UN
Global Climate Action
26
August 2022
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High Level Climate Champions
Newsletter | |
Clean Cooking Climate
Action | |
Improving
access to clean cooking is one of the most
effective ways to improve public health, reduce
carbon emissions, promote gender equity, and
address longstanding environmental injustices –
yet it remains chronically underinvested as a
solution to these problems.
The
High-Level Champions have partnered with the
Clean
Cooking Alliance (CCA) to galvanize
breakthroughs in this sector ahead of COP27 and
help the entire African continent reap the
benefits of access to clean cooking.
The use of
greenhouse gas-emitting fuels in cooking, such
as wood, charcoal, coal, and kerosene, is
responsible for the same share of global
emissions as the shipping and aviation sectors,
the CCA calculates.
That’s
massive, and so are the impacts of these
polluting cooking fuels, especially on the most
vulnerable communities: over US$2.4 trillion of
damage to the climate and local economies, and
3.2 million premature deaths per year linked to
household air pollution, according to the
World
Health Organization.
This
pollution is linked to childhood pneumonia,
chronic obstructive
pulmonary
disorder, ischemic heart disease, stroke and
lung cancer, low birthweight and stillbirths.
Women and children bear the brunt of these
impacts, as they spend more time cooking and in
the house. Shifting to clean cooking can also
cut potent manmade black carbon emissions
worldwide, up to half of which come from
household energy use.
So far, clean
cooking solutions only draw tens of millions of
US dollars in investment, a paltry amount
considering that the World
Bank estimates
US$10 billion a year is needed by 2030 to
achieve universal access.
However,
change is underway. More than 400 million people
have gained access to clean cooking fuels and
technologies since 2010, saving over 4.6 million
lives from the health impacts of air pollution,
according to the CCA. The capital raised in
the first half of this year is more than double
what was reported in 2020, and clean cooking
businesses such as Circle
Gas and
KOKO
Networks are
seeing
strong customer growth in their African
markets.
The launch of
Spark+
Africa,
the
world’s
first impact fund for clean cooking solutions,
was also promising. As of March, it had drawn
US$40 million from development finance
institutions, foundations, family offices, and
pension funds. The fund aims to raise US$70
million to finance companies providing clean
cooking alternatives.
Nearly 70
countries have already targeted clean cooking as
part of their Nationally Determined
Contributions to the Paris Agreement, according
to the CCA. Kenya is aiming for universal access
to clean cooking by 2028, two years ahead of
schedule. Rwanda wants to ensure access to
modern, efficient cookstoves for 80% of its
rural population and half its urban population
by 2030. Nepal is installing 500,000 clean
cookstoves in rural areas by 2025 and
transitioning a quarter of households to
electric cooking by 2030.
At least
another 30 countries with over 1 million people
relying on intensive greenhouse gas emission
fuels for cooking still need to prioritize clean
cooking and partner with financial institutions
to establish broader access to clean cooking,
the CCA says.
By
reducing the demand for firewood and encouraging
new forest growth, clean cooking can address
both nature loss and emissions reductions, while
also improving health and women’s empowerment.
It's imperative that countries and institutions
align with nature-based finance to realize these
vast potential
gains. | |
Catalyzing Adaptation
Finance | |
We know we
need a significant scale-up of public and
private finance for adaptation to respond to
changes already underway. That calls first of
all for a concerted injection of public finance
in countries, communities and projects that will
otherwise struggle to attract private financiers
looking for strong rates of
return.
Public
adaptation finance can help to de-risk and
leverage private investments that are vital to
protecting global business and economic
security, and can form a foundation from which
to build resilience. Early warning systems, for
example, could better prepare smallholder
farmers in Africa for extreme weather, thereby
protecting coffee and cocoa crops exported by
major food companies.
As of 2021,
the gap in current and needed spending on
adaptation to climate impacts was widening.
