DUBAI, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) — The 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) began on Thursday afternoon in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
This year’s climate change conference has attracted widespread global attention as it marks the conclusion of the Global Stocktake, the first two-year assessment of the world’s collective progress towards the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
After his official appointment as President of COP28, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: “The new path begins with a decision on global stocktaking, a decision that is ambitious, course-correcting and accelerating action until 2030.”
Al Jaber appealed to world leaders, calling for immediate and ambitious action on global stocktaking, rapid consensus on the agenda and rapid progress in implementing the text.
He noted that “this presidency is committed to unlocking (green) finance to ensure that the Global South does not have to choose between development and climate action,” and called on all parties to find common ground, put forward solutions and unite to reach consensus.
At the opening ceremony, United Nations Executive Secretary for Climate Action Simon Stiell said “small steps” were being taken. He added that the planet is “moving too slowly out of an unstable world that lacks the resilience to find the best answers to the complex (climate change) impacts we face.”
He called on affected parties to “take responsibility for speeding things up” and “to be transparent in the actions and decisions we make among ourselves.”
The UN climate chief called for the transition from fossil fuels to green energy and in this context emphasized “fairness within and between countries”.
He also warned that the world has “about six years until we exhaust the planet’s ability to manage our emissions before we exceed the 1.5 degree limit.”
The conference, taking place from November 30 to December 12, will welcome more than 70,000 delegates from around the world to find a global solution to the pressing climate challenges facing the planet and all of humanity.