Observers are describing this edition of the United Nations climate conference as a turning point in the history of tackling climate change, as it scored an initial victory on its first day, with delegates agreeing to a long-awaited outcome, a fund to compensate countries for “loss” and damage” most affected by climate change.

Bueno said the European Union is at the highest level at “Cop28” as European Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula van der Leyen attend the leaders’ summit.

Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra will also lead the EU “CoP28” negotiating team, and 8 EU commissioners will participate in various sessions, along with a delegation of high-level officials from various EU departments, according to Bueno.

He pointed out that the European Union will hold more than 90 side events on the most pressing climate issues, which reflects the importance of connecting the Union to this occasion and the need to mobilize efforts to combat climate change.

The issue is priorities
The spokesperson of the European Union identified the priorities of the issues from the European perspective at several points during the current edition of the Conference of the Parties:

• We will be at the forefront of negotiations to demonstrate the EU’s strong commitment to the green transition and encourage our partners to take an ambitious approach.
• Member States highlighted the importance of substantially increasing global climate ambition in line with the Paris Agreement, in order to achieve the 1.5°C target, particularly as NDCs and their updates are currently insufficient to meet the target.
• All parties should review their contributions and strengthen long-term strategies for low-GHG development. target.
• We have made a renewed EU contribution to reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030.
• The EU will phase out fossil fuels by 2030 and promote a decarbonised global energy system, and we need to help develop technologies to capture emissions.
• With the leadership of COP28, we will launch a global commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency. The goal will be to triple the installed renewable energy capacity and double the energy efficiency rate by 2030.

Adaptation efforts
Regarding the EU’s role in supporting the rights of developing countries in the face of climate change, Bueno said that progress must be made on the global goal on adaptation, so the Union will call on all parties to make greater efforts for adaptation. All departments.

In addition, the European Union intends to step up efforts to raise funds in support of climate action, according to its spokesperson.

He added: “European Union countries have committed to raising $100 billion annually to help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change. We expect to meet this target for the first time in 2023.”

In 2022, the EU contributed €28.5 billion to the Common Climate Fund.

Losses and Damages
Bueno noted that the EU will continue to seek effective solutions to meet the needs of developing countries regarding losses and damages.

An EU spokesman stressed the commitment to running the loss and damage fund: “We are ready to lead international contributions to that.”

In the first major progress recorded at COP28, the decision was taken to activate the Climate Loss and Damage Fund to compensate countries most affected by climate change. Consistent with negotiations on fossil fuels.

Several countries have already announced contributions, starting with small pledges of what countries hope will be large sums, including $100 million from the United Arab Emirates, which hosts the conference, another $100 million from Germany and at least $51 million from Britain. 17. $5 million from the US and $10 million from Japan.

An initial breakthrough in establishing a damage fund that poor countries have been demanding for years could pave the way for other solutions to be reached during the two-week summit.