UN
Global Climate Action
12
January
2023 | |
High-Level Champions'
Newsletter | |
Welcoming the 8th High-Level
Champion | |
She will be joining Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin
who continues in his role as the High-Level
Champion of the COP 27 Presidency of Egypt
following the UN Climate Change Conference COP
27 in Sharm El-Sheikh.
COP 28 will take place at Expo City Dubai
from November 30 to December 12. As mandated by
the Paris Agreement, it will deliver the
conclusion of the first ever Global Stocktake -
a comprehensive assessment of progress against
climate goals.
| |
Meet the new High-Level Champion for COP
28 | |
Ms. Al Mubarak brings a wealth of
experience in conservation and environmental
management across the public and private
sectors.
As President of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature ( IUCN), Ms. Al Mubarak is
responsible for implementing the vision,
mission, and strategy of the organization, which
represents over 1,400 members, including States,
government agencies and non-government
organizations from 160 countries.
Commenting on her appointment, Ms. Al
Mubarak said: “A healthy environment, including
its climate and biodiversity, is central to
everyone’s wellbeing. We must go beyond business
as usual and elevate nature as an important
solution to climate change. To accomplish this,
we need everyone to contribute to global climate
action, including women, youth, and indigenous
people, as well as business, government, civil
society, and academia. The UAE has always been a
convener of peoples from around the world and I
look forward to working with the COP28
Presidency to ensure that diverse voices are
present both in the leadup to, and during, the
climate conference. As a lifelong champion of
environmental action, including in the
protection of biodiversity and the advancement
of nature-based solutions, the opportunity to
work on this global challenge is an
honour.”
Working in partnership with Mr. Mohieldin,
High-Level Champion of the COP 27 Presidency,
Ms. Al Mubarak will apply her extensive
experience to strengthening engagement and
mobilizing efforts from non-State actors,
including private sector partners, academia,
cities and other sub-national governments,
indigenous peoples, women’s organizations, and
civil society.
Mahmoud Mohieldin said: "I am very pleased
to welcome H.E. Ms. Razan Al Mubarak as the 8th
UN Climate Change High-Level Champion of the COP
28 Presidency. During this critically important
year, which will see the conclusion of the first
Global Stocktake, I am honoured to work
alongside H.E. Ms. Al Mubarak to mobilize
stronger and more ambitious climate action
amongst non-State actors with the aim of
delivering on the goals and objectives of the
UNFCCC, Paris Agreement and further reflected
within the Sharm El-Sheikh Implementation Plan.
Furthermore, I look forward to our collaboration
as we build momentum and further action for
COP28."
Simon
Stiell, the UNFCCC’s Executive Secretary
welcomed the new High-Level Champion, COP 28
President-Designate and Youth Climate Champion
and said “Looking forward to working with you
and all stakeholders, leveraging the UAE’s
unique position, to further global ambition and
action on climate change.”
The role of the High-Level Champion was
created in 2015 at COP 21 in Paris to facilitate
through strengthened high-level engagement the
successful execution of existing efforts and the
scaling-up and introduction of new or
strengthened voluntary efforts, initiatives and
coalitions. Through the Marrakech Partnership for Global
Climate Action, the Champions specifically
accelerate ambitious climate action among
non-State actors , including cities, regions,
businesses, investors and civil society, with
the speed, scale and justice needed in support
of Parties and the UNFCCC process.
Through the COP 27 Sharm El-Sheikh
Implementation Plan, Parties welcomed the
leadership of the Presidency of the Conference
of the Parties and the High-Level Champions, and
the collaboration between Parties and non-Party
stakeholders, and emphasized the need for
continued acceleration and collaboration.
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Abu Dhabi Sustainability
Week | |
High-Level Champions Her Excellency Ms.
Razan Al Mubarak and Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin will
attend Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week ( ADSW) which runs from
14th-19th January.
Under the theme of ‘United on Climate
Action Toward COP28’, ADSW 2023 will convene the
global community for a series of events with the
aim of advancing the net zero agenda.
Established in 2008, ADSW brings together
Heads of State, policymakers, industry leaders,
investors, entrepreneurs and youth, who all have
a stake in the future of our planet, to discuss
and engage on bold climate action and
innovations that will ensure the next generation
a sustainable world.
Ms. Al Mubarak will share her extensive
knowledge and expertise on how Nature-based
solutions can accelerate climate action during
the ADSW Opening Summit: The Road to
COP28.
