COP hosts UAE, Azerbaijan, Brazil announce 'troika' to raise climate ambitions

The United Arab Emirates, host of last year's COP28 climate summit, and Azerbaijan and Brazil, the hosts of the next two UN climate summits, say they will team up to push for more ambitious goals on cutting carbon emissions.

A man walks on the cracked ground of the Baells reservoir in Catalonia, Spain, in March 2023, as drinking water supplies have plunged to their lowest level since 1990 due to extreme drought. © Nacho Doce / Reuters

The three countries were mandated by 198 signatories to the Dubai agreement to work together on a roadmap to limit global warming to 1.5C – a key climate goal that has been seriously threatened by global greenhouse gas emissions.

"The Troika helps ensure we have the collaboration and continuity required to keep the North Star of 1.5C in sight – from Baku to Belem and beyond," COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber said in a statement. "We cannot afford to lose momentum." 

The target of containing global temperatures to 1.5C above preindustrial levels was set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Taking into account current climate pledges, the world is still on track to warm between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius over this century, according to UN estimates.

Speaking at the launch of the COP Presidencies Troika, COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber emphasized the importance of this partnership as a critical and unprecedented collaboration to maintain momentum, lock in continuity and anchor implementation, adding that the breakthroughs… pic.twitter.com/gAMtDsTkGl

— COP28 UAE (@COP28_UAE) February 13, 2024

Looking ahead to 2025

The main task for this year's COP29 summit in November in Baku, Azerbaijan, is to agree a new global target for climate finance for developing countries.

But some climate diplomats are already looking ahead to Brazil's summit in 2025 as the next major milestone for global climate diplomacy. Nearly 200 countries are required to submit updated national CO2-cutting pledges in time for COP30.

The next round of countries' climate targets is seen as a crucial last chance to prevent global warming exceeding 1.5C, a target fast slipping out of reach, as global greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb.

• Hottest January on record as 1.5C limit breached for 12 months straight
• World's carbon emissions could start to fall for first time in 2024

In a bumper year for elections, some politicians – from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in the United States to far-right parties seeking gains in upcoming European elections – have pushed back on climate policies in a bid to court voters.

(with newswires)