COP hosts UAE, Azerbaijan, Brazil announce climate ‘troika’

Past and future UN climate talk hosts the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil said Tuesday they are forming a “troika” to push for an international agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The UAE hosted last year’s COP28 conference in Dubai, while Azerbaijan will host this year’s summit followed by Brazil in 2025.

The three countries were mandated by 198 signatories to the Dubai agreement to work together on a roadmap to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a key climate goal that has been seriously threatened by global greenhouse gas emissions.

“The Troika helps ensure we have the collaboration and continuity required to keep the North Star of 1.5°C in sight — from Baku to Belem and beyond,” COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber said in a statement.

Taking into account current climate pledges, the world is still on track to warm between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius over this century, according to UN estimates.

The 1.5-degree Celsius limit will probably be reached between 2030 and 2035, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

According to the final agreement reached at COP28, the troika partnership should “significantly enhance international cooperation and the international enabling environment to stimulate ambition in the next round of nationally determined contributions.”

This is “with a view to scaling up action and implementation during this critical decade and keeping the 1.5°C limit within reach,” according to the agreement.

At COP28, the world agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels, but there was no progress on unblocking financial flows to developing countries, a major sticking point in negotiations.

This issue is set to be a central theme of COP29 in Baku, where a new target is expected to be set for the financial support provided by developed countries for climate change.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, rich countries are about two years late in meeting their initial pledge of $100 billion in annual climate funding by 2022.

The UN’s high-level expert group on climate finance said in 2022 that developing nations (excluding China) need to spend some $2.4 trillion a year on clean energy and climate resilience by 2030 — four times current levels.

“We are committed to leveraging our strength as a bridge builder between the developed and developing world as host of COP29, to accelerate efforts to keep 1.5 in reach,” said COP29 president-designate Mukhtar Babayev.

“Key to that will be establishing a new climate finance goal that reflects the scale and urgency of the climate challenge.”