(Bloomberg)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said drastic action is needed to keep stem global warming and warned fossil fuel companies their “old road is rapidly aging” at the opening of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai on Thursday.
The United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the summit, announced a commitment of $30 billion to help finance climate solutions. The UK’s King Charles III addressed COP for the first time since he took on the title. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he wants Brazil to be a role model in fighting climate change.
Tens of thousands of delegates have registered to attend this year’s COP, which is expected to be the biggest one ever. As well as politicians and diplomats, the event is drawing campaigners, financiers and business leaders. Nearly 200 countries will now have less than two weeks to reach a new, unanimous agreement on how to tackle climate change, and the need for progress has never been more urgent. The UN has already declared 2023 the hottest year on record and greenhouse gas emissions are still rising.
COP28 already had one early win on Thursday as nations agreed on details for running a fund designed to help vulnerable countries deal with more extreme weather stoked by global warming. Rich countries also promised at least $260 million to kick start the facility.
Other key areas for the talks are still on the table, including an agreement to expand renewables, a potential commitment to phase out fossil fuels, the rules for a yet-to-be-launched UN carbon market and the first formal stocktake of the world’s progress fighting climate change since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015.
Here’s a rundown of developments so far today.
India Offers Host COP33 in 2028 (2:37 pm)
President Narendra Modi has offered his country as the host of COP33 in 2028. The world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases reaffirmed its target to achieve net zero emissions by 2070 and said it’s on track to reach a 50% clean power target in its grid.
Modi called for a “just, inclusive and equitable” energy transition and reminded dozens of global leaders present that climate change has been driven by the emissions of a handful of developed countries.
“Over the past century a small section of humanity has indiscriminately exploited nature,” he said. “However the entire humanity is paying the price for this, especially people living in the Global South.”
Gates, UAE Pledge $200 Million to Help Small Farmers (2:30 pm)
Bill Gates urged global leaders to focus more climate finance on agriculture as he pledged $100 million to speed up the development of innovations that will help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adapt to climate change.
The donation by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match the same amount committed by the United Arab Emirates, it said in a statement. The funding will support organizations including the CGIAR, a 50-year-old global research network whose work spans crop breeding and livestock genetics. Extra funds will aid the work of AIM4Scale, a new climate adaptation initiative to be launched by the UAE.
“We need to make big bets on innovation to ensure smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have the tools they need to adapt their practices, feed their people, and build resilience in the face of climate change,” Gates said.
EU Commission VP Says Fossil Fuel Phase-Out Needed (2:21 pm)
Even if Europe does its utmost to reduce its own emissions, a “phase-out” of fossil fuels would be necessary to slow climate change on a global scale, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefcovic said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Europe has “been hooked on Russian fossil fuels for many years,” Šefcovic said, adding that the only way out is a turn to renewables and an easing of the energy crisis.
COP28 President Says Loss and Damage Deal “Made History” (2:20 pm)
Sultan Al Jaber, who’s leading the talks, thanked leaders for agreeing to launch the Loss and Damage fund to help poor countries recover from devastating extreme weather events made worse by climate change
“We collectively made history,” Al Jaber told leaders during his opening speech. “We achieved consensus on a fund for climate impact response that will protect lives and livelihoods, especially the most vulnerable.”
The COP28 presidency also said that more than 130 nations have vowed to include food systems and agriculture in their national climate plans.
Sri Lanka to Export Renewable Energy to India, President Says (2:10 pm)
Sri Lanka will have “excess” renewable energy and is in talks with neighboring countries, particularly India, to export supply, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Bloomberg Television on the sidelines COP28.
“We will have 100 gigawatts of solar or wind power available, which is far more than our needs, so it’s a question of investing,” he said. “At some stage exporting — either in the form of green hydrogen, or into India” is on the table, he added, noting that Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal “are connected to India.”
Sri Lanka is also planning bring forward its net zero target from 2050 to 2040, the president said.
Green investments could help the economic recovery in the South Asian island nation, which is gradually emerging from a debt crisis, he said. Earlier this week, it struck an initial deal with a group of key official creditors, including India and the Paris Club, to restructure about $5.9 billion of debt.
Early Draft of Paris Agreement Progress Report Released (1:45 pm)
Negotiations on what should be done in response to the world’s lagging progress on slashing greenhouse gas emissions took a step forward Friday with the release of a draft text of the so-called global stocktake.
The 12-page document, designed to measure progress on goals stated in the 2015 Paris Agreement, provides a framework for ongoing talks. Many contentious issues — including how countries should plan for the future of fossil fuels — are far from resolved, with placeholders and bullet points indicating areas of divergence.
The US, China and other nations have outlined hopes for the stocktake text to encourage more expansive and ambitious Paris Agreement pledges. A new round of emissions-cutting commitments are expected in 2025.
The draft includes a call for countries to strengthen their existing pledges for 2030, but it says nothing about striving toward deeper cuts by 2035. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned the world must cut emissions at least 60% by 2035 (from 2019 levels) to keep within 1.5C of warming.
The initial text outlines options for commitments to “phase down” or “phase out” fossil fuels, rule out new coal and phase out fossil fuel subsidies, without suggesting any particular course of action. It also indicates negotiators’ pledges could include carbon management and removal, as well as goals around tripling renewables, doubling energy efficiency and ensuring a just energy transition.
