For nearly three decades, almost every country has met under the UNFCCC umbrella for the Conference of Parties (COPs). With the efforts of the international scientific organizations and bodies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change has gone from being a fringe issue to global priority. In a 2018 special report, the IPCC said that countries must bring carbon dioxide emissions to “net zero” by 2050 to keep global warming to within 1.5 °C of pre-industrial levels. The latest IPCC report shows that the world will probably reach or exceed 1.5 °C of warming within just the next two decades. Under a high-emissions scenario, the IPCC finds the world may warm by 4.4°C by 2100 with catastrophic results.

The world leaders need to raise ambition and take urgent climate action if we want to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The year 2021 started on an optimistic note with the United States announcing measures of raising US ambition on climate action. Nine parties to the Convention have a net-zero target in law and 4 countries have proposed legislation on net-zero targets, while 19 countries have a policy document on a net-zero target, 17 countries have a target in a political pledge, and 98 countries are currently under discussion on net-zero targets. While we shift to a net-zero economy, it is imperative to have a just transition plan at the heart of policies. This should cover both adaptation and mitigation measures, so that there are sufficient safety nets and that no one is left behind.

There are presently a lot of discussions around net-zero without a critical examination of measures and leadership needed in the short, medium, and long term. There is an urgent need to inform leadership on coherence required for inclusive transitions from the lens of both mitigation and adaptation. The present narrative is also too focused on narrow conceptions around a few technologies and fiscal measures and there is a need to enrich the conversation on the paradigm shifts required in terms of technologies and policies. Keeping in view the importance of injecting these aspects into the COP related discussions, TERI will drive a knowledge initiative, namely the COP Compass which will focus on guiding conversations towards the COPs.

Theory of Change

If through ‘COP Compass’, TERI and Act4Earth partners engage in knowledge creation, dissemination and dialogue, then the leadership will be inspired and mobilized at all levels for just and inclusive transitions through ambitious and informed policies and measures which will enable paradigm shifts towards meeting the 1.5°C temperature goal through low carbon and inclusive pathways.

The broad themes of the COP Compass are as follows:

Initiative	Themes	Activities	Outputs
COP27 Compass	COP27 Climate Negotiations: Road to Sharm el-Sheikh	Research Outreach and Engagement	Policy briefs Policy dialogues
	Global Commons and Climate Action