Former and upcoming hosts of UN climate summits, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, and Brazil, are teaming up to promote an international accord to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
The UAE’s chair of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) announced on Tuesday that it will establish a “troika” with the goal of making sure that more aggressive commitments to reduce CO2 are made before a deadline at the COP30 summit, which will take place in Belem, Brazil, in 2025. The UN climate event this year will be held in November in Azerbaijan.
Sultan Al Jaber, the president of the Emirati delegation to the negotiations last year, stated, “We cannot afford to lose momentum, we must do everything we can to keep 1.5 C within reach.”
Nearly 200 countries joined the historic Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5C and gradually replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources in the second half of the century.
With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to increase globally, that objective is quickly slipping away. It is believed that the upcoming round of national climate targets represents a critical last opportunity to keep global warming below the 1.5C threshold.
“Significantly enhance international cooperation and the international enabling environment to stimulate ambition in the next round of nationally determined contributions” is what the troika alliance is supposed to do.
Climate sensors in Europe revealed last week that, for the first time in a year, global warming has surpassed 1.5C, a development that experts referred to as a “warning to humanity.”
El Nino weather, which warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, coupled with climate change caused storms, droughts, and flames to lash the earth, making 2023 the warmest year on record since 1850.
Al Jaber stated in a statement, “The troika helps ensure we have the collaboration and continuity required to keep the North Star of 1.5C in sight – from Baku to Belem and beyond.”