Adaptation costs are estimated to reach
US$280-500 billion per year by 2050 in
developing countries, according to the UN
Environment Programme. As of 2020, public and
private adaptation finance was around US$28
billion, according to the OECD.
COP26 saw an
encouraging show of support for public
adaptation funding from developed countries. The
UN’s Adaptation Fund received a record-breaking US$356
million in
pledged contributions from 16 national and
regional governments. Nine months after COP26,
however, just over US$230 million of that
remains outstanding – from Canada, the EU,
Spain, the UK and the US, according to the
Adaptation Fund.
There is no
more time to lose. Countries need to deliver
their pledged finance in time for Sharm
El-Sheikh’s COP27 in November. In so doing, they
will send a signal to private investors that
adaptation is as necessary – and as attractive –
an investment as mitigation and resilience, and
support the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development
Goals.
The
High-Level Champions are working to unlock
climate finance by organizing a series of
regional forums, Climate Initiatives to Finance
Climate Action and the SDGs, in partnership with
the Egyptian incoming-COP27 Presidency and UN
Regional Commissions. The first
forum took place in Ethiopia earlier this month; the
second was held in Thailand this week.
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The UNFCCC’s
next Regional Climate Week – Africa – takes
place in Libreville, Gabon from 29
August to 2 September. It aims to enhance
regional collaboration in advancing climate
action, addressing social inequalities and
investing in sustainable and nature-positive
development.
Africa
Climate Week (ACW) 2022 will focus on issues
including resilience to climate risks, the
transition to a low-carbon economy, and
partnerships on pressing challenges. The event
is an opportunity to help advance a just,
managed and financed transition, to address
social inequalities, and to enhance livelihoods.
The aim is to unlock, channel and scale finance
for energy, infrastructure and
nature.
The
High-Level Champions and Marrakech Partnership’s
lineup of events will cover areas including
unlocking climate finance for trade and
industrialization in Africa, gender
considerations in climate investment, and
advancing climate-smart, nature-positive and
nutritious food systems in Africa. They will
also hold an Implementation Lab on sustainable
waste management and a robust transition to
inclusive circular economies and
climate-resilient communities across Africa,
plus a Marrakech Partnership Regionalization
Workshop with a particular focus on the Global
Stocktake.
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Welcome to the UNFCCC, Simon
Stiel | |
The
High-Level Champions extend a warm welcome to
Simon Stiell, who was appointed this month to be the
new Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Change
secretariat.
Simon Stiell
joins from the government of Grenada, where he
served as a senior minister between 2013 and
June, including serving as Minister for Climate
Resilience and the Environment for five
years.
The
High-Level Champions look forward to working
with him to advance the global climate action
agenda and accelerate the Race to Zero and Race
to Resilience
campaigns. | |
Keeping Up With The
Champions | |
- Mahmoud Mohieldin said
at an African
Risk Capacity Group event that Egypt’s
COP27 Presidency is unique for integrating the
regional and international dimensions of climate
action and adoption of a more holistic
approach.
- Nigel Topping attended
the Caribbean Regional Heads of Government
Meeting in the Bahamas in preparation for COP27
and went out to admire
the wildlife.
- Nigel Topping spoke to
LSEG’s Jane Goodland about the financial
services sector’s role in the race to net zero.
Watch it
here.
- Nigel Topping spoke to
Justin Keeble of Google Cloud about the
formation of the Race to Zero, the role of
technology, and how industries are collaborating
to drive sustainable transformation. Watch it
here.
- “The whole world has not
done enough to cope with climate change,” Nigel
Topping told Sky
News. The good
news is that the path to a resilient zero-carbon
future is the path to greater economic security,
jobs, health and other benefits, he
added.
- Mahmoud Mohieldin met
the COP27 President’s youth envoy to discuss the
role of
youth at COP27
in the lead up to the summit.
- The High-Level Champions
have made the second
submission of inputs to the Global
Stocktake, to inform the second meeting of the
technical dialogue taking place during COP27.
