*[Enwl-eng] Here is the latest news from the High-Level Champions!
enwl
enwl at enw.net.ru
Tue Aug 20 17:47:24 MSK 2024
UN Climate Change – Global Climate Action
20 August 2024
High-Level Champions'
Newsletter
View as webpage
World Mangrove Day: Celebrating the Bridges
between Land and Sea
Oyster harvester, Dionewar Island, Senegal ©
FAO, Sylvain Cherkaoui
On this year’s World Mangrove Day - July 26,
Race to Resilience partner, The Global Mangrove Alliance, launched ‘The
State of the World’s Mangroves’ report celebrating ‘tremendous advances’ in
mangrove protection, while steering solutions to address half of the world’s
mangrove ecosystems which remain under threat.
Mangroves are critical ecosystems, bridging
land, freshwater, and sea - and playing host to great diversity, while
protecting and providing for countless coastal communities around the world.
For example, mangroves annually support nearly 800 billion juvenile fish,
prawns, bivalves, and adult crabs; playing an essential role in food chains
and, in turn, global food security. And, remarkably, mangroves hold, on
average, nearly 400 tonnes of carbon per hectare in their living biomass and
in the top metre of soil.
The new report is an impressive synthesis of
global knowledge on mangroves, while also presenting the critical need to
protect these ecosystems. It also provides an update on the progress of the
Mangrove Breakthrough, which has placed mangroves centre stage, gaining
support from 50 governments, with a goal of mobilising USD 4 billion to
ensure the future of 15 million hectares of mangroves. The Mangrove
Breakthrough represents a transformative initiative at the intersection of
conservation, science, finance, and policy. The report also highlights the
innovative financial mechanisms needed to support on-the-ground actions,
outlined in the Mangrove Breakthrough Financial Roadmap.
Proportion of mangroves protected by country
(Source: World Database on Protected Areas).
Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary,
Convention on Biological Diversity highlighted that
mangroves are important in the context of
nearly all Goals and Targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity
Framework, as such, they should be central not only to restoration and
area-based conservation efforts, but also in targets addressing spatial
planning, sustainable use, climate change and species conservation, among
others. Schomaker said:
“Under the Convention on Biological Diversity,
the global community has recognized the importance of biodiversity, not only
for its own sake, but also for the many ecosystem services and functions it
provides for our well-being and survival. In many ways, mangroves are the
‘poster child’ of the interdependence between people and nature.”
The State of the World’s Mangroves can be
found here, and a video message from Razan Al Mubarak, the UN Climate Change
High-level Champion for COP 28 can be found here.
Mangrove Breakthrough Council Appoints
Ambition Loop as Secretariat Host
The Council of the Mangrove Breakthrough:
Credit Ignace Beguin, Climate Champions Team.
In related news, the Mangrove Breakthrough
Council has selected Ambition Loop to host its Secretariat. As the group’s
governing Secretariat, non-profit Ambition Loop will work directly with
governments and delivery partners around the world to achieve the goals of
the Breakthrough: to protect and restore 15 million hectares of mangroves
forests by mobilising 4 billion USD by 2030.
Building a sustainable future: Azerbaijan's
leading property developers come together for climate action
CEOs of Azerbaijan’s real estate developers
have signed a climate pledge, committing to play their part in limiting
global warming to 1.5°C.
Under the Azerbaijan Sustainability Built
Environment Pledge, leaders from the country’s buildings sector including
the ‘Reconstruction, Construction & Management Service in Agdam Fuzuli &
Khojavend’, and the ‘Restoration, Construction & Management Service in
Jabrayil, Gubadli & Zangilan’, have acknowledged their role in supporting
Azerbaijan to achieve its national greenhouse gas emission reduction target
of 40% by 2050.
The signing took place during the “Azerbaijan
Sustainable Built Environment Leadership Roundtable” in Baku last month. In
attendance were government and private sector leaders including Mr. Anar
Guliyev, Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture
of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Mukhtar Babayev, COP 29 President
Designate and Nigar Arpadarai, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP
29.
