*[Enwl-eng] Here is the latest news from the High-Level Champions!
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Fri Sep 1 19:54:03 MSK 2023
UN Global Climate Action
01 September 2023
High-Level Champions'
Newsletter
Africa’s Moment is Upon Us
Africa Climate Week is the first of four
Regional Climate Weeks coordinated by the UN Climate Change. It is taking
place from 4-8 September 2023 in Nairobi, Africa, hosted by the Government
of Kenya. The climate weeks, which will also take place in the Middle East
and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific, provide
vital opportunities to rally policymakers, cities, subnational regions,
business, investors, practitioners, and civil society to address barriers
and unlock climate solutions in regions. The climate weeks will also
contribute to the Global Stocktake process, concluding at COP 28, by
bringing focus to specific, region-relevant, forward-looking actions to
accelerate progress towards a resilient 1.5 C trajectory.
Both UN Climate Change High-Level Champions
will be attending in Nairobi, as a culmination of their engagement to
galvanise stakeholders, from all levels of governments to civil society
groups to investors, over preceding months in support of climate action and
nature restoration opportunities in Africa. An overview of the High-Level
Champions’ engagement at the Africa Climate Summit and Africa Climate Week
is available here.
Transforming Africa into a green powerhouse
This is Africa’s moment. There is now an
enormous opportunity for the continent to show its importance as a driver of
global markets on energy, heavy industry and the burgeoning market for
ecosystem services, as a key solutions provider for a net zero and resilient
future. For example, according to the IEA, Africa could supply the entire
world with affordable low-carbon energy in the form of hydrogen. In
addition, Africa could power its rising industry and provide green energy to
600 million Africans who today do not have access to electricity, plus
approximately one billion people without means of clean cooking.
The UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for
COP 27, Mr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, as well as Ms. Frannie Leautier, CEO of
SouthBridge Investments, recently wrote an article in ‘African Business’ on
how African countries, such as Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania and Kenya, could
be electrified with renewable power. In doing so, they would create the
conditions to produce, use and export green hydrogen. These solutions and
many others can combine to power Africa’s economic growth, as well as
helping regions such as Europe to realise their climate commitments.
Realising Africa’s bioeconomy opportunity
After renewable energy, the next best action
to support halving net emissions by 2030 is to halt the destruction of
forests and instead invest in Africa’s abundant nature and the ecosystem
services that it provides. Africa is home to many critical biodiversity
hotspots and more than 20% of the world’s protected areas, yet it receives
less than 3% of global climate finance. This has to change. The continent is
particularly well placed to develop a bioeconomy; by capitalising on
restoring and protecting vital carbon sinks. Sustainably managing Africa’s
natural gifts would allow numerous Sustainable Development Goals to be met
by 2030, while creating jobs, improving health and food security, as well as
generating wealth by connecting smallholder farmers to new bio-based value
chains.
To realise the opportunities for Africa’s
bioeconomy, it’s critical to draw upon the traditional knowledge of
Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and farmers who understand the
importance of working with nature, not against it.
Pioneering African climate solutions
In the wake of the shocking recent wildfires
and flooding - in Europe and North America - it’s crystal clear that
financing climate adaptation and mitigation is far more cost-effective than
financing crisis responses to shocks (not accounting for the tragic human
toll of extreme weather events). That’s why the High-Level Champions are
supporting actions for investment of public and private finance into
projects in developing countries. This drives major impact - firstly in
boosting the economy and resilience of regions, as well as supporting the
globally-agreed mission to curtail the climate crisis.
Africa Climate Week is no exception - it will
showcase a pipeline of 15 shortlisted projects that can be quickly activated
across the continent. For example, investors will be presented with the
following bankable opportunities:
a.. Imperative Global’s $180 million carbon
credit program to restore Malawi’s forest and provide improved cookstoves in
the country.
b.. A $192 million project, led by Oando
Clean Energy, to transform Nigeria’s transport system through procurement of
e-buses and charging infrastructure.
