change. The Paris Agreement has catalyzed global climate action by government and non-government stakeholders, with positive progress toward achieving its objectives. However, we are still off track. There is an urgent need for a paradigm shift, taking a holistic approach to successfully address climate change that accelerates ambition, action, and support across the agenda. 

2. They underlined that the GST[1] is an opportunity to address gaps and inform enhanced delivery of climate action and sustainable development objectives. This includes progress on effective and implementable Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and all other climate plans and policies, guided by equity, the best available science and in line with the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, respective capabilities, and in light of national circumstances. 

3. Leaders emphasized the importance of a comprehensive, transformational, multisectoral, and whole-of-society response to climate action, ensuring fair and equitable transitions, leaving no one behind, and aligning with efforts for sustainable development and poverty eradication. They highlighted the value of making policies gender-responsive and ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including oceans and mountains, and the protection of biodiversity. 

4. They recognized that Non-Party stakeholders (NPS) including businesses, investors, cities and regions, women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities worldwide have a crucial role in implementation through inclusive and innovative approaches to support global efforts to tackle climate change challenges and seizing opportunities. 

To read the complete report click here

Also, Read

Explained: The Climate Technologies Progress in 2022