Engie Looking at Mideast Renewables, Expanding Green Hydrogen (1:12 pm)
French utility Engie is looking at renewables options in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, CEO Catherine MacGregor said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, adding that the Middle East was a very important region for the company.
MacGregor also expressed optimism over green hydrogen’s potential but said she was a “bit disappointed” with the pace of its development.
Fighting Inequality Boosts Climate Change Resilience, Lula Says (12:42 pm)
The fights against inequality and climate change run parallel and benefit each other because they use the same tools, said Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“I can’t imagine fighting climate change without fighting inequality,” he said. “To reduce socioeconomic vulnerabilities means to increase resilience vis à vis extreme events.”
Lula vowed to make Brazil “a role model” in the effort to reduce emissions and slow the pace of climate change as the country prepares to host COP30 in 2025. South America’s largest economy has been battered by extreme weather events this year, from deadly storms in the south to a devastating drought in the Amazon rainforest.
Brazil is on track to achieve its zero deforestation goal by 2030, he said.
UK’s King Charles Calls for More Climate Finance (12:31 pm)
The UK’s King Charles III addressed COP in a speech that made his long- and strongly held views on climate change plain.
He’s made similar speeches many times, but this is first time he’s addressed COP since he became King last year — a role where he’s expected to be less political. He was prevented from speaking at last year’s summit by the British government under the short-lived premiership of Liz Truss.
The current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has drawn criticism for climate campaigners for walking back some of the UK’s green commitments.
While the king didn’t address UK policy, he laid out very specific ideas for global action, especially on mobilizing climate finance. It’s hard to imagine his mother, Queen Elizabeth, ever having talked about first loss risk guarantees.
“The hope of the world rests in the decisions you make,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Urges Total Phaseout of Fossil Fuels (12:25 pm)
“Do not double-down on an obsolete business model,” Guterres told fossil fuel company bosses. “Lead the transition to renewables.”
The climate summit’s success hinges on the global stocktake, an assesment of climate progress due to be delivered at this COP, creating a credible plan to “drastically cut emissions,” Guterres said, adding that it was not too late to avert climate crisis.
“The 1.5-degree limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels,” Guterres said. “Not reduce. Not abate. Phaseout – with a clear timeframe.”
Guterres also urged governments around the world to put a fair price on carbon, end fossil fuel subsidies, and adopt a windfall tax on profits.
UAE Launches Climate Investment Vehicle With $30 Billion (12:15 pm)Â
The UAE announced that it would contribute $30 billion to a new climate investment facility that it hopes will mobilize $250 billion by the end of the decade. ALTERRA — the largest private finance vehicle for climate change — was launched alongside BlackRock, Brookfield and TPG.
“Its scale and structure will create a multiplier effect in climate focused investment, making it a vehicle like no other,” said COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, who will also chair ALTERRA’s board. Of that money, $6.5 billion will be dedicated to climate funds for investments, including in the global south.
Ukraine War Hurting Private Capital Flows to Developing World (11:50 am)
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is contributing to a reversal of private capital flows to developing countries that need trillions of dollars of investment to adapt to climate change and green their economies, according to Mafalda Duarte, executive director of the Green Climate Fund.
“We have insufficient levels of investment going into developing countries of a very large magnitude, so trillions of dollars,” she said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “As a result of the crisis with the war in ukraine, we are seeing a reverse of private capital flows.”
Still, the fund she manages will have $30 billion dollars to invest in developing countries by the end of COP28, she added.
Stella McCartney Says New Laws Needed for Fashion (10:57 am)
Leaders should impose environmental regulations on the fashion industry, one of the most harmful in the world, fashion designer Stella McCartney said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
“We need to have limitations put on us,” McCartney said, adding that taxes for non-leather goods should be removed to create incentives for sustainable products.
India’s Corporate Giants Eye $6.5 Billion Climate Finance Effort (9:40 am)
A group of India’s largest companies and international financial giants including Macquarie Group say they have brought together climate-finance solutions that could mobilize $6.5 billion in support of low-carbon development.
Climate Finance Leadership Initiative India said the solutions — which range from partnerships between banks and Tata Motors to offer attractive loans and leasing solutions for electric vehicles to public-private partnerships for municipal infrastructure and a link-up to produce green ammonia — could help mobilize private capital toward the $10.1 trillion needed for India to meet its net zero target by 2070.
The Climate Finance Leadership Initiative was set up by Michael Bloomberg (the founder of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News) and has launched pilots in India and Colombia to bring together private-sector institutions, policy makers and multilateral institutions.
Masdar Plans Green Bond (9:15 am)
Masdar, a major operator of solar power plants in the United Arab Emirates, is planning a second green bond issuance this year to help grow renewable capacity.
The bond issue will be of similar value to its first $750 million green bond earlier this year, Chief Financial Officer Niall Hannigan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Hannigan is confident that Masdar’s target to increase capacity by the end of the decade to 100 gigawatt remains “very much in reach.” The plan may involve acquisitions, he said.
Masdar intends to make a number of announcements about increased capacity over the coming days of the COP28 climate summit which started this week in Dubai.
Masdar’s chairman is Sultan Al Jaber. The UAE faced criticism for naming Al Jaber president for COP28 as he is the chief executive officer of its main oil company which plans to raise crude production capacity.
Â
Share This:
