COP28 Dispatch - December 3, 2023 | Newsletter

Welcome! Today is Health Day at COP28.

This is the first time a COP presidency has designated a thematic day to health. Today is also Relief, Recovery & Peace Day. Yesterday, in anticipation of Health Day, the Presidency launched the COP28 U.A.E. Climate and Health Declaration with the support of 120 countries. This weekend also included the continuation of high-level statements from country leaders, including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who announced a new commitment of $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund.

This newsletter is our weekend edition covering happenings at COP28 from both Saturday, December 2, and Sunday, December 3.

If you are in Dubai, catch up with EESI President Daniel Bresette and Policy Manager Anna McGinn! To connect, email Anna at amcginn@eesi.org.

Missed Friday’s edition? Check it out here. We are also compiling key COP28 announcements and reports throughout the conference—check back for updates.

Confused by COP terminology and acronyms? Check out EESI’s glossary of terms and other helpful guides in the Resources section!

EESI event alert: Tomorrow, Monday, December 4, at 8:30 a.m. EST/5:30 p.m. GST, EESI will hold a press conference at COP28. Speakers, including Congressional staff, policy experts, and leaders implementing work on-the-ground, will share key successes on climate action from around the U.S. and explain why these stories matter in the context of COP28. Join us in person in Press Conference Room 2, Building 77, Zone B6 or online at https://unfccc.int/event/eesi.

Vice President Kamala Harris pledged an additional $3 billion in funding for the Green Climate Fund. (U.S. Updates)
Over $1 billion in new grant funding for methane reduction was announced at a summit between the U.S., China, and the U.A.E. (U.S. Updates)
63 countries signed on to the new Coalition for High Ambition Multi-Level Partnerships (CHAMP) initiative as a part of the first Local Climate Action Summit. (Around the World)

The U.S. Center pavilion, where the federal government will host
events over the two weeks of COP28. Credit: EESI.

Legislative toolkit for fossil fuel phaseout: At an event hosted by America Is All In, Jonathan Misk, Director of Oversight for the Senate Budget Committee majority, outlined three strategies that Congress can leverage to support the phaseout of fossil fuels: filing amicus briefs in support of lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, introducing bills to incentivize a transition away from fossil fuels, and introducing bills to enforce accountability and transparency in campaign contributions. Misk also highlighted that the Budget Committee recently launched a series of hearings into insurance company investments in new fossil fuel projects.

EESI’s UNFCCC side event on the science behind carbon markets
featured (from left) EESI President Daniel Bresette, Woodwell
Climate Research Center Chief Scientific Officer Wayne Walker,
Maryland Department of the Environment Senior Climate Advisor
Rachel Lamb, American Forest Foundation Director of Policy and
Advocacy Maya Solomon, and American Forests President and CEO
Jad Daley. Credit: Carrie Lederer, Carrier Pigeon Productions.

U.S pledge: During the series of high-level statements from national leaders, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund and highlighted the $9.5 billion in U.S. contributions to international climate finance as of 2023. For more on high-level statements, see Around the World.

U.S. leadership in methane reduction: On Saturday, the U.S. and China, alongside the U.A.E., hosted a joint Summit on Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases and announced over $1 billion in new grant funding. At an event hosted by the U.S. Center on Sunday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced that the EPA released rigorous final technology standards for reduced methane emissions from the oil and gas sector under the agency’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program. These standards will prevent an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038, amounting to an almost 80% reduction. Net climate benefits of the standards will total $98 billion.

Tripling nuclear by 2050: U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry joined over 20 other countries in endorsing the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy. The declaration recognizes the importance of nuclear energy as a path to carbon neutrality and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C (2.7°F).

Scaling up carbon markets with confidence: EESI President Daniel Bresette moderated a UNFCCC side event about the science behind carbon markets and strategies to ensure transparency and public confidence in forest-based sequestration and natural climate solutions. Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain provided opening remarks on how science-based, transparent investments in nature are helping the state meet its ambitious conservation and greenhouse gas reduction goals. Sec. McIlwain’s senior climate advisor and leaders from American Forests, American Forest Foundation, and Woodwell Climate Research Center participated in the discussion, which was organized in partnership with U.S. Nature4Climate.

Health and the climate crisis: At an event hosted by the U.S. Center, panelists from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that solutions to the health consequences of climate change are most effective at the local level. HHS Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine announced the HHS Climate Change and Health Equity Strategy Supplement to the 2021 HHS Climate Action Plan, which describes the climate-related health risks for the most vulnerable U.S. communities. More than 130 organizations representing over 900 U.S. hospitals have signed on to the White House-HHS Health Sector Climate Pledge.