Commenting on the pledge, Ms. Arpadarai said:
“As High-Level Champion for COP 29, my role is to enhance ambition and
strengthen the engagement of non-state organisations including business in
supporting countries to deliver the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
I therefore welcome the commitment by some of
Azerbaijan’s leading developers and contractors to pave the way for
ambitious climate action in their operations. As a source of 21% of our
greenhouse gas emissions, urgent innovation within the buildings sector is
crucial to achieving both our national and international climate goals. As
High-Level Champion I stand ready to support business leaders as we embark
on this decarbonisation journey together.”
The roundtable also included CEOs from the
UAE's leading property developers including Masdar City and Dubai Holdings
who are members of the UAE Built Environment Sustainability Blueprint
working group launched last year.
Electrifying Public Transport: a Route to
Africa's Just Transition
Guest interview: Jit Bhattacharya, BasiGo
Jit Bhattacharya, co-founder of Kenya-based
electric vehicle technology company, BasiGo
BasiGo is an electric vehicle technology and
financing company dedicated to introducing electric bus services in
sub-Saharan Africa. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the company provides
state-of-the-art, electric buses, along with charging and maintenance
services for city bus operators.
We spoke to BasiGo’s co-founder,
Silicon-Valley innovator, Jit Bhattacharya, who explained his vision for
clean public transport in African cities, as a means to cut emissions, while
driving growth and green industrialization.
How did BasiGo come about, what’s your vision
for African e-mobility?
BasiGo was inspired in the first few days of
the COVID pandemic in Kenya when for three days all the city’s 20,000 diesel
buses came to a stand still.
What we witnessed was remarkable. Almost
overnight, as the fumes cleared, emerged Mount Kenya, some 350 kilometres
away from Nairobi. The snow-capped peaks of ‘Kirinyaga’ or the ‘mountain of
whiteness’, had been invisible for decades, but for three days it became
visible on the city’s horizon.
For that brief time, the whole city looked up
to witness the earth breathing. For me, it was a brief glimpse of just how
much damage diesel buses are causing to the environment of this rapidly
growing city. I knew then it was time to take action.
We already knew that Kenya has amazing
renewable energy resources - and over 90% of the electricity feeding the
Kenyan grid comes from renewable sources. So, if we could replace Kenya’s
diesel buses with electric buses, we could, firstly, have a greater impact
on CO2 than introducing electric buses almost anywhere else in the world.
Secondly, we could create a future where the skies of Nairobi allowed its
citizens to see Mount Kenya every single day.
Nairobi is set to become one of seven African
megacities by mid century, with its population expected to double to more
than 10 million people by 2050. Considering this, we said, clean public
transport in Nairobi is not just something that we want to happen, it needs
to happen.
A couple of years later, fuel prices rose by
over 70% since early 2022 and after examining the impact of this spike on
the running costs of diesel buses, we found that on average, the cost of
filling them was 75% higher than the cost of charging electric buses.
This was a real ‘Wow moment’ for us! We
realised our mission to introduce electric buses into Africa was entirely
sound, economically. This gave us the impetus to launch BasiGo, to help to
insulate Kenya from the fuel crisis by putting electric buses onto Nairobi’s
roads.
Today, we have 28 E-Buses in operation, 24 are
in Nairobi Kenya. We have also expanded into Rwanda, where we have four
buses operating in the capital, Kigali. Our buses in Kenya are powered by
90% renewable energy from the Kenyan grid, which creates a huge carbon
saving of 50 tons of CO2 annually for each bus we deploy.
Since our first E-Buses went into operation in
March of 2022, they have driven two million kilometres, and carried over
three million passengers. Crucially, they've also avoided the cost of over
400,000 litres of diesel, and almost a thousand tons of CO2. E-Buses are a
triple win - boosting the profits of operators by cutting their fuel costs;
reducing air and carbon pollution, and also giving citizens access to
modern, safe, high quality, and affordable public transport.
How do you make electric business affordable
for Kenyan bus operators?
Central to BasiGo’s mission is our
‘Pay-As-You-Drive’ financing model that makes electric buses affordable and
profitable for bus operators.
