Charting a Course for Climate Action: Highlights and Challenges from COP28 in Dubai
Divya Rai
Research intern at MRC
Key Highlights
- The primary focus of this year’s COP was the inaugural Global Stocktake, a pivotal element of the Paris Agreement designed to evaluate advancements every five years.
- The conference began with the creation of a new fund to tackle losses and damages faced by vulnerable countries due to climate impacts.
- The UDA should take center stage in the future COP agenda, given its profound implications for environmental, economic, and social well-being.
COP28, the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Dubai, set forth five major priorities to address the escalating climate crisis and catalyse global action. The conference began with the creation of a new fund to tackle losses and damages faced by vulnerable countries due to climate impacts. This initiative acknowledges the severity of climate-related losses and sets the stage for more comprehensive responses to the impacts already occurring. Moreover, COP28 concluded by officially recognizing fossil fuels as the primary driver of climate change. The commitment to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, aiming for a just, orderly, and equitable shift, became the centerpiece of COP28. This moment was historic, marking the first time the term “fossil fuels” appeared in a COP’s formal outcome since the inception of UN climate negotiations three decades ago. This decision is a crucial step toward dismantling the fossil fuel era, especially in the face of intense pressure from oil and gas interests.
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Divya Rai
Research intern at MRC
Divya Rai is undertaking research on the Underwater Domain Awareness framework in various multilateral structures in South Asia under the Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) Project Fellowship offered by the Maritime Research Centre (MRC). Her expertise lies in analyzing the need for the UDA framework in the BIMSTEC and India’s role in it, she has also worked on various issues related to South Asia such as regional and intra-regional connectivity, economic architecture, maritime security, environmental issues, and transport connectivity. She has published articles in reputed digital and print news platforms and magazines on issues about South Asia and the growing maritime influence of China in the Indo-Pacific, and geopolitics and non-traditional security threats in the South Asia region. She holds a Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Physics, Mathematics, and Defense and Strategic Studies from Allahabad University, Prayagraj.