News Release
COP28: Parliaments take centre stage to accelerate climate action
Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
Embargo Wednesday 6 December 2023 at 18:00 (Dubai), 15:00 (Geneva)
Parliaments were in the spotlight on 6 December 2023 in Dubai at COP28, the UN Climate Change
Conference, at a day of parliamentary meetings organized by the IPU and the Federal National Council
(FNC), the Parliament of the United Arab Emirates.
The
meeting
was attended by over 500 parliamentarians, including dozens of Speakers, from some 60
countries, to get first-hand data from climate experts and map out parliamentary actions to address the
climate emergency, with 2023 confirmed to become the hottest year on record.
The IPU has brought together MPs at the annual UN climate meetings since the Copenhagen COP in
2009, to encourage global coordination, the exchange of good practices and to provide an overall
parliamentary perspective to the talks.
This year, for the first time, the IPU meetings were held on the actual site of the COP conference, at the
heart of the process and negotiations.
The IPU has been calling for parliaments to be mainstreamed into UN climate processes for years,
underlining the critical role they play in tackling climate change through effective legislation, green
budgeting and oversight of government promises.
Parliaments holding government to account on climate action
The oversight function of parliaments takes on particular importance
at this year’s COP,
which sees the
first Global Stocktake of the 2015 Paris Agreement, an inventory of progress
–
or lack thereof
–
towards
reducing global temperatures by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Parliamentary scrutiny of Nationally Determined Contributions, where governments commit to reducing
their emissions, is becoming increasingly urgent in ensuring governments live up to their promises, as
well as raising their ambitions as the planet heats up.
At the IPU/FNC meeting, the parliamentarians are expected to adopt an outcome document in which
they will urge their governments not only to update their Nationally Determined Contributions but also to
enhance them to accelerate action on climate change.
More women and young MPs involved
In line with one of the overall COP28 objectives to be as inclusive as possible, the IPU and the FNC also
organized an event on the role of women and young MPs in climate governance.
The meeting, which brought together parliamentarians with civil society organizations representing youth,
women and marginalized groups, underlined the importance of including multiple voices in decisions
about the climate, which will affect millions in the future.
Parliaments for the Planet
Launched earlier this year, the IPU’s climate campaign
Parliaments for the Planet
has already mobilized
hundreds of parliamentarians around the world to share the actions they are taking for the climate.