Petersberg Climate Dialogue

Petersberg Climate Dialogue

Subject :Environment

Section: Climate Change

Context: The discussions at the event veered around global renewables target, climate finance and Global Stocktake.

Key takeaways from the Petersberg Climate Dialogue:

• Petersberg Dialogue on Climate Change was held in Berlin from May 2-3, 2023. It 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.
• Ministers from 40 countries attended the conference to discuss the way forward towards COP28.
• 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.
• Focused on phasing out fossil fuel emissions, while phasing up viable, affordable zero-carbon alternatives
• Global Stock-take:
  • 2023 is the year for the Global Stock-take, 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.
• 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.

Petersberg Climate Dialogue:

• Petersberg Climate Dialogue is an annual high-level political dialogueon climate change, co-hosted by Germany and a partner country.
• The aim of this dialogue is to promote international climate cooperation and advance discussions on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
• The Petersberg Climate Dialogue was first held in 2010 in the Petersberg Palace near Bonn, Germany. It was initiated by the German government after the disappointing outcome of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
• The dialogue is an informal meeting of ministers and high-level representatives from around 35 countries, including the major emitters of greenhouse gases. The participants discuss key issues related to climate change and share their perspectives on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
• The dialogue is not a negotiation platform, but rather an opportunity for participants to exchange ideas and best practices, and to build trust and mutual understanding.
• The Petersberg Climate Dialogue is held annually, usually in May, and is seen as an important stepping stone towards the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP), which takes place later in the year. The outcomes of the dialogue are fed into the negotiations at COP.