View | 2023 will be the year of GST – the climate action one

The 27th Conference of Parties is over, but many agenda items will need focused, relevant and ambitious closure. If this were an implementation COP, the next one in 2023 would focus on Global Stock Take or GST. What have countries done, have they matched words with actions, are we on track to limit global warming to 1.5°C?

This critical process was already underway at COP27, which hosted the second Technical Dialogue of the GST, focusing on “how” to mitigate emissions versus “what” to do to mitigate emissions focused on implementable solutions. Under Article 14 of the Paris Agreement, GST is a process to take stock of the implementation of the Agreement and evaluate the collective progress towards its goals of remaining well below 1.5°C. The first-ever GST will end next year, and we need to understand its role and limitations better. The successful stocktake process will ensure countries understand the gap between their commitments and the 1.5°C pathway and raise their ambitions.

The formal GST is a two-year-long process that will happen every five years, intending to raise ambition among parties in light of equity and the best available knowledge. It will pass through three phases — an information collection phase, a technical assessment phase and a consideration of the output phase. Currently, the technical phase is underway, and the GST process will deliberate on mitigation, including response measures, adaptation including loss and damage, and means of implementation and support, along with focused discussions on systems transformation (energy, transport, industry, agriculture, health, land, water, and urban). Although the GST process considers multiple inputs, there are major gaps in the formal process.