Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I represented Ireland at pre-COP28 which gathered global ministers to discuss some of the key issues on the climate change agenda in advance of the conference. Given the complexity of climate issues and the limited time available for negotiations at COP28, pre-COP provided an opportunity to begin laying the groundwork for agreement among Parties on key topics such as adaptation, mitigation, and means of implementation which was facilitated by Ministerial level breakout group discussions.

COP28 marks the conclusion of the first cycle of the Global Stocktake, a process that has assessed Parties’ collective progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and identified areas for future improvements. It was clear at pre-COP that substantive, fair and transformative decisions on the Global Stocktake and Loss and Damage funding must be taken at COP28. To enable the transformation necessary to limit global warming additional finance must be mobilised to address the climate crisis.

I had several bilateral engagements during my time in Abu Dhabi, including a meeting with the COP28 President-Designate, Dr. Sultan al-Jaber. During this meeting I highlighted mitigation of, and adaptation to, the impacts of climate change, climate finance for adaptation and mitigation, and the issue of Loss and Damage due to climate change, as the main areas of priority for Ireland in advance of COP28. We agreed that making concrete progress on these issues is crucial for building climate resilience in developing countries and for delivering on the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact.