UN
Climate Change
Global
Climate Action
30
September
2021 | |
High Level Climate Champions
Newsletter | |
We Are Witnessing A
Breakthrough | |
With
less than five weeks left to go before COP26 in
Glasgow, the momentum of action from cities,
regions, businesses and investors to both cut
emissions and build resilience is building -
sending a powerful signal to governments that
the economy is already racing to a healthier,
more resilient and more liveable
future.
In
the private sector, at least one-fifth of major
companies by revenue across 15 of
the economy’s biggest sectors
are now committed to cutting emissions this
decade in line with reaching net zero before
2050. That means those companies have set
targets equal to their fair share of halving
global greenhouse emissions between 2020 and
2030, such as boosting renewable energy to 60
per cent of the mix and zero-emissions shipping
fuel to 5 per cent.
The
UN-backed Race to Zero’s 2030
Breakthroughs
challenge, released in January, set out the
tipping points needed across about 30 big
sectors to get them on a science-based course
for net zero before mid-century.
In
the clean
power sector,
for example, 21 per cent of major utilities are
now in the Race to Zero, including Engie, Enel
and Kenya Electricity Generating Company. This
is crucial, because the power sector accounts
for a quarter
of global emissions
(mostly from coal, but also oil and gas) and can
help to decarbonize sectors such as transport
and buildings through electrification. Renewable
energy is already the cheapest option for new
power generation in most countries, with an 80
per cent fall in the cost of solar and 55 per
cent for wind.
In
the pharmaceuticals and medtech
sector,
major companies aim to secure the Green
Lab Certification
for 95 per cent of their labs by 2030, meaning
they will meet the global standard for
sustainability best practices. AstraZeneca has
already adopted it in over 65 labs worldwide. In
other initiatives, Philips intends to source
over three-quarters of its energy from renewable
sources by 2025 after achieving carbon
neutrality across its operations last year, GSK
is working to reach net zero emissions across
its biopharma value chain by 2030, and Dr Reddy
is cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 55 per
cent by 2030.
In
transport, nearly 40 per cent of major heavy
goods vehicle manufacturers have joined the Race
to Zero and committed to zero-emission sales by
2040, including Ford, Volvo, BMW and Nissan.
Around a quarter of major bus makers have joined
with a commitment to zero-emission sales by
2030.
And
in nature-based solutions and land use, 28 per
cent of major food suppliers have committed to
create deforestation-free supply chains and to
fully adopt regenerative agriculture and land
restoration work by 2030. They include Brazil’s
JBS and Ambev, Thailand’s NR Instant Produce,
Japan’s Ajinomoto, France’s Danone and
Switzerland’s Nestlé.
The
Race to Zero now boasts 6,200 members, covering
over 11 per cent of the population and almost 15
per cent of the economy. The campaign has almost
doubled since this time last year, despite the
global challenges presented by the
pandemic.
Now
you can search who’s in the Race to Zero too, by
sector, region and type of actor, using our new
dashboard!
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A
zero-emission economy must be a resilient
economy too, to ensure that we can thrive in
spite of climate change impacts such as
unbearable temperatures, super-storms, floods
and droughts.
The
UN-backed Race to Resilience has welcomed
four new partners,
bringing the total to 24 partners representing
more than 2,500 organizations who are taking
action in over 100 countries. The campaign plans
to announce at COP26 the verified number of
people these actions will impact, placing the
first progress marker on the campaign's goal to
make 4 billion people from vulnerable
communities resilient to climate change by
2030.
New
partner Climate
Heritage Network
is made up of arts, culture and heritage groups
such as indigenous peoples’ governments,
universities, design firms and artists from
across Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South
America. It is working to strengthen resilience
and scale up arts, culture, heritage and
traditional knowledge-based climate
action.
Resilience First
is a cross-sector business network to bridge
gaps in infrastructure systems and address
resilience holistically, to create a safe,
resilient and sustainable future for
all.
And
the Urban
Sustainability Directors Network
is made up of local governments in the US and
Canada helping to educate residents and
coordinate the distribution of resources and
services before, during and after climate
hazards.
To
further support its members, the Race to
Resilience last week launched its Transformation
programme for local governments, businesses and
investors working to increase the quantity and
quality of finance and investment, capacity
building, governance systems, infrastructure and
technological innovations - and sharing best
practices for it. The campaign will announce the
Transformation programme’s first partners at
COP26, and hold events at the first dedicated
physical and virtual space for resilience at a
COP - the Resilience Hub.
| |
Call For Input On the First Global
Stocktake | |
The
Paris Agreement created a process known as the
Global Stocktake, during which the world takes
stock of its progress in meeting the Paris goals
and help countries enhance their climate action.
This will happen every five years, starting
between 2021 and 2023.
In
preparation, the chairs of the UNFCCC’s
Subsidiary Bodies have opened a
call for input,
and noted in a paper
that cities, regions, the private sector and
civil society have a significant role to play.
They noted the importance of working with the
High-Level Champions and the Marrakech
Partnership in the stocktake, and of using UN
Climate Change’s Yearbook of Global Climate
Action as a key synthesis document.
Supporting
the stocktake is expected to be among the
High-Level Champions’ main activities going
forward, as part of an improved Marrakech
Partnership. We therefore encourage all
stakeholders to submit their inputs by February
2022. Further inputs on how to do so can be
found here.
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- Global
greenhouse gas emissions would rise by about 16
per cent by 2030, compared to 2010, under the
available Nationally Determined Contributions
from 191 parties to the Paris Agreement,
according to the UNFCCC’s
NDC
Synthesis Report.
That would lead to 2.7°C of warming by
2100.
- Twelve
investment consultants responsible for advising
on over US$10 trillion in assets have launched
the Net Zero
Investment Consultants Initiative,
aiming to align their operations and advisory
services with a 1.5°C limit. The consultants’
support adds strength to the Net Zero Asset
Owner Alliance and Net Zero Asset Manager
Initiative.
- The
governments of Sri Lanka, Chile, Denmark,
France, Germany, Montenegro and the UK announced
a ‘No New
Coal Power Compact’
last week, encouraging all other countries to
commit to halting the construction of new
plants.
- Chinese
President Xi
Jinping announced
last week that China will stop new coal-fired
power plants overseas, while US President
Joe
Biden said
the US will double its climate finance by 2024
to US$11.4 billion per year.
- The
list of coal
power project proposals worldwide has shrunk
by 76 per cent since 2015, bringing the end of
new coal construction in sight, according to
E3G. Action and support for six countries could
remove 82 per cent of the remaining pipeline.
Forty countries do not have pre-construction
projects and could join 44 others in committing
to stop building new coal by
2021.
- The
EU and US have jointly committed to cutting
global methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030
and launch a Global
Methane Pledge
at
COP26.
- Greening
Africa’s cities
could generate hundreds of billions of US
dollars in economic dividends over the next
three decades, according to research by the
Coalition for Urban Transitions, based on
analysis of cities in Ethiopia, South Africa and
Kenya. Urban growth would be based on compact
neighbourhood development, connected
infrastructure, clean technologies and
climate-resilient planning.
- The
private sector can put health at the centre of
its action to stem climate change and regenerate
nature, by focusing on six areas including air
pollution, water security and forest protection,
according to a new
report by pharma major GSK.
- For
evidence of the transformation already underway
in the economy, check out the Climate
Progress News Barrel,
a database that tracks news stories on climate
action and impacts in fields such as energy,
cities, transport, finance and resilience. This
live and open-access tool is maintained by
Camda.
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