*[Enwl-eng] Here is the latest news from the High-Level Champions!
enwl
enwl at enw.net.ru
Wed Apr 26 19:37:11 MSK 2023
UN Global Climate Action
26 April 2023
High-Level Champions'
Newsletter
23 venture capital firms join Race to Zero
Race to Zero is delighted to approve Venture
Climate Alliance (VCA) as a formal partner. The VCA has been created by
leading global venture capital firms to define, facilitate, and realize net
zero-aligned pathways for early-stage investments with a goal to build a
robust movement within the venture industry to combat climate change.
The VCA’s 23 founding members are Prelude
Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, DCVC, Energy Impact Partners,
Galvanize Climate Solutions, S2G Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Tiger
Global, World Fund and 2150; along with Obvious Ventures, Congruent
Ventures, Valo Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, Fifth Wall, Overture
Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures, Spring Lane Capital, Azolla Ventures, Systemiq
Capital, The Westly Group, Innovation Endeavors, and ReGen Ventures. It is
supported by Great Circle Capital Advisors, a climate finance advisory firm.
The VCA has been approved by the Race to
Zero under the leadership of the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, and
constitutes a new sector-specific alliance under the Glasgow Financial
Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). The VCA will work alongside other
sector-specific alliances within GFANZ to develop methodologies and tools
appropriate for early-stage investments, and to share expertise on climate
solutions across the broader financial sector.
UN Climate Change High-Level Champions for
COP27 and COP28 Presidencies, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin and Razan Al Mubarak
said:
”Venture capital funding is crucial to
advancing the climate agenda. It plays a key role in the development of
climate mitigation technology which is urgently needed to keep us within a
1.5 °C limit. Race to Zero’s 25 Partners and around 11,000 members are
working hard to implement the campaign’s robust, science-aligned criteria.
Two-thirds of the largest companies in Race
to Zero have shifted from pledges to science- based transition plans,
driving down emissions in their operations by 6.5% on average. A total of
70% have set an absolute reduction target by 2030. We look forward to
supporting and collaborating with the Venture Climate Alliance as together
we build on this significant momentum in this year of the Global Stocktake.”
Membership in the VCA is open to any venture
capital firm, or a division of a larger firm that is engaged primarily in
venture investing, that agrees to fulfill VCA’s commitments and to actively
contribute to the organization as appropriate. For more information, or to
become a member, please visit ventureclimatealliance.org.
High-Level Champions lock in 2023 Marrakech
Partnership Work Programme
The High-Level Champions and Marrakech
Partnership’s programme of work for 2023, to drive short-term ambition,
action and alignment among non-Party stakeholders (NPS) on the Paris goals,
has been finalized by the High-Level Champions.
The 2023 work programme sets out short-term
goals for the delivery of the five-year plan of the Marrakech Partnership,
released at COP26, to engage NPS with the ambitious, just, equitable and
inclusive transitions needed for a 1.5°C resilient world in 2050.
The work programme reflects the shared
vision of the High-Level Champions, emerging priorities of the COP 28
Presidency, plus a recent stakeholder consultation. It also places specific
emphasis on addressing the adaptation gap and strengthening resilience,
increasing just finance for climate action, mobilizing mitigation ambition
and action, and building credibility through enhanced accountability. The
programme encourages active participation from NPS in the first Global
Stocktake.
Building on the Marrakech Partnership
five-year plan, the 2023 programme is structured to deliver the following
actions:
a.. Mobilizing NPS towards credible,
transparent, science-based goals to maximize ambition and action, through
the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience campaigns.
b.. Driving systems transformation through
cross-sector, cross-region collaboration - to mobilize action on finance,
technology and capacity building.
c.. Engaging NPS in the UNFCCC processes,
particularly the GST - to create the conditions to ratchet-up global
ambition.
d.. Enhancing accountability, by improving
transparency tools and processes for tracking NPS climate commitments,
including the Global Climate Action portal (GCAP).
Overall, the 2023 work programme is designed
to promote an all-of-society and systems transformation approach across
every sector, guided by radical collaboration, and strengthened support,
which are needed to deliver national plans through a positively reinforcing
“ambition loop”.
Respecting, promoting and enacting the
rights of Indigenous Peoples
Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change
High-Level Champion for the COP28 Presidency and President of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), urged for greater
inclusion of indigenous peoples as “full partners in decision-making
processes that affect their lands, health, resources and way of life” at the
22nd Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
(UNPFII).
During her keynote address, Ms. Al Mubarak
said: “The Paris Agreement states that climate change is a common concern
for all humankind and when taking action to address climate change, the
rights of indigenous peoples should be respected, promoted and enacted.”
Pointing to reports from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement and the
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Ms. Al Mubarak recognized
the myriad of contributions by indigenous peoples to tackling the climate
crisis from advocacy to environmental stewardship.