With inputs from the Marrakech Partnership stakeholders and
others, this submission provides a more granular
look into how non-Party stakeholders are
implementing the Paris Agreement. It highlights
the emerging trends, progress and impact of
their action and collaboration with national
governments in the first half of 2022, with a
particular focus on forward-looking
opportunities that can help countries enhance
their pledges, implement existing commitments
and strengthen international cooperation.
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- The second of the
‘Regional
Finance Forums’ – convened in Bangkok
by the UN Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific, Egypt and the Champions —
discussed financing for 10 core climate projects
across Asian and the Pacific totalling US $41.1
billion in investment. Listen to COP27 Designate
President Sameh Shoukry address the event
here.
- Africa has so far drawn
only 2% of global investments in renewables over
two decades, and less than 3% of jobs, according
to the International Renewable Energy
Agency.
However, the continent has vast resource
potential for wind, solar, hydro and geothermal,
and abundant minerals to produce batteries, wind
turbines and other clean technologies.
- Africa is estimated to
need an average US$250 billion per year in
public and private climate finance from 2020 to
2030 – far higher than the US$29.5 billion
mobilized in 2020, according to the Climate
Policy Initiative.
- Barbados is home to a
new humanitarian logistics
hub designed
to enhance emergency preparedness and response
across the Caribbean, set up by the UN World
Food Programme, Barbadian government and
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management
Agency.
- McKinsey has created a
hypothetical timeline of the road to net zero
emissions across eight sectors, exploring the
uneven changes in spending, output and job
creation. Check it
out.
- Average temperatures in
Europe in July were close to 0.4C above the
average over the previous two decades, while
temperatures from the Horn of Africa to southern
India, central Asia and Australia were below
average, according to the World
Meteorological Organization. Antarctic sea ice hit
its lowest level on record, 7% below
average.
- Even relatively modest
climate warming and associated precipitation
shifts could dramatically alter the world’s
northernmost forests – one of its biggest carbon
sinks and intact forest ecosystems, according to
a University of Michigan
study.
- Climate change has
already aggravated 58% of infectious diseases,
made worse by impacts such as heat, drought,
wildfires and rain, according to a study in
Nature
Climate Change.
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- World
Water Week:
23 August-1 September
- Regional
Finance Forum in Bangkok, Thailand:
25 August
- Asia-Pacific Business Forum in
Bangkok:
26 August
- Africa
Climate Week in Libreville, Gabon:
29 August-2 September
- Regional
Finance Forum in Santiago, Chile: 1-2
September
- International Day of Clean Air for
blue skies:
7 September
- Tipping
Points: From Climate Crisis to Positive
Transformation in Exeter, UK:
12-14 September
- UN
General Assembly in New York, US:
13-27 September
- Regional
Finance Forum in Beirut, Lebanon:
15 September
- Under2
Coalition General Assembly in New York:
19 September
- Uniting
Business LIVE:
19-21 September
- Climate
Week NYC:
19-25 September
- Towards
COP27: UNECE Forum on Climate Initiatives in
Geneva, Switzerland:
20 September
- Regional
Finance Forum in Geneva, Switzerland:
20 September
- United
Nations Climate Action: Race to Zero and
Resilience Forum:
21 September
- Global
Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh,
US:
21-23 September
- Daring
Cities 2022:
3-7 October
- OECD
Forum on Green Finance and Investment:
5-7 October
- 2022
Daejeon United Cities and Local Governments
World Congress in Daejeon, South Korea:
10-14 October
- IMF-World Bank Autumn Meetings in
Washington, DC, US:
14-16 October
- World
Food Day 2022:
16 October
- World
Health Summit 2022:
16-18 October
- C40
World Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires,
Argentina:
19-21 October
- G20
Leaders’ Summit in Bali, Indonesia:
30-31 October
- COP27 in
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt:
6-18 November
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