Unite for Nature - Issue 2

A clear message for COP28

The First Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement is bringing the impact of climate change into sharp focus. We cannot afford to overshoot the +1.5°C climate benchmark. We cannot afford to treat biodiversity loss and climate change as different crises. And we cannot afford to accept a Global Stocktake with no teeth. We must course correct, now.

To that end, there are four important guardrails that will keep us on track and determined at COP28, and in the years that follow.

One of the most important tasks at hand is a rapid and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels and fossil fuel subsidies, within a framework that avoids detrimental impacts on communities, ecosystems and species. All Parties must accelerate the deployment of renewable energy systems, including community-based renewable energy systems and micro-grids.

Secondly: the Global Stocktake is not a symbolic yardstick – it must yield clear action items at COP28, and must be reflected in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). And while we’re on the topic of NDCs, countries must incorporate concrete and ambitious Nature-based Solutions within them.

The importance of Nature-based Solutions cannot be overstated – they provide vital pathways for the protection, restoration and sustainable management of the world’s ecosystems, and immediate and cost-effective benefits for both mitigation and adaptation. But when implementing these solutions, we must adhere to a high-integrity approach in the design, verification and scaling-up of such initiatives by applying the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions.

Thirdly: delivering on finance is indispensable to achieving climate objectives. We must scale-up global climate financing and funding to support meaningful action across the entire continuum of mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage, with an increased proportion made directly available to Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Finally: inclusion. Inclusive and equitable climate policy and action that takes into account the core priorities, concerns, needs and rights of the most vulnerable, particularly Indigenous peoples, women and youth, is absolutely essential.

COP28 is but one pivotal step on the very long road fighting climate change and biodiversity loss. We must not tire.

Onward!                           

Razan Al Mubarak,
IUCN President and
UN Climate Change High-Level Champion
for COP28