Sustainable business is booming: The Business Council for Sustainable Energy, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, and the Edison Electric Institute held a U.S. Center event to showcase sustainable business growth since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and how that growth evolves into global benefits. The discussion also included overviews from executives about how they are incorporating equity into the deployment of technological innovation. NextERA Energy Resources President and CEO Rebecca Kujawa shared that her company invested about $100 billion over the last 10 years and has plans to invest $100 billion more in the next four, primarily in clean energy sectors.

Cementing carbon capture innovation: Capturing carbon from the cement and concrete industry was a significant focus in recent talks between President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping. At a side event on decarbonizing the cement sector, Assistant Secretary for the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Brad Crabtree highlighted how the IRA invests in research, development, and deployment of carbon capture technologies in cement manufacturing. According to Crabtree, this work will ultimately reduce the costs of cement decarbonization around the world, which could help fund cement decarbonization projects for developing nations.

Mayors from the U.S. and around the world join New Mexico Governor
Michelle Lujan Grisham and Gina McCarthy, former EPA administrator
and leader of the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, at
a Local Climate Action Summit event. Credit: EESI

High-level statements: The delivery of national statements continued Saturday, with over 60 country leaders sharing updates on their nations’ progress toward climate goals. Remarks included the following announcements:
- Belgium | Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced that Belgium has ended direct public finance for fossil fuels, and noted that the country’s North Sea wind turbines will produce enough energy by 2030 to cover the electricity consumption of five million households.
- Cote d’Ivoire | Vice President Tiemoko Meyliet Koné called for the mobilization of more resources from the Green Climate Fund and other partners for adaptation and energy transition investments in African countries. He cited Cote d’Ivoire’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to 42% by 2030.
- Norway | Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre shared that Norway met its goal last year of doubling its climate finance payments, with a contribution of kr15.5 billion ($1.5 billion), and announced the nation’s commitment to triple its contribution to adaptation finance by 2026.
- Singapore | Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean announced that the country will raise its carbon emissions tax to $19 per ton in 2024 and up to $37-$60 per ton by 2030, which would make it one of the highest such taxes in Asia. He also announced the launch of the Asia-focused blended finance initiative, Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership, which aims to mobilize $5 billion for “green and transition projects.”

Local Climate Action Summit: The two-day Local Climate Action Summit concluded on Saturday. The sessions covered a wide range of topics from adaptation and climate finance to multi-level governance and methane. COP28 delegates from more than 60 countries participated in the proceedings, including more than 250 mayors and governors. Mayors from 25 U.S. states and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham represented the U.S. over the course of the summit. As part of the event, the COP28 Presidency kicked off the Coalition for High Ambition Multi-Level Partnerships (CHAMP). The initiative is designed to involve state and local governments in the development of the next round of NDCs. At the time of the launch, 63 countries had endorsed CHAMP. Bloomberg Philanthropies also put out a report as a part of the summit, Paris to Dubai: Local Climate Leadership in Action.

Local action SCALEs up international impact: Marking the one-year anniversary since the COP27 launch of the Subnational Climate Action Leaders’ Exchange (SCALE) to support climate action at the city, state, and regional level, a Local Climate Action Summit event discussed the launch of the Lowering Organic Waste Methane Initiative (LOW-Methane). LOW-Methane aims to bolster multi-level collaboration on efforts to reduce methane emissions, with an emphasis on landfills, food waste, and sewage.

Accelerating the energy transition: To help prevent warming from surpassing 2°C (3.6°F), developing nations require access to capital to finance their own renewable energy transitions. At an event hosted by the U.S. Center, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry shared updates on the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), which was announced at COP27 to address that issue. Kerry announced that the ETA will be fully operational by Earth Day 2024. It could mobilize up to $200 billion in total energy transition finance for developing countries by 2035. The financing platform will also channel 5% of credits generated from renewable energy into funds for adaptation.

Global methane fight growing stronger: At a U.S.-China summit on Saturday, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan pledged to join over 150 nations in curbing methane pollution, according to U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Rick Duke. Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are respectively the fourth and twelfth largest emitters of oil- and gas-related methane. The Global Methane Pledge was launched at COP26 by President Joe Biden and other world leaders.