Operators don't face the high upfront cost
burden, which is limiting electric vehicle (EV) adoption all over the world.
Rather than trying to sell an electric bus over a diesel bus, we offer them
to operators on a lease. For a very low deposit, we enable operators to
access the economic benefits of electric buses. And once the E-Buses are on
the road, our Pay-As-You-Drive lease also includes all the costs of charging
and service and maintenance. Through this model, bus operators are actually
breaking even within a matter of months.
We’re proud that the Kenya Bus Service (KBS)
which has been in operation for 90 years, has just released its first
electric bus with BasiGo. It’s amazing that we're helping to bring a legacy
company like KBS into the electric age by giving them access to new
technology which, as diesel prices rise and fall, keeps public transport
consistently affordable for passengers.
As a result, we currently have reservations
for 500 electric buses from operators in Kenya and 300 from Rwanda.
We now have a big job ahead of us in terms of
delivering on that promise, especially as the electric buses that we deliver
here in Kenya are actually all locally assembled.
How does BasiGo’s locally assembly model
contribute to Kenya’s just transition?
One of our big announcements of the last few
months was the launch of the first dedicated electric bus assembly line here
in Kenya. With our new high volume assembly line at the Kenya Vehicle
Manufacturers (KVM) plant, we plan to locally assemble 1,000 E-Buses for
Kenyan bus operators by the end of 2026.
This investment will create 300 green
manufacturing jobs in Kenya. Already, BasiGo has over 500 orders from bus
operators in Nairobi and an additional 300 reservations from bus operators
in Kigali, Rwanda.
So, the transition to E-Buses goes well beyond
the environmental benefit. It is an opportunity for Kenya to establish
itself as a manufacturing hub for modern EV’s, and the components that make
up those vehicles.
Sub-Saharan Africa is notoriously often-times
treated as the dumping ground for old, used vehicles which are imported from
around the world. It's a big problem. A just transition is not possible in
Africa until we can break these cycles and actively create a modern vehicle
manufacturing sector. We’re starting in Kenya.
This is an excerpt from a longer article which
can be found here.
Mohieldin and Rockström Join Race to Zero and
Race to Resilience Global Ambassadors
Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the UN Special Envoy on
Financing the 2030 Agenda and Dr. Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam
Institute for Climate Impact Research, have been appointed Global
Ambassadors to the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience campaigns.
Mohieldin, the former UN Climate Change
High-Level Champion for COP 27, and Rockström join an eminent group already
working to support the campaigns by accelerating the implementation of zero
carbon targets and building resilience in urban, rural and coastal areas.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Mohieldin
said: “As High-Level Champion for COP27, it was a privilege to work
alongside the Global Ambassadors and learn from their expertise and
knowledge. In this role, I look forward to continuing my support for
advancing climate projects pipelines across the developing world and
increasing equitable investment where it’s urgently needed. I also look
forward to continuing my support for the Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda,
as a comprehensive, shared agenda to rally global action around 30
adaptation outcomes that are needed to address the adaptation gap and
achieve a resilient world by 2030.”
Dr. Rockström added: "I am honoured to become
an Ambassador of the Race to Resilience and Race to Zero. These
science-based global campaigns have mobilised actors outside of government,
from bankers to activists. We urgently need to mobilise all efforts to cut
global emissions by half by 2030 and to build climate resilience across the
world, in particular among the most vulnerable people.”
Chosen for their range of expertise across
regions and sectors, the group of Global Ambassadors includes Emma Howard
Boyd CBE, Chair of the Environment Agency; Racquel Moses, CEO, the Caribbean
Climate-Smart Accelerator and Susan Chomba, Director of Vital Landscapes at
the World Resources Institute (WRI), among others.
European Clean Energy Firms Called to COP 29
Are you based in Europe and looking to
showcase your clean energy project on the global stage? Then read on…
Image credit: COP 29 Presidency.
The United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE) and the High-Level Champions are giving Europe-based clean
energy projects the opportunity to present their initiatives to investors at
a finance forum on 9 October in Hamburg, Germany.