Numerous game-changing African projects are
seeking projects to raise investment by COP 28, with funding requirements
ranging from $3 million to $200 million. For example, a new series of videos
below demonstrates the wide range of qualified investment opportunities.
a.. The Power of Waste in Nigeria with
Phoenix Edison
b.. Waste to Fertiliser: Increasing Yield
Changing Kenyan Lives with Safi Organics
c.. Biking by Battery in East Africa with
Ampersand
d.. E-transport is on the move in Lagos with
Oando Clean Energy
Guest interview: Susan Chomba, Global Director
of Vital Landscapes at the World Resources Institute (WRI)
Susan leads the institution’s work on Forests,
Food systems and People which includes forest landscape restoration,
sustainable agriculture/food systems and thriving rural livelihoods in
Africa. Susan is a distinguished global ambassador for the Race to Zero and
Race to Resilience under the High-Level Champions.
Realising Africa’s latecomer advantage -
empowering a global climate leader in waiting
In her role at the WRI, Ms. Susan Chomba leads
the Food, Land and Water programs in Africa under the Vital landscapes
pillar. Susan is leading the nature track and has contributed to the Food
Systems as a whole at the Africa Climate Summit and the Africa Climate Week
next week. Here, Susan explains her vision for the summit - and the
opportunity to transform Africa’s food systems - while setting in motion a
reset of the global food system as a whole.
Increasingly, the world is waking up to Africa’s
potential as a pivotal leader in the climate crisis. Why is Africa central
to the climate change conundrum?
Africa does not bring all of the historical
baggage of major emitting countries to the climate crisis. The entire
continent contributes less than four per cent of global greenhouse gases, an
amount that is absorbed by African forests currently. So, Africa comes to
the table with an even ledger in terms of carbon debt. This allows African
countries to see two things clearly.
Firstly, we must avoid coupling the growth of
our economies with volatile, polluting fossil fuels. Secondly, we must
protect Africa’s existing ability to act as a carbon sink - and more than
this, on the way to 2050 we must massively boost the capacity of natural
systems to absorb the emissions already locked into the atmosphere.
I call this “Africa’s latecomer advantage” -
it’s a clear perspective that a different path is vital and possible. But
make no mistake, Africa cannot realise the opportunity by itself.
What are the key opportunities for Africa?
Africa has all the ingredients of a global
climate leader. Firstly, Africa’s natural resources are unsurpassed,
accounting for 30% of the world's mineral reserves, many of which are
critical to renewable and low-carbon technologies, such as electric
vehicles. The continent is also home to vast areas of uncultivated land and
forests, for example, the Congo Basin absorbs four per cent of global carbon
emissions annually - even more carbon than the Amazon. These factors add up
to huge potential for Africa to pioneer climate mitigation, direct carbon
capture, and the transformation of global food systems.
Secondly, Africa is projected to overtake Asia
as the world's fastest-growing region, with a ready market of over 1.4
billion people, twice that of Europe. As Africa also has the youngest
population in the world, we’re not entrenched in conventional ways of
working. With the right steer new innovation can be designed by Africa’s
young people and rapidly scaled across the countries of the continent.
What are the key food challenges faced by
Africa?
Africa is one of the world’s critical bread
baskets but it’s facing a perfect storm leaving nearly 290 million Africans
facing hunger. Almost 60% of arable land on the continent is degraded - and
rising, largely due to failed industrial farming methods, placing yields on
a downward trajectory.
Climate change is exacerbating food shortages.
Agriculture is also one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate change,
especially droughts and cyclones, which is increasing in frequency and
severity in the Horn of Africa countries, such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and South
Sudan. Cyclone Freddie was also one of the most dangerous cyclones of the
last few decades; having a massive effect on food security in countries like
Malawi. And when extreme weather events of this scale hit, they wipe out
previous attempts to bolster food security.
Simultaneously, the cost of traditional fossil
fuel-based fertiliser has soared in African countries such as Kenya, due to
the war in Ukraine. With yields falling, prices rising, and without adequate
support systems, African farmers are increasingly clearing areas of forest,
wetlands and grasslands to feed themselves, which drives further
biodiversity and habitat loss. To break this cycle, we must urgently
scale-up innovative, regenerative and agroecological practices.
And lastly, the global food system, including
the processing, transport, and retailing of food, is responsible for at
least a third of GHGs. So, it’s impossible to meet the 1.5 target unless we
address emissions from the food system as a whole - from farm to fork -
including food production, transport, processing, through to retail. The
good news is that the solutions to decarbonising the core emissions of food
production, can also enable land degradation to be addressed, while
drastically improving the resilience and health of African communities.