Listen to the full speech on YouTube.
A seat at the table: G7 acknowledges
subnational Climate Action
The G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy
and Environment in Sapporo, Japan, has promised to speed up the phaseout of
unabated fossil fuels and the shift towards renewable energy. According to
the world’s seven largest advanced economies, this is necessary to achieve
net-zero emissions in energy systems by 2050 at the latest. The G7 countries
underscored that the net zero by 2050 goal is in line with the trajectories
required to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5°C above
pre-industrial levels. Addressing ministers at the meeting, UN Climate
Change Chief Simon Stiell called on the entire international community to
urgently accelerate its exit from all fossil fuels to avoid the worst
impacts of climate change.
It also concluded with the announcement of
the first-ever G7 Round-table on Subnational Climate Actions in
collaboration with Urban7 (U7) - the voice of local governments at the G7
process.
In their final Communiqué, the G7 Ministers
for Climate, Energy and Environment addressed, “the vital role of
subnational actors in realizing the transformation toward net zero,
climate-resilient, circular, and nature positive economies, furthering
socioeconomic opportunities based on local capacity, needs and individual
environmental conditions.”
The Ministers committed to “catalyze support
for actions by subnational actors, encourage sharing best practices and
promote city-to-city cooperation”.
Concretely, the Ministers established the G7
Round-table on Subnational Climate Actions, as a forum “for G7 members to
share national policies and programs promoting subnational climate actions
both domestic and across borders”. The Ministers explicitly recognized the
Urban7 (U7), noting that they “look forward to facilitating a dialogue with
the U7 at the Round-table.”
The outcomes of the Round-table will be
presented to the G20 and at COP 28 in the UAE later in the year.
Scaling up green hydrogen projects in Africa
Africa could meet nearly a quarter of its
energy needs from indigenous and from clean renewable energy by 2030 and
increase that to as much as two thirds by 2050, according to the
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). But while the continent is
rich in potential energy resources, it requires further support and
strengthened capacities to leverage these opportunities.
One of those sources is green hydrogen.
Currently, the majority of green hydrogen projects that have reached final
investment decision are located in developed countries.
A recent forum organised by the Mauritanian
Government and the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance (AGHA) with the support of
the Green Hydrogen Organisation and UN Climate Change High-Level Champions,
addressed the issue of financing large-scale renewable energy and green
hydrogen projects in developing countries and emerging economies.
Over two hundred representatives from
African governments, renewable energy and green hydrogen project developers
and development finance institutions (DFIs) among others came together for
the two-day event.
During the meeting, a new report Getting the
right blend: Innovative development finance for the large-scale renewable
and green hydrogen economy was published which draws on the experiences of a
wide group of DFIs, export credit agencies, developers and institutional
investors. It looks in detail at what ‘financial close’ for a large-scale
renewable energy and green hydrogen project could look like and the most
effective financial instruments that should be scaled up.
In addition, the forum concluded with the
publication of the Nouakchott Message; a set of recommendations calling on
DFIs and their shareholders to enable the African green hydrogen economy as
soon as possible.
It is a contribution to the wider Bridgetown
Agenda for the Reform of the Global Finance Architecture, an initiative
launched by the Government of Barbados, and was delivered by the Mauritanian
government to the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings on 15 April.
Stockholm Climate Week
To coincide with a recent meeting of EU
Environment Ministers in Stockholm, the city held its first Climate Week,
providing four days of live climate broadcasting.
The Climate Champions Team (CCT) joined
leading scientists at the opening plenary to highlight how leading companies
are taking action in line with science to cut both their own emissions, and
those they influence through their business activity.
In addition, the CCT talked to industry
leaders on the exponential growth of electric vehicles, mobility as a
service, and micro mobility in cities, driven by smart technologies.
Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure is expected to hit a tipping point
around 2025 with price parity between fossil fuel and electric cars.
At the closing ceremony, the CCT joined
Johan Falk, CEO and Co-founder, Exponential Roadmap Initiative to discuss
how world leaders in science, policy, and business can and must work
together to accelerate the implementation of existing solutions for the
greatest challenge of our time: halving global emissions by 2030.
You can watch the event here.
