Dictionary of technical jargon at the World Climate Conference in Dubai
Published: Tuesday, Nov 28th 2023, 15:20
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Raising NDCs and arguing about the climate protection benefits of CCS - many of the buzzwords at the UN Climate Change Conference, which begins on Thursday in Dubai, are incomprehensible technical jargon for outsiders. An explanation of important terms:
COP28: UN climate conferences are often simply referred to as COPs. This is an abbreviation for "Conference of the Parties". As the format is taking place for the 28th time this year, the conference in Dubai is called COP28 for short.
NDCs: At the heart of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement are the "Nationally Determined Contributions", or NDCs for short. This means that all signatory states and communities of states such as the EU determine their own contributions to implementing the Paris Agreement, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing their forest areas. However, in order to prevent the Paris Agreement from being watered down, it stipulates that the NDCs, which are to be revised regularly, may only be increased and not weakened. So far, the sum of national climate protection pledges is nowhere near enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial age, as stipulated in the Paris Agreement. According to a UN report published last week, the Earth is heading for dangerous warming of around 2.5 to 2.9 degrees even if all climate protection pledges are implemented.
GLOBAL STOCKTAKE (GST): The Paris Agreement provides for a global stocktake every five years to regularly review the implementation of national climate targets. This "Global Stocktake", which has been worked on over the past two years, will now be completed in Dubai. Climate activists hope that the stocktake will send a strong signal that the parties to the Paris Agreement will formulate their future climate targets much more ambitiously.
CCS: Climate change is caused by greenhouse gases, which are released in particular when fossil fuels such as coal and oil are burned. The most significant greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2). Some countries point to so-called CCS technologies as a way of continuing to use fossil fuels without further harming the climate. CCS stands for Carbon Capture and Storage, i.e. the capture and storage of CO2.
Switzerland also relies on CSS technologies. From next year, Switzerland will be able to export CO2 and store it under the sea, as decided by the Federal Council last week.
Climate activists warn that the reference to CCS is merely an attempt to prevent or delay the phase-out of fossil fuels. Others see CCS as an opportunity, but point out that these technologies are not yet fully developed, their risks are unclear and their costs are extremely high.
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