Global Stocktake and Global Goal on Adaptation at COP28

Reacting to the Global Goal on Adaptation and Global Stocktake at COP28, IIED’s executive director Tom Mitchell said:

Press release, 13 December 2023
Collection
UN climate change conference (COP28)
A series of pages related to IIED's activities at the 2023 UNFCCC climate change summit in Dubai

On plans for adapting to climate change in the Global Goal on Adaptation and Global Stocktake:

“It’s good to see the international community acknowledge that more money needs to get to communities on the frontlines of climate change.  

“Current pledges for adaptation are welcome, but nowhere near enough, and are feeding a broken system. We must reform the labyrinthine bureaucracies which hoover up vast funds, and require the most vulnerable countries to jump through multiple hoops and years of delay. Funders must prioritise adaptation work led by the people most affected by this crisis.

“The countries most at risk have made clear during these negotiations that they need more money in the form of grants, as well as long-term, low-interest finance and debt relief, in order to protect their citizens from a climate crisis they’ve done little to cause. It’s past time for the global elite to deliver.”

On fossil fuels:

“The industry lobbyists and petro-state representatives in Dubai have clearly done their jobs. Ending fossil fuel use is the most important action humanity can take to minimise harm from climate change, but leaders at COP28 have failed to act boldly enough. 

"It is now time to dismantle the complex rules, laws and subsidies that prop up oil and gas, like the international trade deals that can force taxpayers to hand billions in compensation to fossil fuel investors if their assets are threatened by bold climate action.

“Cuts to emissions need to come from elsewhere, too. Governments should make good on promises made in Dubai to overhaul our broken food system, and they should redirect the billions in subsidies that go to beef production to lower-emission protein sources. Its only by uncovering and addressing these kinds of 'hidden handbrakes' to climate action that we will truly be able to address the crisis.”

On loss and damage:

“Getting the loss and damage fund off the ground this year was a crucial step to easing the burden borne by the poorest countries and those most vulnerable to climate change. However, the amounts pledged so far simply won’t meet their needs.

"This year’s record temperatures, devastating wildfires and catastrophic floods are proof that climate change has already begun, ending lives and destroying precious ecosystems. More pledges are needed, and the money so far promised must start flowing quickly.

“Those who’ve climbed to the top of the global economy by exploiting the natural world, especially the US whose tiny contribution to the fund bordered on insulting, must wake up to reality. Millions of people are suffering the consequences of their actions whether they want to admit it or not. This is an injustice that must be corrected.”

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