Delegates from more than 190 countries and regions are gathering in the United Arab Emirates for the UN climate change conference that opens on Thursday. COP28 is scheduled to continue through December 12.

The conference in Dubai will provide the first opportunity for the delegates to assess the collective progress in the world's response to the climate crisis.

The assessment known as the "global stocktake" takes place every five years to find what each country or region needs to do to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The accord aims to limit the rise in the global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other measures.

But the United Nations has made clear that reduction pledges made by countries around the world will not be enough to achieve the target. It says nations must go further than the current pledges.

The question is how the delegates can agree to strengthen measures on the basis of the global stocktake. They are expected to discuss ways to expand the use of renewable energy sources and gradually end reliance on fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

In the COP27 conference last year, delegates agreed to set up a "loss and damage" fund to financially support vulnerable developing countries that are being hit hard by climate change.

This year's conference aims to agree on specific ways to operate the fund.

The question is how the participating countries and regions can find common ground to cooperate amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.