Highlights and images for 6 December 2023

By the end of the closing plenaries of the Subsidiary Bodies, limited progress was evident on several key deliverables for the success of this Conference of the Parties (COP).

The Global Stocktake is a central outcome expected from this meeting. It is the first look at countries’ collective progress on climate action under the Paris Agreement. It will look back at progress made and gaps remaining. Many of the debates center on its forward-looking aspects: what countries will do to respond and ratchet up climate ambition and action.

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

The Just Transitions Pathways work programme is meant to assess, design, and scale up pathways to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals equitably—to realize transformational changes that leave no one behind.

For these issues, and others, the drafts are compilation texts. They include all parties’ views. Everything is still on the table, totaling hundreds of options across the various draft decisions. Negotiators, ministers, and the Presidency have a huge task in the coming week to deliver a successful package of decisions.

The Global Goal on Adaptation, however, remains at a stalemate. Negotiators could not agree to forward any text, not even one that compiles all views and sets out the options for ministers. Discussions during the first week of the meeting were procedural. Political engagement will have to set a direction and a sense of urgency for these discussions.

Outside the negotiations, it was time to bring the global to the local. The focus for the day was on cities, communities, and multi-level action. A ministerial meeting on urbanization and climate change attracted several speakers working toward locally-tailored solutions. The “Buildings Breakthrough” launched as a platform for international collaboration to accelerate climate action on buildings, led by France and Morocco, was joined by over 25 countries.