Following our initial letter in March outlining the vision of the Roadmap to Mission 1.5 COP Presidencies Troika, we have engaged in a series of initiatives with a view to enhancing action and implementation over this critical decade and keeping 1.5°C within reach.
With only six years remaining until 2030, the urgency of the climate crisis demands accelerated action across all pillars of the Paris Agreement. Our shared success requires tangible progress on mitigation, adaptation, and the means of implementation and support, along with scaling up financial flows to support just and equitable transitions towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. We will only be successful if we are faithful to our collective commitment to multilateralism as enshrined in the UAE Consensus and the outcome of the first Global Stocktake (GST) at COP28 and remain united in the pursuit of efforts to achieve the purpose and long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.
The course correction to keep 1.5°C within reach in a nationally determined manner and build global resilience requires transforming the world’s current development model encompassing different pathways and approaches. This transformation must respond to the latest science and be guided by equity, ensuring climate ambition can also drive social inclusion and economic prosperity and a just and equitable transition for all, in the context of sustainable development and of efforts to eradicate poverty.
The Roadmap to Mission 1.5 COP Presidencies Troika remains focused on its objective to significantly enhance international cooperation and the international enabling environment to stimulate ambition in the next round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs). We are committed to utilizing the Troika mechanism to continue fostering international collaboration, generating ideas, building ambition and catalyzing support to the Parties for designing and communicating the next generation of NDCs – due by February 2025. These NDCs must be truly transformational, mainstream climate action into broader development planning, catalyze investment for effective climate action and support the sustainable development goals.
Discussions at the recent session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB60) emphasized the priority all Parties give to the next generation of NDCs informed by the GST outcome and the need for them to mark a step change on implementation. It is acknowledged that 1.5°C -aligned NDCs will be essential to meet our collectively agreed goals. Furthermore, SB60 also evidenced the clear challenges to deliver ambition without the necessary means of implementation in place.
In this context, and in spirit of international cooperation, the work of the Troika seeks to strike a balance between ambition and implementation that is not a trade-off, but a mutually reinforcing collaborative approach based on consensus and trust for the achievement of our collective climate and development objectives. To this end, and since our first letter to you, the Troika has decisively engaged and will continue to deliver on its mandate:
In February, we launched the “Roadmap to Mission 1.5 COP Presidencies Troika” sharing our joint vision at the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial.
In line with these efforts, the Troika called on the UN Secretary-General to mobilize the entire UN System to support Parties, especially developing countries, in designing, delivering, and implementing NDCs. In response to this, we welcome the mandate given to the United Nations Development Programme to coordinating these efforts through the next phase of the “Climate Promise”.
At the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, the Troika convened a first Majlis on implementing the energy transition outcomes under the first GST.
Most recently, at SB60, the Troika convened an informal consultation with Heads of Delegations to take stock of the Troika’s progress and gather feedback on the way forward. In addition, we held an NDC incubation workshop to provide Parties with further information on the UN’s system-wide support structure for NDC development and implementation.
We deeply appreciate the constructive feedback from Parties, which has reinforced our belief that the Troika can serve as a key vehicle to build continuity and political ambition in support of the next round of NDCs. The implementation of our mandate entrusted to us in the UAE Consensus remains our primary focus, helping to ensure that ambitious NDCs can translate into national action that meets our globally agreed targets for course correction.
Recognizing the calls from many Parties, the next round of NDCs need to be supported by adequate means of implementation, with climate action reflecting fairness and equity and recognizing the special needs of vulnerable countries. In this context, there is an opportunity to make investment frameworks a driving design feature of the next round of NDCs and to put in place policies and regulations that will further incentivize investment into climate action.
Guided by the need to preserve balance across all pillars of climate action, we remain committed to maintaining a strong balance between mitigation and adaptation, and to leveraging synergies between climate and biodiversity agendas when advancing the implementation of ambitious NDCs. The Troika will also seek to explore linkages with the work concerning global financial systems, international financial institution reforms, and development agendas to support enhanced climate action.
Based on our engagement and consultations with Parties, we have updated our work plan to include a targeted set of activities for the remainder of 2024 to enhance ambition and enable action towards COP29, leveraging upcoming platforms such as the Ministerial on Climate Action (MoCA), the Fifth Global Conference on Strengthening Synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in conjunction with G20 activities, the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the G20 Joint Meeting of Climate Change and Finance Ministers, the Pre-COP29, and COP29 itself. Attached to this letter, a more detailed outline of the Roadmap to Mission 1.5 activities is provided.
With the deadline to submit the new NDCs between COP29 and February 2025 rapidly approaching, time is of the essence. Our collective actions today will determine our collective future. In the remaining months before we meet in Baku, we call upon Parties to step forward with greater ambition in the next generation of NDCs, which will be the implementation framework that determines our ability to demonstrate that national action based on multilateral commitments can deliver on the momentum achieved in Dubai. The ambition of keeping 1.5°C within reach in a nationally determined manner and building global resilience will be determined by our resolve to act at this critical moment.
To this end, the Roadmap to Mission 1.5 COP Presidencies Troika is inviting early movers who will submit next generation NDCs, informed by the outcome of the Global Stocktake, between COP29 and February 2025, to demonstrate their leadership at UNGA. This will be an important opportunity for leaders to signal their commitment to keep 1.5 within reach. The UAE, Azerbaijan, and Brazil, in our national capacities, will be among those countries who will provide corresponding signals at UNGA.
Let us seize this opportunity to affirm our commitment to a sustainable and resilient world for all.
On behalf of the Roadmap to Mission 1.5 COP Presidencies Troika, we look forward to our continued collaboration and to making significant strides together in accelerating global climate action.
Sincerely,
HE Dr. Sultan Al Jaber COP28 President, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change
HE Mukhtar Babayev COP29 Incoming President Minister of Ecology and
Natural Resources, Republic of Azerbaijan
HE Marina Silva Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Brazil