Multilateral development banks to the rescue?: With more than half of the world’s population and accounting for more than two-thirds of global energy consumption, urban centers are at the center of climate action. However, according to a report by the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance (CCFLA), cities only receive about $384 billion in climate finance per year, compared to a global need of at least $4.5 trillion. The CCFLA-Climate Policy Initiative has laid out a reform agenda to harness the potential of multilateral development banks to contribute billions more. Priorities include adapting business operation models to meet city needs, mobilizing more private-sector capital, and enhancing capacity-building.

Early warning systems: At its event, the Adaptation Fund, established under the Kyoto Protocol, showcased its new report, Strengthening Resilience Through Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning System Interventions. The report shares findings from seven disaster risk reduction and early warning system projects financed by the fund, and it makes recommendations for replicating and scaling up these projects elsewhere. To date, the Adaptation Fund has channeled $1.1 billion into more than 160 direct-access disaster reduction projects and established more than 500 early warning systems.

The “Let’s Turn Promises into Progress” COP28 slogan adorns banners
across Dubai’s Expo City. Credit: EESI.

Walking works: A side event hosted by the European Cyclists’ Foundation, Fundación Despacio, and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy highlighted the Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH)’s new report, National Policies for Walking and Cycling in all 197 UNFCCC countries. Panelists noted that enabling walking and cycling through policy is a viable, cost-effective, and easily implementable climate solution that can help reduce transportation emissions by up to 50%. The report offers a template NDC with 20 recommended actions that governments can undertake.

Philanthropy and adaptation: Eleven philanthropic organizations signed a call to action to increase climate adaptation and resilience work. They promised to accelerate and scale up investment by collaborating with each other, coordinating strategies, engaging non-philanthropic actors, and providing transparency on processes. The call to action cited the 2023 UNEP Adaptation Gap Report, which finds that current international public financing only covers 10% of low-income countries’ yearly adaptation needs.

Adaptation finance in action: At the U.S. Center’s event “Accelerating Adaptation Investment: Enhancing and Activating the Role of Different Actors,” hosted by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and ClimateWorks Foundation, moderator Aparna Shrivastava, deputy chief climate officer of DFC, highlighted the yearly need for between $200 billion and $380 billion in adaptation finance. Although adaptation finance is at an all-time high of over $60 billion each year, it is not sufficient, and funding streams need to go beyond just the public sector. Speaker Candace Vahlsing, senior policy advisor for climate at USAID, announced that six winners have been selected for USAID’s Adaptation Finance Window grant program, which aims to help mobilize private sector investment in adaptation.

Remember the ladies… in your climate commitments: An event organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and others focused on the importance of integrating gender equality into NDCs. The panel discussion was largely informed by a recent UNFPA report, Taking Stock: Sexual and Reproductive and Health and Rights in Climate Commitments. Yolanda Awel Deng Juach, the minister of health from South Sudan, highlighted that her nation is dedicated to a holistic health approach to protecting women from climate-related threats.

Unearthing equitable solutions for women farmers: The Haiti Cholera Research Funding Foundation and Aarhus University hosted an event looking at the relationship between soil degradation and gender inequality. In Nigeria, female smallholder farmers make up 70-80% of the workforce in the agricultural sector; however, only 14% of these women have holding rights on their farmlands. Similarly, experts from India and the Philippines asserted that women have an outsized role in their countries’ food systems. Because of this dynamic, widespread land degradation has a disproportionate impact on women. The primary conclusion of this conversation was that equal access to land rights for women is essential for land restoration efforts to be as effective as possible.

Women’s voices in climate action: The Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action and its partners hosted an event about overcoming barriers to gender-equitable climate policy and finance. Women-led community-based organizations are often sidelined from climate finance opportunities and policy formation. Tiffany Hodgson of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) shared details of GCF’s gender policy to ensure that all projects and programs are not just gender-sensitive, but gender-transformative. A fellow panelist from the U.K. touted their country’s International Climate Finance Strategy for its commitment to increase gender-responsiveness in climate finance.

True cost of food: At a side event on the topic of transforming agrifood systems, hosted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu noted that the world’s industrial agricultural food systems impose at least $10 trillion in hidden health, environmental, and societal costs each year. Dongyu cited FAO’s recent report, The State of Food and Agriculture 2023, reiterating the importance of food and agriculture solutions as climate, poverty, biodiversity, and health solutions, too.

Questions about COP28?

Reach out to EESI Policy Manager Anna McGinn with your questions. We will get back to you or include the information in an upcoming newsletter.

Thanks for reading!

This newsletter covering COP28 will be running from November 30 to December 12.
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Staff contributors: Daniel Bresette, Molly Brind’Amour, Alison Davis, Amaury Laporte, Anna McGinn, and Nicole Pouy

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