<article><p class="lead">UN Cop 28 climate summit parties and stakeholders have warned that global stocktake (GST) discussions — where countries assess progress towards the Paris climate agreement — should not get tangled in cumbersome processes, but should instead be broken down by sectors to facilitate "realistic" decisions and provide much-needed guidance.</p><p>The first GST under the Paris agreement is nearing its third and final step — the political phase — before the results are presented during Cop 28 in Dubai in December this year. The overall aim of the GST is to support countries in updating their nationally determined contributions (NDC) and enhancing international co-operation on climate action. </p><p>But there is an overall realisation that parties have made insufficient process, with current climate pledges putting the world on track for around 2.5°C of warming by the end of the century, higher than the Paris goal of 1.5°C, according to the UN. And some countries and observers' submissions handed in before the informal GST consultations start in April point to a potential risk of discussions getting bogged down in complexity.</p><p>The Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) think tank warns against "excessively comprehensive discussions" during the political phase, as they risk being "diluted and inconclusive". The focus should be on elements "that can make the most changes in real-world processes", the IDDRI said. </p><p>South Africa, in its submission, calls for "realistic" and "achievable" targets. The country also warns that trust in developed countries has been eroded by their failure to deliver on the goal of providing $100bn/yr in climate finance pledged in 2009, and by their "mitigation-centric approach to implementation". </p><p>For the IDDRI, the GST's key priorities are "deep emission cuts to near zero CO2 emissions by 2050" with "deep" transformations in energy systems, natural reforestation, ecosystem regeneration in the land sector with an end to deforestation, and no over-dependence on land-based carbon dioxide removal. </p><p>The EU, meanwhile, suggests a focus on different sectors — such as energy, transport, industry or health — and commends the world cafe format — a more informal engagement process used in the technical dialogue. </p><p>A recent paper published by Germany's federal environment office UBA suggests that the political phase of the GST adds a sector-by-sector approach to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) three themes — mitigation and response measures, adaptation and loss and damage, and means of implementation and support. </p><p>A sectoral approach could "break down" the information collected during the GST into "pieces", which may be "easier to manage" for countries and enablers, and may make it more manageable for parties to get the right information for improving their NDCs in specific sectors, the paper said. </p><p>Senegal in its submission on behalf of least developed countries said that the GST should provide "technical guidance" on what the different sectors can do to move to more climate resilience. </p><h2>Future proof process</h2><p>High-level negotiations in the political phase will start in early autumn, once the facilitators of the GST's technical dialogues have presented their synthesis report. Parties will then, at an intersessional workshop in October, start designing the final political outcome of the GST and the final decision of the CMA, the UNFCCC governing body representing all parties to the Paris agreement. The CMA has overall responsibility of the GST. </p><p>The UK, in its submission ahead of the April consultations, suggests that the CMA decision also provides guidance for future GSTs, and that its high-level political outcome — for instance, a declaration at Cop 28 — includes commitments to international co-operation. The UK also advocates building "accountability" into the outputs of the GST "to ensure that it leads to action in the immediate term and beyond". </p><p>Cop 28 special representative Majid al-Suwaidi said <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2410774">earlier this year</a> that Cop 28 will be a "milestone Cop" because of the GST. The summit will have to deliver a balanced outcome across the board, on adaptation, loss and damage and mitigation, he said. </p><p class="bylines">By Chloe Jardine</p></article>