The selected projects will have the
opportunity to meet with potential funders including regional development
financial institutions, commercial lenders, sovereign wealth funds, private
capital providers and philanthropies,
In addition, successful projects will receive
support in investment presentation preparation and training in UNECE’s PPP
and Infrastructure Evaluation and Rating System (PIERS methodology) to
enhance skills in transparency, accountability, and investor readiness and
could also be invited to participate at COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan later
this year.
With climate finance taking centre stage at
this year’s UN climate conference, this initiative offers a unique platform
to engage with the climate finance ecosystem.
To date, USD 1.9 million has been raised for
projects in emerging markets and developing countries including a green
hydrogen project in Kazakhstan, a wind power plant in Georgia, and a
lithium-ion battery factory in Turkey.
To apply, please submit your expression of
interest here by 10 September 2024.
For additional information please contact
Sagarika Chatterjee, Department Director, Climate Finance, Climate Champions
(sagarikachatterjee at climatechampions.team) and Sara Lemniei, CEO, SLK Group
Capital (sara at slkgroupcapital.com).
Race to Resilience update:
The Campaign Welcomes a New Partner
The Southern Africa Regional Anticipatory
Action Working Group (RAAWG) has joined the Race to Resilience as our 37th
partner.
Anticipatory action is designed to reduce the
humanitarian impacts of forecast hazards by implementing measures before the
most acute impacts of an event are felt.
The RAAWG was founded in 2019 to work closely
with local government and stakeholders to implement such actions. These can
include early warning messages, cash transfer, the provision of
drought-resistant seeds, agriculture training and the improvement of water
sources. These interventions prevent vulnerable populations from sliding
into food in-security and malnutrition.
Register for Resilience Day at New York
Climate Week
With Climate Week New York just around the
corner, the Resilience Hub will soon be back on the road as the official
home of the Race to Resilience. This year, together with Global Resilience
Partnership (GRP), the Hub will be hosting a flagship event on ‘Innovating
and Investing for People and Planet.’ Register to secure your place here.
Race to Zero Update:
14,500 Members Driving the Race to Zero
The Race to Zero continues to expand, reaching
over 14,500 members around the globe; an 8% increase since our 2023 Progress
Report. New analysis shows that 12% of the Forbes Global 2000 and 40% of the
WEF Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders members are in the Race to Zero.
In the last few months alone, over 800 new
Small-and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have joined the Campaign. The
membership of SMEs, such as Frog Bikes in the Race is pivotal; with SMEs
representing 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide.
Check out our latest members via our recently
updated ‘Who’s In?’ Dashboard.
Race to Zero Members Placing Energy at the
Heart of Net Zero Strategy
The energy system is being transformed before
our eyes by the exponential forces of renewables, electrification, and
efficiency. According to RMI, cleantech costs have fallen by up to 80
percent, while investment is up nearly tenfold and solar generation has
risen twelvefold.
Aligning this shift with the outcomes of the
Global Stocktake, the High-Level Champions’ 2030 Climate Solutions sets out
a target to double the rate of energy efficiency improvements and triple
renewable power generation capacity. Within this target, solar and wind
power by 2030 must comprise at least 40%, and all renewables at least 60%,
of global electricity generation by 2030.
This article outlines how Race To Zero
Members, ranging from General Motors (GM) - to Pepsico, and AstraZeneca -
are embracing these goals by putting renewable energy adoption and energy
efficiency measures at the forefront of their net zero strategies.
Signals of Change:
● 1.5°C-aligned Transition Plans Surge: 1
in 4 companies (5,906) that disclosed to CDP data last year have
1.5°C-aligned climate transition plans; a 44% increase from 2022. Moreover,
companies with transition plans have achieved double the rate of emissions
reductions of those without plans. The new data signals that transition
plans are no longer perceived as a ‘nice-to-have’ as a means to show
credibility. Instead, time-bound plans to transition business models,
company assets, and operations with a 1.5°C pathway are increasingly seen as
‘...critical for businesses accessing capital, driving efficiency, and
complying with market and regulatory demands.’