How can the upcoming Africa Climate Week
catalyse African climate leadership?
The summit is a major moment to unify African
stakeholders to address the climate and finance issues ahead of the COP 28
climate talks. Crucially, the summit is open to all. It’s not just about
politicians negotiating at a top-level - it’s an opportunity for the voice
of private sector actors, especially smallholder farmers, to be heard. This
is crucial. Also, it’s an opportunity to match up innovative ideas and new
models with investors that are seeking bankable, long term solutions to the
climate crisis. The summit should connect large-scale investors with
small-scale innovators on the ground in Africa, so that investment is not
just absorbed by big-scale corporate players. We need to consciously
catalyse small-scale initiatives, allowing them to grow and attract
investors of their own.
What does success look like for this Africa
Climate Week?
Beyond the talks, I want to see changes in
policies, new deals for sustainable innovation on energy, food systems and
nature. I want to see more positive engagement with civil society, with new
faces bringing forth innovative ideas, more innovators farmers, smallholder
farmers, and Indigenous Peoples explaining what they’re already doing and
what help they need, so that we can link them up with investors, and
policymakers. Every segment of African society can be involved, and by
working together we can put tangible outcomes on the table.
To read the full interview, including details
of the AFR100 and Niger’s Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR)
restoration projects, please click here.
A video excerpt of the interview can be found
here
ACTO Summit: Drawing on Indigenous knowledge
to save the forest
The Amazon rainforest is crucial to a stable
global climate. And so, the recent Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation
(ACTO) Summit was a vital moment to focus leaders’ minds on their duty to
protect the rainforest from further damage from deforestation and the
impacts of a warming climate. The Summit, held in the Brazilian city of
Belém in August 2023, gathered Heads of State from the eight countries
spanned by the Amazon, plus international leaders, and civil society,
including Indigenous Peoples who have traditionally been overlooked in
climate action campaigns.
On the coinciding International Indigenous
Peoples’ Day, the High-Level Champion for COP 28, H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak
strongly advocated for Indigenous Peoples, the true guardians of the forest,
who can draw on centuries of knowledge of protecting their ancestral lands.
Indigenous Peoples make up just 6% of the global population, yet their lands
are home to an astounding 80% of the world's biodiversity. To empower
Indigenous Peoples, H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak called for direct access to finance
for Indigenous Peoples and the integration of the food and forest agendas.
H.E. Razan Al Mubarak commented:
“It is time to embrace a rights-based approach
to climate justice that centers on the Indigenous Peoples from the Amazon
basin… In doing so, we can ensure Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
have the agency and support needed to protect their lands, livelihoods, and,
ultimately, the health of our planet.”
This sentiment was echoed by Brazilian
President Lula da Silva, who called for a fairer share of benefits from the
Amazon's natural resources - and international finance - to go to forest
communities, as part of a "just ecological transition."
The summit's final declaration did not address
a range of urgent priorities, including a proposed goal to end deforestation
by 2030, plus ending oil development and illegal gold mining in the Amazon.
It’s paramount that stakeholders rally behind the solutions to these issues
at the upcoming Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week (LACCW 2023):
Panama City, in 23-27 October, and further at COP 28.
However, the ACTO declaration’s strong support
for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and protections was welcomed as a starting
point by Indigenous leaders and environmental groups, although they called
for promises to be followed up with action.
Declaration Puts Food on the Table at COP 28
The Leaders Declaration on Food Systems,
Agriculture and Climate Action, recently launched at the UN Food Systems
Summit+2 (UNFSS+2) in Rome on 24-26 July, strongly urged nations to align
their food systems with their climate commitments.
As a co-chair of the Food Systems and
Agriculture Agenda at COP 28 (alongside the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development and Boston Consulting Group), the High-Level
Champions’ are now rallying leaders from across food value chains, from
farmers, manufacturers, financiers to civil society, to fast-track the
regenerative transition of agricultural landscapes and food systems.
Together, these actors can drive major progress across food production,
consumption, loss and waste. Food systems are not only vital for meeting
societal needs and enabling adaptation to climate impacts but are also
responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions – representing up to
33% of total global emissions. By engaging food system players in this way,
nations can correctly understand the opportunity to drive down emissions in
our food systems, allowing them to, in turn, strengthen country climate
commitments.
