COP 28 Translating Commitments into Reality for a Healthy Planet and Healthy People

COP 28 participants set new targets, make pledges and launch programs to help the world achieve net zero by 2050.

The Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the annual meeting where countries gather to discuss the progress made and plans to tackle the global climate emergency. The first COP  was held in Berlin in 1995 and COP 21 was held in Paris resulting in the well-known Paris Agreement in 2015. This year, COP was hosted by Dubai from November 30 to December 12.

The Paris Agreement  is ratified by 196 countries and its goal is to “hold the global average temperature to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.” Today, the world unites annually to make this goal a reality.

Developments at COP 28

The revolutionary aspect of COP 28 was the first global stocktake which assesses advances made in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and provides measures for achieving its goals. According to the first global stocktake synthesis report , countries  are well off the trajectory to limit the global temperature to 1.5°C, and the emission gap is identified to be 20.3–23.9 Gt CO2 eq. Released in September 2023, the report also revealed that to reach net zero by 2050, global GHG emissions need to be reduced by 43% by 2030 against 2019 levels. More ambitious mitigation targets and extensive support are needed to avoid the deadly impacts of climate change.

Notable pledges from COP 28  include:

• 124 countries signed the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency pledge to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency by 2030, which shows a positive signal towards the clean technologies shift
• Governments, national and international oil companies came together to make an effort to zero methane emissions by 2030 to tackle the climate crisis
• 43 countries endorsed the freshwater challenge to restore 30% of freshwater ecosystems
• A Loss and Damage Fund was set up to help the vulnerable countries affected by the impact of climate change. In total, USD 726 million was pledged by 19 countries to support nations affected by climate change
• The first-ever climate-health day was attended by 110 health ministries to address the impacts of climate change on human health and well-being

Role of companies in the 2050 net-zero target

While having a conversation over how countries are taking action to achieve the 2050 global net-zero target, it should also be kept in mind that a large proportion of today’s emissions are from companies. For reference, in 2021, 84% of global emissions were from the private sector and only 16% of emissions were from the public sector . This is why corporate net zero commitments take on an increased importance.

Firms are also realizing that climate change has an impact on their operation, and it is in their interest to act now. According to UN World Water Development Report 2023 , water stress has affected companies that depend on water in their operations. According to the World Economic Forum , drought has affected the major shipping routes which has in turn impacted supply chains. Climate change is inevitable and will not leave any country untouched.

In parallel, companies should take action before the law requires them to do so by looking at the policy commitments that governments and their markets are taking up. Even in the case of India, though the country has a target of 2070, Mumbai  and Tamil Nadu  have already advanced their net zero targets to 2050. When such economically important places set net-zero targets, companies sit up and take notice. They know that these are jurisdictions where they have operations, and the law will soon catch up. In a very complimentary way, companies help cities, states and countries to reach their internationally committed net-zero targets.

SGS services

We have a dedicated team of environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) and sustainability experts to help companies along their net zero journey. We partner with organizations to help them with sustainability solutions such as GHG accounting, setting Net Zero and SBTi targets. We handhold companies in the assurance such as GHG verification as per ISO 14064 and the GHG Protocol.

We also assist organizations with capacity-building on topics such as ISO 14064, GRI framework, BRSR framework, and other ESG topics.

We can help you achieve your sustainability goals regardless of where you are in your sustainability journey.

For further information, please contact:

Ashwini Mavinkurve
Head – ESG Services
Knowledge
t: +91 8655964143