UN
Climate Change
Global
Climate Action
12
December
2020 | |
In amongst the shock, hardships and pain
felt round the world, we can also bid goodbye to
2020 feeling hopeful and energized about the
decade ahead.
In the midst of lockdowns and economic
collapse, 2020 was the year in which some of the
largest countries, businesses and investors with
high emissions set their sights on cutting
emissions to net zero by mid-century: from
China, South Korea, Japan, the EU, Canada and
South Africa, to asset owners and managers, to
tech giants and industrial heavyweights, to
hundreds of cities and regions.
Recognizing that building resilience to
withstand and recover from the impacts of
climate change goes hand-in-hand with
mitigation, we are rolling out the Race to
Resilience on 25 January. The sibling to
Race to Zero, this campaign will drive cities,
regions, businesses, investors and others to
build resilience over the next decade for the 4
billion people who are now most vulnerable to
impacts like extreme weather, poverty and hunger
and pandemics.
Members of the Race to
Zero are responsible for over 12 percent of
the economy, giving an added private sector and
local government boost to national efforts in
the run-up to next year’s COP 26. The impact is
visible: total commitments to net zero now cover
at least 68 percent of the global economy
(US$84.6 billion), over half the population and
nearly two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions,
according to new analysis by Oxford-ECIU. That’s up from
half the global GDP and a quarter of emissions
when the Race to
Zero launched in June.
The fifth anniversary of the Paris
Agreement last Saturday marked another surge in
climate ambition, at the Climate
Ambition Summit hosted by the UN, UK and
France, in partnership with Italy and Chile.
Forty-five countries presented strengthened
targets for 2030, 24 announced net-zero goals
and 20 set out new plans to build resilience.
Among the stand-outs, Pakistan said it
will stop building coal-fired power plants, the
UK will stop financing overseas fossil fuel
projects, Barbados aims to be fossil fuel-free
by 2030, Colombia will more than halve its
emissions by 2030 and Canada will raise its
carbon taxes to C$170 per tonne by
2030.
The ambition is clearly growing. If
fulfilled, net zero commitments announced as of
November would limit warming by 2.1°C - the
closest we’ve ever been to meeting the Paris
goals, according to Climate
Action Tracker.
We want to thank all of you who worked
tirelessly this year - through lockdown
disruptions - towards ambitious climate action,
including making the Race to Zero a success. We
wouldn’t be ending 2020 with such potential if
it wasn’t for your dedication to creating a
carbon-free economy and climate-resilient
societies!
But of course, the work continues. 2021 is
all about turning the promise of commitments
into tangible results that improve the lives of
people around the world, by creating sustainable
jobs and industries; providing affordable access
to clean energy, water, food and sanitation;
reducing health risks and costs; and building
resilience.
We wish you,
your families and your loved ones all the best
for the holidays and new year, and look forward
to pumping up the Race to Zero and Race to
Resilience next
year! | |
Business
leaders from around the world - ranging from
small and medium enterprises like Valentina
Mintah, founder of West Blue Consulting, to Alan
Jope, CEO of Unilever - came together last week
to share their learnings and best practice from
years of science-based climate action.
Panelists
at the eighth annual High-Level Meeting of Caring for
Climate,
co-hosted by the UN Global Compact, the UN
Environment Programme, UN Climate Change and the
High-Level Champions, reflected on progress in
the five years since the Paris Agreement was
signed, explored the links between climate
action and Covid-19 recovery, and highlighted
how inclusive multilateralism and radical
collaboration will deliver the Paris goals.
The
event included the launch of the Green
Hydrogen Catapult,
a global coalition that will accelerate the
scale and production of green hydrogen 50-fold
in the next six years, helping to transform the
world’s most carbon intensive industries,
including power generation, chemicals,
steelmaking and shipping. The initiative will
see green hydrogen industry leaders, including
ACWA
Power,
CWP
Renewables,
Envision,
Iberdrola,
Ørsted,
Snam,
and Yara,
target the deployment of 25 gigawatts through
2026 of renewables-based hydrogen production,
with a view to halve the current cost of
hydrogen to below US$2 per kilogram.
| |
The Paris
Effect: reason for hope: The impacts of
climate change have accelerated since 2015,
while action has been slower to ramp up. But
we’ve come a long way in the last five years,
too, as Systemiq’s important report
makes clear. Low-carbon solutions could be
competitive in 75 percent of sectors by 2030,
compared to zero in 2015 and low-carbon growth
this decade will generate over 35 million jobs.
The Prelude
to a Great Regeneration: Cementing 2020
as the turning point in climate action, and
halving emissions while regenerating nature by
2030, requires a step-change in the way we
approach our work - individually, as
organizations and as a global collective. In its
parting gift, the Mission 2020 campaign sets out
a vision - composed from interviews and
workshops - of how we can turn the 2020s into
the era of Great
Regeneration. And here’s more from Mission
2020 CEO Andrew Higham and the Outrage
& Optimism podcast.
Asset
managers for net zero: In resounding
support for the race to zero emissions, a group
of 30 asset
managers with more than $9 trillion under
management have committed to full
decarbonization by 2050 or sooner. The Net Zero
Asset Managers initiative will now work with
asset owner clients to set their own targets,
set interim targets for their assets under
management and review (with a view to raise)
those interim targets every five years.
Climate
Action Tables: Building on the Climate
Action Pathways, which set out routes to net
zero across key sectors, the Action Tables
provide concrete steps each actor can take over
specific time periods, listing initiatives that
help them achieve those actions and how they
support the Sustainable Development Goals.
Yearbook of
Global Climate Action: The number of
actions registered in the UN’s Global Climate
Action Portal - where governments, businesses,
investors and others can submit their
commitments - grew to more than 27,000 from
18,000+ actors as of November 2020. Net zero
commitments from local governments and
corporations nearly doubled over the year,
according to the 2020
edition of the Global Climate Action
Yearbook. Going forward, the Marrakech
Partnership will follow three core guidelines:
follow the science, take a systems approach and
foster vitalized
cooperation. | |
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