Aligning food systems with nature not only
yields ecological and health benefits – but also helps to maintain soil
health and increase long term crop yields, reducing the cost of inputs like
fertiliser, boosting resilience, and meeting growing demand for sustainably
produced foods. As Gonzalo Munoz, former UN Climate Change High-Level
Champion for COP25 recently highlighted, “Embracing these solutions can be a
win-win-win situation: a healthy planet, healthy people, and a healthier
bottom line.”
The Declaration preceded a forecast that
global heating is likely to disrupt food supplies well before temperatures
rise by the 1.5C target; threatening global agriculture faster than
previously expected. The warning, issued by Alain-Richard Donwahi, who led
last year’s UN Convention to Combat Desertification summit, COP 15, is yet
another key reason for the food value chain to collaborate to create a food
system that is resilient to increasing water scarcity.
Race to Zero latest developments:
Race to Zero welcomed the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) as an Accelerator of the Race to
Zero after many years of collaboration. WBCSD is a global community of
leading businesses driving systems transformation for a world where more
than nine billion people can live well, within planetary boundaries, by
2050. Watch this space for a bigger announcement at New York Climate Week.
Giki, the corporate climate action platform
and programme and Race to Zero member, hosted a webinar on the Employee Race
to Zero; a new initiative for the 8,300 for Race to Zero member companies
that are seeking to educate and engage their employees on sustainability.
Race to Resilience latest developments:
The Resilience Hub is returning to the annual
Conference of the Parties (COP) for its third year. Through the partnership
with the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, the Resilience Hub pavilion
will continue to serve as the home of the Race to Resilience campaign. This
year the Hub will feature a diverse program – available online and
in-person, that places resilience front and centre on the climate action
agenda at COP 28, delivering on the mission of the partners to accelerate
knowledge, action on and investment in climate resilience.
News from Race to Resilience Partners
- The Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance
led by Arsht-Rock has appointed Hillary Rodham Clinton, 67th United States
Secretary of State, as Global Ambassador for Heat, Health, and Gender. In
her new role, Secretary Clinton will raise awareness on the disproportionate
impacts of climate-driven extreme heat health-related risks on women and
girls.
- The Risk Informed Early Action
Partnership (REAP) welcomed The Republic of Gambia´s National Disaster
Management Agency (NDMA) as its newest member.
- Scale for Resilience launched the
Women in Resilience Finance Mentorship Program (WiRF). The WiRF Mentor
Program will unite women across the entire financial value chain in order to
build strong relationships among the women in Resilience Finance, empowering
them to take leadership roles in their fields.
- Global Evergreening Alliance (GEA) is
kicking off the next phase of the Restore Africa Programme with Climate
Impact Partners in Kenya. A further USD 180 million is being invested into
Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia.
Solution Stories: Learn more about the Race to
Resilience partners leading action from the ground -
- Nepal: Protecting farmers with flood
insurance
Partner: Insuresilience
- Reviving Brazil’s Babassu: A
sustainable alternative to imported palm oil
Partner: Initiative 20×20
- The guardians of the mangrove forest
in West Kalimantan, Indonesia
Partner: Global Mangrove Alliance
Keeping up with the Champions
H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak attended Earth Overshoot
Day event
H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak joined leaders including
the President of Slovenia and a range of the country’s Government Ministers,
plus the International Resource Panel at UNEP, to mark the annual day when
humanity's demands on nature exceed Earth's biocapacity. H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak’s
address can be found here.
Dr. Mohieldin chairs the GFANZ Africa Network
Meeting
Mohieldin joined the GFANZ Africa Network
Board Members in a virtual meeting to advance discussions on regional
Climate Finance priorities ahead of the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) and
Africa Climate Week (ACW) during the first week of September in Nairobi,
Kenya.
Dr. Mohieldin joined the Sharing Actions
Africa Meeting
The High-Level Champions in partnership with
Sharing Strategies have convened the third of their series of Sharing
Actions Africa meetings to discuss the upcoming ACS in Kenya. During the
meeting, Mohieldin shared his views around the ideal narrative of the Summit
encompassing the intersection of climate and SDGs, followed by a
presentation from Joseph Ng’ang’a, Africa Climate Summit CEO.