In addition, Ms. Al Mubarak will emphasize
the need for inclusivity in global climate
action at the “Women in Diplomacy Event -
Empowering Lives and Livelihoods -
Renewables for Adaptation”, organised by the
International Renewables Energy Agency ( IRENA).
Meanwhile, Mr. Mohieldin will deliver a
keynote address at the opening plenary of The
Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum during
which he will call for an increase in investment
to accelerate clean energy deployment and
outline how the Champions will support and
advance this through its Regional Finance Forums
programme.
Mr. Mohieldin will also address the need
for urgent mobilisation of climate finance
for renewable energy projects during ‘‘The
Energy Transition Accelerator Financing ( ETAF) Platform’ event.
ETAF, managed by IRENA, is a multi-
stakeholder climate finance solution dedicated
to advance the global energy transition by
mobilising and directing an initial USD 1
billion into renewable energy projects in
developing markets. ETAF was launched at COP 26
with the UAE announcing an initial investment of
USD 400 million via the Abu Dhabi Fund for
Development (ADFD).
The former COP 26
High-Level Champion will also be
joining Mr.
Mohieldin in a conversation during the ADSW
Summit in a session titled Ground for Optimism -
Leveraging Partnerships for Action. They will
discuss how strengthening the engagement of
non-State actors in the fight against climate
change can decrease the emissions gap, and
emphasize on the actions that will help
facilitate the cooperation from sectors with
limited reach for climate action.
Mr. Mohieldin will then further highlight
the actionable priorities that target the
increase in access to climate finance for
non-State actors during his keynote speech at
the Youth 4 Sustainability Forum by MASDAR. | |
● UN
Secretary General António Guterres has called
for radical reform of the global financial
system in favour of developing countries. “If
there is any doubt about loss and damage, go to
Pakistan,” he told
delegates at the International Conference on
climate resilient Pakistan. “There is loss.
There is damage. The devastation of climate
change is real. From floods and droughts to
cyclones and torrential rains. And as always,
those countries least responsible, are the first
to suffer.” More than 33
million people were affected by the flooding in
Sindh and Balochistan, which is widely regarded
to have been Pakistan’s greatest climate
disaster. Today, months after the initial
emergency, the floodwaters have only partly
receded and the disaster is far from over for
some eight million who were forced to flee the
rising waters, which also killed more than 1,700
people.
● The ozone layer is
on track to recover within four decades
according to a UN-backed panel of experts. The
Scientific Assessment Panel to the
Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting
Substances quadrennial assessment
report,
published every four years, confirms the phase
out of nearly 99% of banned ozone-depleting
substances. If current policies remain in place,
the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980
values (before the appearance of the ozone hole)
by around 2066 over the Antarctic, by 2045 over
the Arctic and by 2040 for the rest of the
world. “That ozone recovery is on track
according to the latest quadrennial report is
fantastic news. The impact the Montreal Protocol
has had on climate change mitigation cannot be
overstressed. Over the last 35 years, the
Protocol has become a true champion for the
environment,” said Meg Seki, Executive Secretary
of the United
Nations Environment Programme’s Ozone
Secretariat.
● A case study
involving Europe’s largest coal-fired power
plant shows space-based observations can be used
to track carbon dioxide emissions – and
reductions – at the source. In the recent
study,
researchers used space-based measurements from
NASA’s
Orbiting
Carbon Observatory (OCO) 2 and 3 missions to
quantify the carbon dioxide discharged hundreds
of miles below at Bełchatów Power Station in
Poland, the largest single emitter in Europe.
Analyzing the plant’s emission plumes from
several satellite overpasses between 2017 and
2022, they detected changes in carbon dioxide
levels that were consistent with hourly
fluctuations in electricity generation. The
findings demonstrate that space-based
observations can be used to track carbon dioxide
emission changes at a local scale, the
scientists said.
● The former
High-Level Champion for COP 26, Nigel
Topping, says net zero is
possible in the 2040s. In a recent interview
with The
Guardian he said his experiences
with businesses had shown him that governments
could move much faster, without harming their
countries’ competitiveness or alarming the
business community. “Governments could be way
bolder in setting targets, and back their
scientists, engineers, businesses, banks, cities
to come up with solutions,” he said. “The
moonshot analogy is not inappropriate.”
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