Benchmarks for Success for COP28

This briefing by the World Resources Institute outlines the critical benchmarks for success for the COP28 summit in Dubai. It emphasizes the need for a transformational response to the first Global Stocktake, the acceleration of systems transformation across energy, food, and urban environments, the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, and the delivery of scaled-up climate finance to vulnerable nations.

• COP28 represents a pivotal moment as it features the first "Global Stocktake" since the 2015 Paris Agreement. Success depends on countries delivering a response plan that addresses gaps in action and financing and sets the stage for more ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to be submitted before COP30 in 2025.
• A primary goal for COP28 is to signal the end of the fossil fuel era. This involves negotiating whether to "phase out" or "phase down" fossil fuels and ensuring that carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is not used as a justification to expand fossil fuel production or delay the transition to renewables.
• The summit aims to integrate food and land use systems into the climate process for the first time. This includes the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Action, which encourages nations to include explicit food and land use targets in their NDCs and national adaptation plans.
• The briefing highlights the critical role of cities, which produce 70% of global CO2 emissions. While urban emissions could potentially be cut by 90% by 2050 using existing technology, municipal governments can only achieve 28% of that potential without collaboration with national governments.
• A major benchmark for COP28 is the full operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund. This includes finalizing the fund's host—with the World Bank recommended as a temporary host for the first four years—and determining eligibility and resource allocation for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDs).
• The summit seeks to put the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) into operation to better measure progress. This involves establishing a framework to avoid maladaptation, reduce inequality, and create metrics for assessing adaptation action across sectors like health, food security, and infrastructure.
• Global climate finance needs to reach $4.3 trillion annually by 2030. COP28 must address the failure of developed countries to meet the $100 billion annual commitment by 2020 and lay the groundwork for a new post-2025 global climate finance goal (NCQG).

APA

World Resources Institute (2023). Benchmarks for Success for COP28. https://www.wri.org/insights/cop28-benchmarks-success

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Benchmarks for Success for COP28. 2023. https://www.wri.org/insights/cop28-benchmarks-success.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Benchmarks for Success for COP28 |date=2 November 2023 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/cop28-benchmarks-success |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2023benchmarks, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Benchmarks for Success for COP28}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/cop28-benchmarks-success}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }