The COP28 climate talks [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski.

Leaders and government officials from across the world will meet for the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 30 November to 12 December, to try to raise ambition in efforts to fight climate change. The summit’s main aim is to take stock of countries’ efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions to a level that keeps dangerous human-induced climate change in check, to adapt to climate change, and to mobilise climate finance.  

COP, or the Conference of Parties, is an annual United Nations summit to address the climate crisis. At COP21 in 2015, all parties adopted the historic Paris Agreement, the first universal, legally binding global climate agreement that agrees to limit the global temperature rise to well below 2˚C above pre-industrial levels, with an aspirational goal of a 1.5˚C limit.

This year, the European Union will focus on keeping the 1.5˚C target alive, by pressing to triple global renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030, and to agree on phasing out unabated fossil fuels and ensuring that fossil fuel consumption peaks well ahead of 2030. 

This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies and reports from international think tanks on climate issues published in the past few months.

The economic implications of climate action
Bruegel, November 2023

The massive value of European Union cross-border electricity transmission
Bruegel, November 2023

Tropical rainforests and global warming
Danish Institute for International Affairs, November 2023

COP28: What we need to see
E3G, November 2023

EU 2040 climate architecture: Target designs and framework options
Ecologic Institute, November 2023

Three ways to scale up debt-for-climate swaps
European Centre for Development Policy Management, November 2023

Empowering people, protecting the planet: what would it take to get Europe closer to these twin aspirations?
Friends of Europe, November 2023

Applying the polluter pays principle to agricultural emissions
Institute for European Environmental Policy, November 2023

A roadmap for the global energy transition
Rand Corporation, November 2023

Quick takeaways on the United States’ historic investment in clean hydrogen hubs
Atlantic Council, October 2023

What’s next in the two-front war against climate change and energy insecurity?
Atlantic Council, October 2023

Around the halls: Brookings scholars discuss White House’s new National Resilience Framework
Brookings Institution, October 2023

Climate, global governance and technology
Bookings Institution, October 2023

De-risking and decarbonising: A green tech partnership to reduce reliance on China
Bruegel, October 2023

Europe and the US should work with China: Joint climate action could be a win-win
Bruegel, October 2023

The Green Transition and the Western Balkans
Carnegie Europe, October 2023

In turbulent times, the EU must make up its mind on offshore wind in low and medium wind speed regions
Centre for European Policy Studies, October 2023

Risk mitigation pays off: How disaster risk reduction is changing
Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, October 2023

What climate? The different meaning of climate indicators in violent conflict studies
Clingendael, October 2023

Climate finance gains momentum ahead of COP28
Council on Foreign Relations, October 2023

Climate change and regional instability in the Middle East
Council on Foreign Relations, October 2023

Arctic climate science is caught in the middle of geopolitical tension
Danish Institute for International Affairs, October 2023

Transatlantic cooperation on the clean transition: No time to stand still
E3G, October 2023

The EU’s approach to climate mobility: Which way forward?
European Policy Centre, October 2023

The Nexus approach: Bringing together climate, human security, and demographic change in times of permacrisis
European Policy Centre, October 2023

Platforms’ policies on climate change misinformation
Heinrich Böll Stiftung, October 2023

Climate action, geopolitical risks and strategic Policy: The Western race to secure critical raw materials
Istituto Affari Internazionali, October 2023

Two pillars for the green transition: European energy security in the era of decarbonisation
Istituto Affari Internazionali, October 2023

Next steps for Europe and the US on their green agenda: Steel and critical minerals
Peterson Institute for International Economics, October 2023

Together, China, the US, and the EU emit nearly half of the world’s greenhouse gases
Peterson Institute for International Economics, October 2023

How trade cooperation by the United States, the European Union, and China can fight climate change
Peterson Institute for International Economics, October 2023

EU hydrogen diplomacy 2.0: Aligning climate ambition and energy security
Real Instituto Elcano, October 2023

Carbon removal is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce the risks of overshooting global warming targets  
Atlantic Council, September 2023

Policy memo: A NATO-style spending target could fund long-term decarbonization
Atlantic Council, September 2023

The effects of US climate policy on financial markets: An event study on the Inflation Reduction Act
Brookings Institution, September 2023

Reducing oil demand, not production, is the way forward for the climate
Brookings Institution, September 2023

A new governance framework to safeguard the European Green Deal
Bruegel, September 2023

Scaling up offshore wind energy in Europe
Centre on Regulation in Europe, September 2023

What is COP28 and why is it important?
Chatham House, September 2023

COP28: Can oil-rich UAE lead global climate action?
Chatham House, September 2023

COP28 must tackle climate impacts that cascade over borders
Chatham House, September 2023

The consequences of Russia’s war on Ukraine for climate action, food supply and energy security
Chatham House, September 2023

What future for the energy transition in the European Union?
Confrontations Europe, September 2023

Global climate agreements: Successes and failures
Council on Foreign Relations, September 2023

How to make the Inflation Reduction Act rollout a success: Lessons from Europe
Council on Foreign Relations, September 2023

Systemic rivalry of China and the West in climate policy
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, September 2023

Moving Europe and Africa towards more common ground on climate and energy
European Centre for Development Policy Management, September 2023

Ends of the earth: How EU climate action can weather the coming election storm
European Council on Foreign Relations, September 2023

Climate change and security preparing for different impacts
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, September 2023

Innovative carbon farming initiatives: Recent and ongoing projects across the EU
Institute for European Environmental Policy, September 2023

Report on the comparative analysis of sufficiency policies
Jacques Delors Institutte, September 2023

Green reintegration supporting returning migrants in climate-affected communities
Migration Policy Institute, September 2023

The IRA is transforming the US energy system, starting with homes
Atlantic Council, August 2023

The case for climate financing
Brookings Institution, August 2023

Read this briefing on ‘The COP28 climate talks‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.