● Cities as Demand Drivers: A new report
from the UN Department of Economic & Social Affairs (UNDESA) highlights the
critical role cities play in accelerating the transition to a clean energy
future. With increasing urbanization and population growth, cities are
well-positioned to act as innovation hubs, and harness synergies between
climate action and SDGs, to reduce mitigation and adaptation costs.
● World’s First Global ‘Net Zero Standard’
Underway: The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently
announced its intention to launch the first ever international Net Zero
standard, at COP 29 in Azerbaijan. The new standard, an evolution of the ISO
Net Zero Guidelines, promises to provide clarity on the net zero transition,
and ultimately enable independently-verified and comprehensive climate
action.
In case you missed it
● Four UNFCCC mandated events will be
convened during 2-9 Oct in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt covering work on just
transition, mitigation ambition and implementation, financial flows, and
adaptation indicators as announced in this letter to Parties and observers
on 23 July. Non-State actor engagement modes vary for the events. More
information on each event including topics is available under the above
links.
● In relation to that, non-State actors
are encouraged to share their views on opportunities, best practices,
actionable solutions, challenges and barriers relevant to the topics of the
second global dialogue of the UAE Just Transition Work Programme and the
fourth global dialogue of the Sharm el-Sheikh mitigation ambition and
implementation work programme, no later than four weeks before the
dialogues, respectively. You can also consult the list of all calls for
submissions in the coming months and how to make a submission here.
● UNFCCC’s Regional Collaboration Centre
(RCC) Asia-Pacific, in collaboration with the High-Level Champions and UN
Global Compact (UNGC), hosted a webinar on 30 July focusing on the vital
role of non-party stakeholders in developing and implementing the next round
of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) 3.0. Similarly, UNGC Asia &
Oceania and the RCC Asia Pacific co-organized a session on the Way Forward
on the NDCs and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement with the Private Sector at
the Forward Faster Now | Asia & Oceania held in Kuala Lumpur on 5-6 August.
● The UNFCCC / UNDESA convened Expert
Group has issued the 2nd edition of the report on climate and SDG synergies.
This year’s report, encompassing the areas of policy action, knowledge and
data, finance and cities, offers recommendations urging governments to break
down fragmentation and silos nationally and internationally, in order to
address the climate and sustainable development crises synergistically and
achieve transformative change.
● The High-Level Champions and the
Marrakech Partnership, in close collaboration with the UNFCCC secretariat
and its RCCs, are convening a series of regional workshops end of August and
beginning of September for Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean
focusing on regional priorities, barriers, and enablers, in the context of
implementing the 2030 Climate Solutions. Watch this space for more
information about the workshops and how to participate.
Mark Your Calendar
● 5th Global Climate and SDG Synergy
Conference, 5-6 September, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
● 79th Session of the UN General Assembly
(UNGA), 10-24 September, New York, USA
● GLF Africa 2024: Greening the African
Horizon, 17 September, Nairobi, Kenya (and online)
● Summit of the Future, 22-23 September,
New York, USA
● New York Climate Week, 22 – 27
September, New York, USA
● 10th European Conference on Sustainable
Cities and Towns, 1-3 October, Aalborg, Denmark
● IUCN (International Union for Conservation
of Nature) Leaders Forum, 8-10 October, Geneva, Switzerland
● United Nations Convention on Biological
Diversity COP 16, 21 October - 1 November, Colombia
● UNFCCC COP 29, 11-24 November, Baku,
Azerbaijan
● G20 Summit 2024, 18-19 November, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
● United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification COP 16, 2-13 December, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Sign up for our Newsletter
UN Climate Change |
GlobalClimateAction at unfccc.int | unfccc.int
STAY CONNECTED
UNFCCC | Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1 |
Bonn, 53113 DE
From: Global Climate Action
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2024 4:24 PM
Subject: Vladimir, here is the latest news
from the High-Level Champions!
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.enwl.net.ru/pipermail/enwl-eng/attachments/20240820/018a49e0/attachment-0001.html>
More information about the Enwl-eng
mailing list