By 2025, all countries must have in place a detailed plan to adapt to the current and future impacts of climate change in their countries, and must demonstrate progress in implementing such a plan by 2030, Sunday’s draft of a key climate document said.
A final version of this Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) document is expected to be part of the agreement when the UN’s COP-28 climate summit concludes in Dubai on December 12.
Much of the focus at the annual talks is on ‘mitigation’, getting countries to commit to time-bound plans to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change, reflected in the emphasis on the Global Stocktake process. However, there is an equally important process underway on ‘adaptation’, to push countries to take the steps necessary to cope with the current and future impacts of a changing climate. Global temperatures have already risen 1.1 degrees C since pre-industrial times and brought in their wake an acceleration in climate-related disasters, exhaustive scientific investigations show.