In Case You Missed It
a.. The Energy Transitions Committee
estimates that at least US$130bn a year is needed to protect the most
at-risk areas of tropical forest by the end of the decade, alongside
reductions in beef and dairy consumption and government bans on
deforestation. Its ‘Financing the Transition: The Cost of Avoiding
Deforestation’ report suggests money needed to counter the economic
incentive to destroy forests for cattle ranching, agriculture and other
causes could come from carbon markets, wealthy governments and
philanthropists. It also states that urgent actions including a ban on
clearing forests, developing businesses that rely on standing forests and
reducing demand for commodities linked to deforestation, such as palm oil,
soya, beef and cocoa are also necessary.
a.. Climate change is compounding
inequalities faced by women in agriculture according to a new report from
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Some of the findings in ‘The
status of women in agrifood systems’ concluded that women working in
agriculture 'tend to do so under highly unfavourable conditions' often in
the face of 'climate-induced weather shocks and in situations of conflict.’
a.. Pakistan plans to induct 14,000
megawatts of renewable energy into the national grid over the next 10 years
in a bid to supply low-cost electricity to consumers and fight climate
change. In February 2023, Pakistan’s total energy production stood at 7,756
gigawatt-hours (GWh) of which 5% was renewable energy.
a.. As we are in the decisive decade for
climate action, reaching our 2030 climate change targets requires us to add
an average of 1,000 GW renewable energy each year, according to a recent
IRENA report.
a.. Power generation could soon be
approaching “the beginning of the end of the fossil age”, according to the
fourth annual Global Electricity Review from energy think tank Ember. The
report’s findings show the huge potential of decarbonizing the electricity
sector, since more than 40% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the result
of burning fossil fuels for power generation.
a.. The temperature of the world’s ocean
surface has hit an all-time high since satellite records began according to
US government data. Climate scientists said preliminary data from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) showed the average
temperature at the ocean’s surface has been at 21.1 °C since the start of
April – beating the previous high of 21 °C set in 2016.
a.. California has issued a progress report
on actions over the past year to build climate resilience across the state.
The Climate Adaptation Strategy outlines projects and programs throughout
the state helping to protect people from the impacts of climate change.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said: “Climate change is happening all
around us. In just the last year, California experienced a record heat wave
and communities suffering from years of drought are now facing historic
flooding. We are acting now with an all-of-the-above approach to help all
Californians prepare and adapt. California’s Climate Adaptation Strategy
recognizes that extreme weather and other climate impacts threaten
communities in every part of our state and accelerates actions to protect
the most vulnerable. While we have made great progress over the last year,
the climate crisis demands we move further and faster to reduce risks to our
people.”
a.. Uganda Development Bank (UDB), has
launched the UDB Climate Finance Facility (CFF), a strategic Fund that will
make available affordable finance that aims to promote climate-smart
agriculture, ensure climate resilient infrastructure and low carbon
industries. Addressing guests at the launch, the Managing Director of UDB
Ms. Patricia Ojangole said; “The increasing threat of climate change and
environmental degradation has the potential to present high socio-economic
risks to the economy. As the impacts continue to manifest through floods,
drought, landslides, animal and crop epidemics, among other signs in
different parts of the country, they are more deleterious to the poor and
marginalized who depend largely on natural resources for their livelihoods.”
a.. What are countries' obligations with
regard to addressing climate change? The United Nations General Assembly
recently adopted a resolution to get an opinion by the International Court
of Justice (ICJ) on this question.
a.. With respect to the Global Stocktake
process that enables countries and other stakeholders to see where they’re
collectively making progress toward meeting the goals of the Paris
Agreement, the summary report of the second meeting of the technical
dialogue convened at COP 27 has been published. In addition, the
co-facilitators of the technical dialogue invite Parties to the Paris
Agreement and non-Party stakeholders to submit a one-page poster before 22
May, summarizing their inputs to the third and final meeting of the
technical dialogue (TD1.3), to be displayed at the Bonn Climate Change
Conference in Bonn, Germany this June. The High-Level Champions submission
ahead of TD1.3 can be found here. Also, the first workshop for non-State
Actors in Brazil was held in Sao Paulo on April 11th. The event, organized
by CDP, the Climate Champions Latin America Team and supported by the
Climate and Society Institute (iCS) aimed to promote capacity building
around the Global Stocktake and engage relevant stakeholders in the
discussions.
a.. Shifting to a low-carbon economy can
unlock new jobs and opportunities but it must be done in a way that is as
socially and economically fair as possible for everyone, according to
on-the-ground case studies contained in a new report from UN Climate Change.
a.. From renewable energy in Ghana to
sustainable transport in Cambodia - experts supporting the UNFCCC's
Technology Mechanism have been looking at transferable and scalable examples
of climate action that can bolster national climate plans under the Paris
Agreement.
a.. The 2023 United Nations Small Island
Developing States Partnerships Awards are now accepting applications. The
Awards aim to reward the most successful SIDS partnerships, highlight best
practices, increase the visibility of the SIDS Partnership Framework,
motivate the creation of new SIDS partnerships and incentivize the
registrations of new partnerships for SIDS. The deadline for the application
is Friday 28 April 2023.