Champions attended Independent High Level
Expert Group (IHLEG) on Climate Finance talks
Both Champions attended two days of talks held
in Abu Dhabi, where they highlighted the importance of blended finance for
climate action. The talks were convened by the COP 28 Presidency, with
delegates including the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action & Finance, the
International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
Independent High Level Expert Group (IHLEG) on
Climate Finance roundtable. Credit: Gulf Today
Dr. Mohieldin calls for urgent replenishment
of the Green Climate Fund in Financial Times
Mohieldin highlighted the status of the
centrepiece of the climate finance landscape, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) -
in a Financial Times column. The article explained that new finance
commitments at the upcoming GCF pledging conference on October 5th in
Germany can provide a key signal to the developing world, ahead of COP28.
Dr. Mohieldin participated in a meeting on
Climate Finance Capacity Building
Mohieldin participated in a virtual roundtable
meeting convened by GFANZ in collaboration with the UN Climate Action Team
to discuss the establishment of a global coalition of organisations
providing capacity building support to emerging markets and developing
country financial institutions to facilitate their transition.
Dr. Mohieldin and AlKhulaif discuss Bahrain
Efforts to Achieve SDGs
On the sidelines of the UN High-Level
Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2023 in New York, Mohieldin met
Noor Bint Ali AlKhulaif, Bahraini Minister of Sustainable Development. They
discussed Bahrain’s progress against its dual goals of boosting economic
development, and meeting the sustainable development goals.
In case you missed it
● The Summary Report of the third meeting
of the Global Stocktake’s technical dialogue (TD 1.3) which took place from
6-13 June 2023 during the SB 58 sessions has been published on the UNFCCC
website here. An overarching factual synthesis report is expected to be
published by 8 September. The co-facilitators intend to organize an informal
consultation on both of the reports tentatively in mid-September and the
exact date will be confirmed on the GST website.
● Submissions from Parties and non-Party
stakeholders of views on the elements for the consideration of the outputs
component of the first Global Stocktake are still welcome by Friday, 15
September 2023. Guidelines on how to make submissions can be found here.
● Ahead of the second global dialogue and
the second investment-focused event under the Sharm el-Sheikh Mitigation
Ambition and Implementation Work Programme (MWP) which will take place from
15–17 October, 2023 in Abu Dhabi with the theme of accelerating just energy
transition in transport systems, all stakeholders are invited to submit
their views on opportunities, best practices, actionable solutions,
challenges and barriers relevant to the topics of the dialogues by Friday,
15 September 2023.
● The Expression of Interest for
organizing a Side Event or Action Hub at the Asia-Pacific Climate Week 2023,
scheduled for 13-17 November in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, is now open. To
express your interest, apply here before 12 September.
● The Expression of Interest to organize
capacity-building related events at the 5th Capacity-building Hub hosted by
the Paris Committee on Capacity-building (PCCB) from 4-10 December at COP 28
is now open! EOI submissions are welcome by 1st September 2023 at 23:59
CEST.
Mark Your Calendar
a.. Korea Global Adaptation Week 2023:
Incheon (South Korea), 28 August - 1 September
b.. GCF Private Investment for Climate
Conference 2023: Nairobi (Kenya), 4-5 September
c.. Africa Climate Week (ACW 2023): Nairobi
(Kenya), 4-8 September
d.. Africa Climate Summit: Nairobi (Kenya),
4-6 September
e.. New York Climate Week: 17-24 September
f.. SDG Summit: New York (USA), 18-19
September
g.. IEA Critical Minerals and Clean Energy
Summit: Paris (France), 28 September
h.. High-Level Pledging Conference of the
second replenishment of Green Climate Fund (GCF-2): Bonn (Germany), 5
October.
i.. Middle East and North Africa Climate
Week (MENACW 2023): Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), 8-12 October
j.. 8th World Investment Forum 2023: Abu
Dhabi (UAE),16-20 October
k.. Latin America and Caribbean Climate
Week (LACCW 2023): Panama City (Panama), 23-27 October
l.. Asia-Pacific Climate Week (APCW 2023):
Johor (Malaysia), 13-17 November
m.. Net Zero Festival: London (UK), 31
October - 1 November
n.. COP 28: Dubai (UAE), 30 November - 12
December
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From: Global Climate Action
Sent: Friday, September 01, 2023 6:02 PM
Subject: Vladimir, here is the latest news from the
High-Level Champions!
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