Loss and damage fund, Paris goal review on COP28 agenda

Operationalising the loss and damage fund and setting out an energy pathway to keep the Paris Agreement goal of containing global temperature rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius are among the key parameters to determine the success of the upcoming UN climate summit to be held in Dubai later this year, a key official said.

- Jayashree Nandi

The outcomes of the conference are particularly important because the combination of the climate crisis and El Nino is leading to record global land and sea surface temperatures.

"We have spent a lot of time with partners, listening to them to understand where we can find success at COP28. In terms of negotiated outcomes, we need to deliver on the Global Stocktake, the Global Goal on Adaptation and operationalisation of the loss and damage fund. Those are mandated outcomes as well as the just transition work that we have to deliver," Majid Al Suwaidi, ambassador and COP28 director general from UAE, which holds the presidency for the summit this year, said during a briefing last week.

COP28 is short for Conference of Parties, where parties denote nations signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Besides the mandated outcomes, the UAE presidency is working on four focus areas of energy, climate finance, nature, people and livelihoods, and inclusivity.