Navigating the technical dialogue of the first global stocktake from process to findings

The first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement to assess implementation and progress towards achieving its long-term goals was completed in 2023. Here we reflect on the process and findings of the technical dialogue, based on our experience as co-facilitators, and describe innovations in the process, technical findings and evidence-based policy-making following a learning-by-doing approach. We point to the technical dialogue’s 17 key findings, across the topics of context, mitigation, response measures, adaptation, loss and damage, means of implementation and support, and finance flows, which were informed by the best available science and equity considerations. We also consider how the key findings informed the political outcome of the global stocktake and highlight the importance of the technical dialogue for ratcheting up climate ambition across all topics. The first global stocktake marks an important step in enabling Parties to the Paris Agreement to enhance their climate actions and support with the aim of achieving long-term goals. Two co-facilitators of the technical dialogue discuss the process, findings, relationship with political outcomes and implications for future negotiations.