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COP28 . COP29 . COP30 . COP31

COP is a regular international forum where UN Parties meet to discuss measures to address the climate change crisis. Each COP conference is numbered in order, for example COP26 was held in 2021. COP28 will be held in the United Arab Emirates at Expo City in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December 2023. In this category, we will bring you up-to-date information from COP28. COP31 will be held in Turkey (Antalya)

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Can a “globally determined contribution” save the day?

Negotiators finally get to work in Bonn, two days late after a heated argument on the agenda that has delayed discussions at the UN's biannual climate talks. But with news this week that the world is quickly spending its carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5°C, there is clearly no time to spare.

What to do with it? One obvious option is to accelerate work on fulfilling the promises that governments made back in 2023, namely by justly transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, tripling the share of renewable energy sources by 2030, and halting and reversing forest loss this decade.

While negotiators gathered in rooms by the Rhine this morning, COP30 President André Aranha Corrêa do Lago issued his fourth open letter, in which he called on governments to deliver on what they had agreed to in the global assessment , and proposed a new, more coherent approach to organizing the efforts of everyone else, including civil society and businesses.

This, he wrote, can be seen as "globally designated contribution" (GDC) , which complements national climate action plans. This range of efforts will be developed under six key "axes", including the transformation of energy, industry and transport; caring for forests and oceans; and greener food systems and agriculture.

The COP30 team told reporters that it wants to focus on to put into practice the approximately 400 initiatives announced at recent COP conferences, and not to strive for more , reports our news editor Joe Loe.

Climate policy experts welcomed the move but warned against assuming that the new, simplified approach "will be sufficient to respond to the obvious crisis that we need to address in the negotiations."

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