Petersberg Climate Dialogue

May 5, 2023

The Petersberg Dialogue on Climate Change was held in Berlin from May 2-3, 2023, and was hosted by Germany and the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The conference brought together ministers from 40 countries to discuss the way forward towards COP28. Discussions were initiated around a potential global target for renewables at the next climate conference.

Inaugural Address

At the inaugural address, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the need for cleaning up economies, breaking fossil fuel addiction, and driving decarbonization in every sector to achieve a 1.5-degree global warming pathway. He reiterated his previous proposal for an Acceleration Agenda.

Acceleration Agenda

The goal of the Acceleration Agenda is to hasten countries’ Net Zero targets by requiring the phasing out of coal in OECD nations by 2030 and by 2040 in all other countries, as well as reaching Net Zero electricity production and decarbonizing major industries.

Global Stocktake

2023 is the year for the Global Stocktake, which is a periodic review of global climate action that aims to assess whether current efforts will enable us to reach the objectives set out in the Paris Agreement. The report has been underway for the past two years and is set to be released in September of 2023.

The Indian side highlighted that the initial results of the Global Stocktake must focus on conveying a message regarding sustainable lifestyles and consumption. This message is crucial to inform the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions as well as improved international cooperation.

Climate Finance

Developed countries are on a good track to deliver the $100 billion per year they had promised to mobilize by 2020 during the COP15 in 2009. However, providing the pledged $100 billion by 2023 may not be enough, as climate finance requirements for emerging markets alone are estimated at $1 trillion per year by 2030. This indicates that developed countries have mobilized an amount that is more than ten times smaller than the climate finance needs, even after committing to the $100 billion goal for 14 years.

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