*[Enwl-eng] here is the latest news from the High-level Climate Champions!
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Tue May 11 17:50:59 MSK 2021
UN Climate Change
Global Climate Action
11 May 2021
High Level Climate Champions
Newsletter
What a Robust Commitment Looks Like
Commitments to reach zero emissions in the
2040s are the crucial first step in our race. But words alone will not get
us there - it’s about the action that comes soon after.
A commitment must be followed up with a plan
for achieving it - based on what the science says is necessary - with
interim targets for the 2020s and regular, transparent progress reports. And
that plan must simultaneously chart the shift away from fossil fuels and
towards the restoration and regeneration of nature, leading to real
emissions reductions wherever possible.
To keep UN Race to Zero members on track to
meet, and beat, their targets, the campaign’s independent Expert Peer Review
Group recently published refined criteria for all partner initiatives. The
result is an enhanced set of criteria with a stronger emphasis on the need
for interim targets and immediate action.
Race to Zero members need to show how they
will contribute to meeting, or surpassing, their fair share of halving
emissions by 2030, and explain what they will do to meet interim and
long-term targets within a year of joining the campaign. These plans should
prioritize emissions reductions over offsets, so that any residual emissions
are limited to what cannot feasibly be eliminated. As such, the UN
High-Level Champions for Climate Action have made clear that there is
currently no science-based route for oil and gas companies to join the Race
to Zero, and there won’t be until a sector-specific methodology is
published.
This is the result of the first of the Race
to Zero’s annual criteria review, aimed at ensuring that the campaign keeps
pace with the science and best practices and helping the wider climate
community converge around robust approaches to halving emissions by 2030 and
reaching net zero in the 2040s.
Mobile Sector Breaks Through
More than a third of the global mobile
sector is now racing to zero emissions by the 2040s, unlocking the potential
for avoiding 10 times more emissions across the economy.
Around 36 percent of mobile operators by
revenue, and 31 percent by mobile connections, have now met the rigorous
criteria set by the UN’s Race to Zero campaign. That surpasses the campaign’s
tipping point, or “breakthrough moment”, when commitments from 20 percent of
operators provide the momentum needed to pull the whole sector away from the
business-as-usual path. Science-based emissions reduction commitments by
mobile operators now cover half of connection and 65 percent of industry
revenues.
The mobile sector’s progress is significant
because it could help avoid emissions in other sectors by increasing
connectivity, improving efficiency and influencing behaviour change,
according to a report by industry association GSMA. In 2018, GSMA estimated
that mobile communications technologies could help avoid around 2 billion
tonnes of CO2 equivalent - well beyond the sector’s 220 million tonnes.
Avoided emissions could then double by 2021 as a result of mobile
technologies, it added.
At the same time, the mobile industry needs
to keep accelerating its own race to zero emissions. The industry’s biggest
source of emissions is its supply chain. The manufacture and use of devices
and equipment is responsible for around 50 million tonnes of e-waste
produced every year, according to a new GSMA report.
This makes the circular economy a
fundamental part of the mobile sector’s transition - capable of generating
US$45-80 billion in value every year, according to a study by Telia Company,
which serves customers in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Telia aims to
have 84 percent of waste from its operations and network construction and
maintenance reused or recycled by 2025 and reach zero waste by 2030. Dutch
social enterprise Fairphone, meanwhile, has already designed phones that
last, are easy to repair and have modular upgrades.
Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week
Government, private sector and civil society
leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean are coming together from
Tuesday to Friday (11-14 May) to discuss climate action solutions and ways
to incorporate them into the Covid-19 recovery, as one of UN Climate Change’s
regional meetings ahead of COP26.
The virtual climate week will focus on three
thematic sessions: national actions and economy-wide approaches; integrated
approaches for climate-resilient development; and seizing transformation
opportunities. The line-up of events includes the High-Level Champions’
Implementation Lab on Thursday, looking at the energy transition in
Caribbean small island developing states and financing for nature-based
solutions across the region, and a Race to Resilience dialogue on novel
finance solutions for coastal resilience.
In Case You Missed It
a.. Welcome, ambassadors! The Race to Zero
and Race to Resilience welcomed nine ambassadors from around the world, who
will help mobilize cities, regions, businesses, investors and others to
contribute to halving emissions by 2030 and building resilience for 4
billion people at risk from the climate crisis. The ambassadors bring a
range of expertise and knowledge from different regions, and share a
commitment to transformative change.
a.. Cutting methane emissions would prevent
260,000 premature deaths, 775,000 asthma-related hospital visits per year
and 25 million tonnes in crop losses, according to a new UN Environment
Programme report that offers solutions to reducing methane emissions by
around a third by 2030. Mainly: from fossil fuels.
a.. Pointing to “encouraging signs from some
major economies”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told last weeks’
Petersberg Climate Dialogue that “the world’s top priority should be to
dispense with polluting coal-fired power stations altogether and replace
them with renewable energy”.
a.. The podcast Outrage and Optimism
explores how to finance the race to zero emissions, in the third installment
of a partnership with the Race to Zero.
a.. Promised health gains from the decline
of coal-fired electricity are being undone by pollution caused by burning
other combustion fuels like gas and wood pellets, according to research from
Harvard University.
a.. The Global Climate and Health Alliance
and dozens of professional health organizations are calling on countries to
address future health risks by injecting “health and equity in all climate
policies”. This includes healthy Nationally Determined Contributions to the
Paris Agreement and Covid-19 recovery plans.
a.. Sir David Attenborough has been named
COP26 People’s Advocate. He will address world leaders at major
international events over the next six months, including the G7 Summit in
Cornwall in June, to firmly put climate and the protection of nature at the
top of their agenda.
Mark Your Calendars
a.. B7 Summit, 11-12 May
b.. Latin America And Caribbean Climate Week
2021, 11-14 May
c.. Countdown to COP26: Catalysing industry
action, 12 May
d.. Air Pollution: How Renewables Can Tackle
This Challenge, 12 May
e.. Accelerating Australia’s Race To Zero,
13 May
f.. Promoting Coastal Resilience through
Novel Finance Solutions, 14 May
g.. Transformation of the cities of Latin
America and the Caribbean: renewable energy and net zero emissions (en
español), 18 May
h.. Accelerating Sustainable Energy in
Cities in Asia & the Pacific, 18 May
i.. ASEAN-UK Race to Zero Dialogues, 24-25
May
j.. Health care sector joins the Race to
Zero campaign, 26 May
k.. P4G Seoul Summit, 30-31 May
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From: Global Climate Action
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2021 1:24 PM
Subject: Vladimir, here is the latest news from the High-level
Climate Champions!
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