Keeping up with the Champions
a.. Razan Al Mubarak attended the United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues(UNPFII) this week. Together
with Indigenous Youth Leader Taylor Behn-Tsakoza and with COP28
Director-General Majid Al Suwaidi in attendance, the High-Level Champion
co-hosted an Indigenous Youth Dialogue to better understand how to
meaningfully engage on global health, food and water security, as well as
nature and biodiversity. In addition, Al Mubarak co-moderated a panel
discussion with, amongst others, Ms.Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Co-chair of the
International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change( IIPFCC’s) and
Global Ambassador to the Race to Zero and the Race to Resilience Ms. Xiye
Bastida. During the discussion Al Mubarak emphasized the importance of
including and respecting Indigenous values and knowledge systems for
planetary health and climate change.
a.. As many celebrate Ramadan, Passover and
Easter, Al Mubarak called for the shared principle of compassion to unite us
in our fight against climate change in an op-ed published in Arabian
Business. Al Mubarak said the belief in treating others as we’d like to be
treated exists in every religion, and the reminder to take care of each
other is especially pertinent this month.
a.. In an op-ed published by Reuters,
Mahmoud Mohieldin outlined his proposal to address the current inequality of
poorer nations paying both the highest human cost of climate change as well
as the capital to shield themselves from it. In the article, Mohieldin sets
out his “1% for 1.5C” proposal. The idea is for Multilateral Development
Banks to extend concessional finance terms to middle-income, as well as
low-income countries to help them pay for renewable energy and essential
infrastructure that can help them deal with the increasing risks of climate
change. They would be able to borrow at a 1% interest rate, with a 10-year
grace period during which they wouldn’t have to pay anything back, and then
a 20-year repayment phase. The difference between the artificially low 1%
rate the countries pay and their market cost of finance could be subsidized
in part through the as-yet unpaid portion of the promised $100 billion
climate finance pledge, estimated conservatively at $20 billion annually.
a.. In an opinion piece for The Korea
Herald, Mohieldin highlighted the important role innovation, smart
technology and public-private partnerships are playing in supporting Korea’s
climate agenda.
a.. Mohieldin and Ms. Hannah Beswick, Senior
Advisor to Al Mubarak met with the High-Level Champions’ network of Global
Ambassadors. The group convenes global leaders with a range of expertise and
knowledge across regions and sectors to support the Race to Zero and Race to
Resilience. During the session Mohieldin and Beswick thanked the group for
their continued support, outlined key priorities for both campaigns and
discussed opportunities and areas for collaboration with the Ambassadors in
the year ahead.
a.. Mohieldin was invited to speak at The
European House - Ambrosetti’s annual workshop on ‘Sustainable Finance and
its Impact on the Future of Business.”. During the session, Mohieldin urged
that advancing climate action must go hand in hand with action on the
Sustainable Development Goals.
a.. During the World Bank/IMF Spring
Meetings, Mohieldin attended the Sustainable Debt Coalition high level
meeting. The Coalition was launched at COP27 to provide a framework for
collaboration between creditor and borrower nations, focusing on the nexus
of sustainability and debt management. During the discussion in Washington
D.C., Mohieldin urged the need to unlock climate finance for developing
countries through various financial instruments; grants, equity, debt for
nature and climate swaps. He also outlined how non-State actors can
participate in sustainable debt management using philanthropic finance and
private finance to catalyse financing for development.
Mark Your Calendar
a.. 22nd Session of the UN Permanent Forum
on Indigenous Issues: 17-28 April
b.. Singapore Maritime Week 24-28 April
c.. Fourth UN World Data Forum 2023, 24-27
April
d.. Green Climate Fund, Board Consultation
Meeting, 24-28 April
e.. IWC Scientific Committee Meeting 2023:
24 April – 6 May
f.. ECOSOC Youth Forum 2023, 25-27 April
g.. Latin America and the Caribbean Regional
Forum on Sustainable Development 2023, 25-28 April
h.. Economic Research Forum, 29th Annual
Conference: The Future of MENA Development, 4-6 May
i.. Basel Convention COP16, Rotterdam
Convention COP11, and Stockholm Convention COP11: 1-12 May
j.. 25th meeting of the Scientific and
Technical Review Panel to the Convention on Wetlands: 2-5 May
k.. 18th Session of the UN Forum on Forests
(UNFF 18): 8-12 May
l.. IUCN C109 Council Meeting, 23-25 May
m.. Africa CEO Forum, 2023 Annual Summit,
5-6 June
n.. Bonn Climate Change Conference, 7-15
June
o.. Summit for a New Financing Pact, 22-23
June
p.. Africa Climate Week (ACW 2023), Nairobi,
4-8 September
q.. New York Climate Week, 18-22 September
r.. Climate Action Summit, United Nations,
18-22 September
s.. Middle East and North Africa Climate
Week (MENACW 2023) Riyadh, 9-12 October,
t.. Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week
(LACCW 2023), Panama City, 23-27 October
u.. COP 28, 30 November - 12 December
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From: Global Climate Action
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2023 4:08 PM
Subject: Vladimir, here is the latest news from the
High-Level Champions!
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