The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP) taking place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December 2023 will focus heavily on the first of the Global Stocktakes that were agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. In this infographic, we explain what the Global Stocktake is, how it works and the different interests and sticking points that are expected to shape the debate at COP28.

Better integration of climate action and sustainable development can help enhance the ambition of the next nationally determined contributions, as well as implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Governments should use this year as an opportunity to emphasize the links between climate and sustainable development.

Non-state actors play an essential role in the fabric of global climate governance. Here we propose four tailored strategies that non-state actors can mobilize to advance climate action among states and harness the potential of the global stocktake.

A gap persists between the emissions reductions pledged by countries under the Paris Agreement and those resulting from their domestic policies. We argue that this gap in fact contains two parts: one in the policies that countries adopt, and the other in the outcomes that those policies achieve.

Climate change is expected to strengthen atmospheric jet streams. Here the authors show that the fastest upper-level jet stream winds accelerate about 2.5 times faster under climate change than average winds, which could influence aviation and severe weather events.

Negative emissions technologies at scale are seen as essential for the overall decarbonization effort to achieve the Paris Agreement targets. However, private ownership of these technologies could largely increase regional or international inequality by financing them through carbon markets.

The authors incorporate terrestrial biosphere models with ecological optimality theory, remote sensing and global carbon budget estimates to constrain the historical effects of CO₂ on photosynthesis. They show that CO₂ fertilization likely increased global photosynthesis by 13.5% between 1981 and 2020.

Rice paddies are a source of the potent greenhouse gas methane. The authors demonstrate that a rice variety containing naturally lost function in the gene GS3 has reduced allocation of photosynthates to roots, which results in a reduction of methane emissions during growth.

Extreme weather event attribution techniques quantify anthropogenic contributions to extreme weather disasters, but recently it was argued they are not yet ready to inform decisions on loss and damage funding. Here, we assert that they can substantially help formulate allocations to impacted vulnerable countries for the most damaging extreme events.

Societal transition to address climate change will require many changes. As society adapts and transforms, the labour market will be altered as some established areas of employment will disappear and new areas will emerge that will need workers.