Reflections on the first Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement

Abstract

This commentary reflects on the first Global Stocktake (GST) under the Paris Agreement on climate change to offer insights for advancing climate actions and informing future GST cycles. The first GST, which concluded at COP28 in 2023, demonstrates the vital importance of a comprehensive, balanced, and inclusive approach to multilateral climate action. The GST’s call to transition away from fossil fuels is an important political achievement. Yet, the GST outcome also reveals gaps, shortcomings, and potential dangers ahead. Future climate negotiations, we argue, would benefit from a more integrated, holistic perspective, and more nuanced balancing of ambition and implementation. More needs to be done to protect human rights, increase loss and damage funding, go beyond technological solutions, and address gender-differentiated consequences of climate change. Moreover, a great deal of work, including by nonstate actors, will be required to ensure the first GST translates into real action on the ground.

Authors:

  • Jianfeng Jeffrey Qi of Resilience Program, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Vancouver, Canada
  • Peter Dauvergne of  University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • Sirini Jeudy-Hugo of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France
  • Jamal Srouji of World Resources Institute, London, UK
  • Jen Iris Allan of School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK Earth Negotiations Bulletin, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Cardiff, UK
  • Benjamin Georges-Picot of Independent Researcher, Brussels, Belgium
  • Tom Evans 0f Third Generation Environmentalism E3G, London, UK
  • Arthur Wyns of Melbourne Climate Futures, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  • Anne Barre of Women Engage for a Common Future, Munich, Germany
  • Danica Marie Supnet of Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Manila, Philippines
  • Enrique Maurtua Konstantinidis of Independent Global Stocktake (iGST) Latin America and Caribbean Hub, Argentina
  • Anne Hammill of Resilience Program, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Nathan Cogswell of  World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, USA
  • Pratishtha Singh of Climate Action Network Canada, Toronto, Canada

Published at: ScienceDirect