What is GGA
The 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in Dubai, was notable in terms of stopping the lackadaisical approach of the international community to the adaptation concern.
Guided by the Paris Agreement on Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), the efforts put in at COP26 and COP27 were what culminated in the adoption of the framework for GGA at COP28.
The material progress on the implementation of the GGA requires that future climate change negotiations should show more urgency in
treating adaptation on a par with mitigation as the world is witnessing extreme weather events, with devastating consequences.
These climate change events are happening at only 1.1° Celsius as compared to pre-industrial levels.
Another fact is that the best mitigation efforts enshrined in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of the Parties to the Paris Agreement are not in sight of restricting global average temperature below 1.5° C as compared to pre-industrial levels.
They would rather nudge the world towards the 2.8° C point by the end of the century.
Challenges in GGA implementation
The framework of the GGA is expected to influence what type of adaptation action will be prioritised.
A main target in the GGA includes the Parties to the Paris Agreement having “conducted up-to-date assessments of climate hazards, climate change impacts and exposure to risks and vulnerabilities and haveing used the outcomes of these assessments to inform their formulation of national adaptation plans, policy instruments, and planning processes and/or strategies”, by 2030.
By 2027, all the Parties have to establish multi-hazard early warning systems, climate information services for risk reduction and systematic observation to support improved climate-related data, information and services.
A comprehensive review of experiences from the Millennium Development Goals found that globally agreed goals do not trickle down easily from the global to the national level.
National conditions, including administrative capacity and economic development, were identified alongside adequate support as key influencing factors for the implementation of a global goal.
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