By Tendai Guvamombe
The first-ever global stocktake is set to conclude at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) at the end of this year. The window for meaningful change is closing, and the time to act is now.
Parties are converging at COP 28 in Dubai amid the implementation of NDCs across the globe will certainly influence a meaningful outcome of the Global Stocktake Report.
The report encompasses a process for parties to introspect where they are enhancing progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The projected goal seeks to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
United Kingdom, a party to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, updated it’s NDC with a view to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68 percent by 2030. This is backed in the British Net Zero Policies and Energy Security Strategies.
Netherlands another country in the Global North attends Conference of Parties (COP 28) this year with a higher ambition to reduce its total GHG emissions by 95 percent, compared with a 1990 baseline, in the long run and achieve carbon neutrality in the electricity sector by 2050.
The Global Stocktake Report will be also key in assessing progress and level of NDCs Implementation from the Global South where contentious issues on Lose and Damage are still topical and being haunted by the previous agreements in the setting of COP 27 in Egypt.
Zimbabwe from the Global South, has an ambitious NDC with a target of 40 percent reduction in economy-wide GHG emissions per capita compared to Business As Usual(BAU) by 2030.
According to Zimbabwe’s Permanent Secretary for Environment Climate and Wildlife, Professor Prosper Matondi, his country does not need Global Stocktake Report to further it’s climate goals but the sticking issues on the lose and damage that are stalling progress on climate action.
“Last year as the Technical Head of the Negotiation and my colleagues in Africa we said enough is enough!! let’s forget about everything and focus on winning the Lose and Damage. This is affecting everyone. It is very displeasing that we are going to COP 28 with nothing on lose and damage but we made a decision on the implementation of the fund and making necessary institutional structures for implementation. We don’t need a study, the Global Stocktake to tell us that. We need to repair schools, homes and infrastructure damaged by climate related floods in the remote areas of our country,” said Professor Matondi.
A Capacity Building Training for 27 African Countries in November 2023 Nairobi Kenya dubbed ; Empowering sustainable long-term climate action strategies in Africa, revealed how countries in the Global South are lagging behind in the development of Long-term Low Emissions Development Strategy(LT-LEDS).
The findings of the LT-LEDS Assessment in Africa spotlighted the main gaps and challenges slowing down their development. These included insufficient financial resources, data for establishing baselines, and technical capacity to analyze data.
Regional Collaboration Centres are expected to broaden the scope in LT-LEDS to represent an opportunity for countries to set a long-term vision and roadmap for the deep, economy-wide transformation necessary to achieve low-emission and climate-resilient development while aligning with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
