Qatar holds workshop in preparation for COP28

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change organised a workshop as part of its preparations to participate in the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will be held in the UAE, in co-operation with the Office of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).The workshop, held on Sept 25-26, is aimed at building capabilities for climate change negotiation processes, and to provide stakeholders and participants with knowledge about the scientific, strategic aspects of climate change issues, in addition to providing insights that enable them to achieve an impact on global climate change negotiations, as well as including practical training on strategies to enable participants to make the most of COP28.Assistant Undersecretary for Climate Affairs Eng Ahmed Mohamed al-Sada explained that climate change is a global challenge that requires co-operation and joint effort in order to preserve the planet Earth, pointing out the effects of climate change that represent a threat to the future generations, and added that COP28 represents an opportunity to enhance co-operation between countries to achieve real progress in combating climate change at the global level.Eng al-Sada reviewed the achievements of Qatar in combating climate change, by taking many measures over the past years for the Qatar National Vision 2030, which represented in developing a national strategy for environment and climate change, and preparing a detailed national action plan to combat climate change (NCCAP) continuing until 2030, and the National Climate Change Action Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from all sectors by 2030.He noted that Qatar is currently implementing many initiatives, such as improving energy efficiency, operating renewable energy plants, and introducing carbon capture and storage technologies.He added that COP28 is considered the most prominent annual climate event in the world this year, expecting the conference to strengthen global efforts to confront climate change, by focusing on important issues such as reducing the use of fossil fuels, and accelerating the direction of financial resources towards the losses and damages caused by these fuels, especially among the most vulnerable countries and sectors.For his part, Chiden Balmes, Programme Lead of the Global Green Growth Institute in Qatar, stressed the importance of the workshop in spreading awareness about climate change issues and increasing ambition to address its impacts, noting that understanding the details of the climate change negotiation processes at the conference is crucial.