One month after COP28, we need to see promises fulfilled

Earlier this month, I had the privilege to lead some powerful conversations and meet incredible climate leaders and activists in Dubai at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. It was encouraging to hear pledges and commitments to strengthen climate action for those on the frontlines of the climate crisis. But more is urgently needed. Here are my takeaways from COP28.

For the first time, leaders acknowledged the connection between food systems, hunger and climate.

This is a major achievement. Nearly 160 countries signed the COP28 declaration on sustainable agriculture, resilient food systems and climate action. The declaration recognized that climate change is increasingly threatening “the ability of many, especially the most vulnerable, to produce and access food in the face of mounting hunger, malnutrition, and economic stresses.” The signatories urged for scaled-up adaptation and resilience efforts. I’m hopeful concrete funding will come to support this strong call to action. 

Let’s not confuse humanitarian and climate funding.

Human suffering, and consequently humanitarian needs are increasingly driven by climate change. The climate crisis is also fueling unrest and conflict in many places of the world. This has led in the past years to a sharp increase in humanitarian funding needs. In that sense, the creation of the CERF Climate Action Account will help acknowledge the humanitarian impact of climate-related disasters. However, the dire funding situation means donors may be tempted to rebrand humanitarian funding into climate funding. We should make sure climate finance comes as new and additional money. Climate and development stakeholders should also step up and play their part in strengthening the resilience of people living in crisis settings, and humanitarian action shall remain a last resort intervention.  

Despite important pledges, inequalities in climate action keep growing.

It was encouraging to see $700 million contributed to the Loss and Damage Fund, nearly $188 million pledged for the Adaptation Fund, and a significant replenishment of the Green Climate Fund. I hope this will help accelerate progress on adaptation. However, the latest reports show that adaptation finance remains very short of the nearly $387 billion lower income countries will need every year. Without a significant shift in priorities, the most vulnerable will continue to bear the brunt of the worst impacts of climate change.

We must sustain efforts beyond COP.

We have heard a lot of encouraging promises. Now that COP is over, we need to strengthen the mechanisms to hold leaders accountable and make sure promises are fulfilled. Moreover, success in advancing climate action shouldn’t be measured only in COP’s discussions outcomes. Progress should be measured through actions taken on the ground, and throughout the year. 

COP28 was definitely an additional step in the good direction. Its success will depend on how effectively we will implement the commitments made in Dubai, and how fast we will make the changes needed to avoid bringing the planet to complete climate chaos.