Will COP28 put nature at the heart of climate action?

A quick guide to some things to look out for, and some links to useful resources

Nov 27, 2023

The climate and nature crises are two sides of the same coin. Just as their causes are linked, so are their solutions. But for too long they have been treated as separate issues. Back in 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio, each got its own global treaty: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Three decades later, they are at last starting to align.

COP28 — the latest conference of parties to the UNFCCC — will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 30 November to 12 December. It is the first UN climate change conference since parties to the CBD adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a ten-year strategy intended to put humanity on track for living in harmony with nature by 2050.

That goal cannot be achieved without addressing climate change, and climate change cannot be addressed without nature. Forests, mangroves, seagrasses and peatlands and other ecosystems can provide about one-third of the climate change mitigation needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Biodiversity — genes, species and ecosystems — can also help us adapt to the changes that are already baked into the system. But nature is also at risk from global heating, rising seas and climate change.

At COP28, as much attention focuses on debates over decarbonization and funding for loss and damage, will governments do enough to reflect these realities? Here are some things to look out for, followed by links to resources.

Responding to the Global Stocktake: Embedding nature in future climate change commitments

A key agenda item at COP28 is the first ‘Global Stocktake’ of progress under the Paris Agreement on climate change. Parties to the Paris Agreement will respond to the stocktake’s technical report, which concluded that “much more action, on all fronts and by all actors, is needed now” to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

At COP28, Parties will address the stocktake’s findings in a negotiated decision and/or a declaration. This text could indicate what Parties should include when they submit new and enhanced five-year climate change plans (called Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs) in 2025. There is huge scope for these NDCs to make better use of nature for mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Remarkably, some tropical countries have not included their forest sectors in their current NDCs, and very few NDCs mention nature-friendly agroecology. Depending how things go in this and other parts of the official negotiations at COP28, the first stocktake’s final output could drive significant progress towards ending deforestation, restoring lost and degraded ecosystems, increasing finance for nature-based solutions, and ensuring that money reaches communities managing nature resources effectively.

The Nature4Climate coalition — whose members include WWF, UNEP, IUCN and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development — is pushing for nature and the communities managing it to be prominent in the response to the Global Stocktake. It has published an open letter urging governments to, among other things, “publicly share plans, budgets and regulatory reforms on how they will implement and finance nature-based solutions”.

Pledges to align food systems with climate and biodiversity goals, including by boosting nature-friendly practices

Food systems cause up to a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. As well as contributing to climate change, many agricultural practices pollute and degrade ecosystems, and directly harm biodiversity. It is hard to believe, but COP28 is the first UN climate change conference to have a day in the official schedule (10 December) dedicated to food and agriculture.

The COP28 presidency is asking governments to sign the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action. Among other things, signatories will aim to address the impacts of food systems on nature by “conserving, protecting and restoring land and natural ecosystems, enhancing soil health, and biodiversity”.

They will commit to integrating food systems and agriculture into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, as well as their National Adaptation Plans and the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans that parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity must update by October 2024. According to the draft text of the Declaration, they would also commit to “revisit or reorient policies and public support” — in other words, harmful subsidies — to reduce emissions and ecological harm while improving livelihoods and incomes.

Separate to this, on 10 December, a group of countries will launch the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation. They are committing to radically changing their food systems through ambitious shifts in ten priority areas that include protecting and restoring nature, and increasing use of nature-positive, ecosystem-based, and sustainable management practices. They also commit to aligning their commitments on climate change and biodiversity with their new pathways for transforming food systems.

Side-events galore!

Beyond the intergovernmental negotiations, there are a multitude of nature-related side-events taking place at COP28. There are nearly 60 happening at the Nature Positive Pavilion hosted by the Nature4Climate coalition. Another 70 side-events will take place at IUCN’s Nature Pavilion (see programme). And there will be a similar number at the Food Pavilion hosted by FAO, IFAD, CGIAR and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The official COP28 schedule also includes several high-profile side-events relating to nature:

On 2 December, a leaders’ event will focus on breakthroughs in political leadership and financing to protect and sustainably manage forests, mangroves and the ocean. Leaders from nature-rich countries will highlight new, nature-climate investment plans and initial financing partners and mechanisms, while also partnering with local and Indigenous communities. Read more here.
On 5 December, the Indigenous Peoples Dialogue will bring together senior representatives of the COP28 Presidency and Climate Champions Team to discuss expectations for COP28, including on the transition to a low carbon economy and effective finance flows for Indigenous Peoples' stewardship of nature, climate and biodiversity. Read more here.

And here are some of the events in the official schedule on 9 December, which the COP28 Presidency has dedicated to nature, land use and oceans.

The COP28 Presidency (UAE) and UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP15 Presidency (China) will host a ministerial roundtable focused on encouraging joined-up approaches to the design and implementation of national climate and biodiversity plans and strategies. Read more here.
An event will focus on the Mangrove Breakthrough initiative aiming to raise US$4 billion to protect and restore 15 million hectares of mangrove forests by 2030, in recognition of their importance as ecosystems and stores of carbon. The event will showcase new policies, technologies and investments. Read more here.
Ministers will present progress on ending deforestation by 2030 in line with the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use made at COP26 in 2021. Some 145 world leaders signed that agreement, and last year 32 countries formed the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership to push the agenda forward. At this event, partnership members will introduce their vision and deliverables for 2024. They will focus on mechanisms to promote an inclusive rural transformation that benefits local and indigenous communities. Read more here.
This high-level event will take stock of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s first year of implementation. It will focus on how governments are delivering their commitment to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030, and highlight the importance of action on nature in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. It will also seek to unlock progress on the target of mobilizing billions of dollars per year in biodiversity funding. Read more here.
Government ministers, non-state actors, international organisations, and representatives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities will discuss progress on the restoration and conservation of terrestrial ecosystems. Participants will announce achievements and release plans and commitments for 2024 and beyond. Read more here.