site.btaIPCC Chair Skea for BTA: We Seem to Be Lagging Behind on All Aspects of Paris Climate Agreement

Prof Jim Skea, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told BTA here on Saturday that it seems we are lagging behind on all aspects of the Paris Agreement, and progress needs to be made at the COP28 climate conference. "At next year's COP29, we will be at a stage where we should start thinking about a new package of nationally determined contributions (NDCs)," he said. These actions are within the Paris Agreement and he considers them key.

An NDC is a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts. Each party to the Paris Agreement is required to establish an NDC and update it every five years. The IPCC through its assessments provides a scientific basis for the development of climate-related national policies, and its conclusions are at the basis of the negotiations within COP.

Prof Skea described as an excellent achievement of COP28 the formation of the fund for compensations for losses and damages caused by climate change. According to him, the funding and future of the energy transition will be two truly big issues on which a solution is yet to be found.

What matters most in the just transition is that it be accompanied by many consultations. All interested parties should be committed to it, because without public consensus on climate actions, these can hardly happen. That is why this process is particularly important, he argued.

In the Bulgarian pavilion for COP28 on Saturday, Prof Skea talked with Environment and Water Minister Yulian Popov and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences President Yulian Revalski.