UN
Climate Change
Global
Climate Action
6
July
2021 | |
High Level Climate Champions
Newsletter | |
Net Zero: The Good, The Bad and The
Ugly | |
The
term ‘net zero’ has broken into the mainstream
lexicon in the past two years, thanks to the
tidal wave of commitments from countries, local
governments, businesses and investors - many as
part of their recovery from Covid-19. We have
reached a tipping point at which, if you’re not
readying your city, investment portfolio or
business strategy for a resilient net-zero world
in the 2040s, you will soon find yourself
juggling stranded assets and battling
ever-worsening impacts.
But
not all net zero commitments are equal. Some are
good, some are bad, and some are even ugly,
according to panelists speaking at the Get Net
Zero Right
event during London Climate Action Week. The
risk is that net zero targets allows emitters to
continue with business as usual based on the
promise that they will mitigate emissions later
on - a “burn now, pay later” trap, according to
James
Dyke,
assistant director at the University of Exeter’s
Global Systems Institute.
Much
of the talk around reaching net zero emissions
is based on “fantasies of future technological
saviour,” Dyke added, arguing that the window
for limiting global warming to 1.5°C has closed.
“I would have some confidence that we were going
to get to 1.5°C if at the same time that we’re
making all these promises we’re seeing large
near-term reductions in carbon emissions.”
Instead, 2021 is on track to see the
second-largest increase in emissions on record,
he said.
Yet,
commitments to reaching net zero
emissions
are still a necessary and crucial part of the
race to create a healthier, more resilient and
more liveable future, panelists agreed. It’s a
logical approach: set the end destination, and
then figure out how to get there, said Richard
Black,
honorary research fellow at Imperial College
London. “I don’t agree with James that 1.5°C is
over,” he said. “We are at a time of maximum
urgency but also a time of maximum
feasibility.”
The
challenge is to turn net zero commitments into
immediate, meaningful change that is rooted in
science.
“We
are now in a power fight for whether net-zero
can be a driver of change or if it’s going to be
captured by the fossil fuels industry and others
to keep on doing what they’re doing,” said
Jennifer Morgan, executive director of
Greenpeace International.
The
clearest and fastest way to cut emissions is to
phase down coal, oil and gas production, said
Tzeporah Berman, adjunct professor of
environmental studies at York University,
international programme director at Stand.Earth
and chair of the Fossil
Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
Initiative.
Some 80 per cent of emissions in the atmosphere
come from coal, oil and gas, and production
needs to decline by at least 6 per cent per year
to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals, she added.
| |
So Let's Get Net Zero
Right | |
“How
do we build political power to achieve positive
change in the world? Winning is easy, but
governing is harder,” said Thomas Hale,
associate professor in public policy at the
University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of
Government.
The
success of net zero commitments hinges on the
right governance. And the right governance needs
to be rooted in immediate action, short-term
targets, transparency and
accountability.
The
UN-backed Race to Zero campaign aims to
do just that
- backing net-zero commitments from businesses,
investors, cities and regions with targets to
halve greenhouse gas emissions between 2020 and
2030, as the science says is needed. It also
requires commitments to cover a company or
government’s direct and indirect emissions -
spreading beyond its own operations to the
entire value chain - and to prioritise real
emissions cuts over offsets. At present, it does
not include a route for oil and gas companies to
join the campaign, because the race to zero is a
race away from fossil fuels.
In
parallel, the UN-backed Race to Resilience is
mobilising businesses, investors, cities and
regions behind commitments to build resilience
for the 4 billion people most at risk from the
climate crisis by 2030. It’s developing metrics
to evaluate a credible, robust commitment to
resilience and measure progress - thereby
ensuring that we cut emissions while adapting to
the impacts we’re already
feeling.
This
show of action from local governments and the
private sector is fuelling an ambition loop: the
more ambition they show, the easier it is for
policymakers to be bolder, and the more space
that creates for non-state actors to go
farther.
Ultimately,
the quality of a net zero target depends on what
it achieves. “Fighting climate change helps us
create a better world,” said Farhana Yamin,
lawyer, author, activist and expert adviser for
the Climate
Vulnerable Forum.
| |
Asia-Pacific Climate
Week | |
Government,
private sector and civil society leaders from
Asia-Pacific are coming
together from Tuesday to Friday
to discuss climate action solutions and ways to
incorporate them into the Covid-19 recovery, as
one of UN Climate Change’s regional meetings
ahead of COP26, hosted by the Government of
Japan.
The
virtual thematic sessions will focus on three
main tracks: national actions and economy-wide
approaches; integrated approaches for
climate-resilient development; and seizing
transformation opportunities.
The
High-Level Champions’ line-up
of events
includes a session by Japan’s Ministry of
Environment and ICLEI on Tuesday on promoting
zero carbon cities, expanding the
“Decarbonization Domino Effect” globally, and
how to effectively collaborate with the Race to
Zero campaign.
On
Wednesday there’s the High-Level Champions’
Implementation Lab, looking at accelerating the
establishment of net-zero, resilient cement and
steel plants and increasing the climate
resilience of smallholder farmers with
smart-agriculture innovations. And on Thursday
there’s a deep-dive on unlocking the potential
of green hydrogen in collaboration with the
Technology Executive
Committee,
Race to Resilience events on protecting the
lives and livelihoods of vulnerable people by
creating climate resilient dwellings and water
supplies and the launch a cities track, and a
Climate
Ambition Alliance
event on Friday on developing long-term
strategies to net-zero in alignment with
Nationally Determined Contributions.
| |
- The
UK government is offering
Covid-19 vaccines
to national delegations, observers and
journalists registered to attend the COP26 if
they cannot get them through other means. The
offer opened this week and closes on 23
July.
- What
is ‘nature positive’? It’s an approach that
enriches biodiversity, stores carbon, purifies
water and reduces pandemic risk - thereby
enhancing resilience, according to the World
Economic Forum.
- In
a first assessment of progress towards emissions
targets among local governments, businesses and
investors, only about half have been found to be
on track to meet their goals, according to the
NewClimate Institute.
The other half need to boost their future
emissions reductions to fulfill their
commitments.
- The
Climate
Action Tracker
has designed a blueprint for transparent,
comprehensive and robust net zero targets for
national governments, with 10 elements of good
practice. The CAT will now evaluate net zero
targets for the 40 countries it regularly
assesses.
- Race
to Resilience Partner Initiative, Efficiency for Access
Coalition,
announced the winners of the Efficiency for
Access Design Challenge with university teams
from Bangladesh, India, Uganda and the UK
winning prizes for their innovative, affordable,
clean
energy appliances.
The challenge
empowers teams of university students to help
accelerate clean energy access.
- While
climate action momentum is building, the
movement of non-profit, funders and businesses
working on climate action remains fragmented and
focused in developed countries, according to
research by the
University of Oxford’s Saïd
Business School.
To overcome these challenges in the 2020s, the
movement needs to develop a shared narrative,
build trust, strengthen accountability and
revamp funding.
- State
and regional governments are in a unique
position to tackle climate change, through
policies on transport, energy, industry and the
built environment. The new Net Zero
Futures initiative,
launched by the Under2 Coalition, aims to
increase efforts by states and regions. It has
also published new portals outlining how states
and regions can join the Race to
Zero
and Race to
Resilience
(through RegionsAdapt).
- National
urban policies can play a powerful role in
shaping more resilient, green and inclusive
cities as part of national recoveries from
Covid-19, according to a report by the OECD,
UN-Habitat and Cities Alliance
that reviews national urban policies in 162
countries.
- TED
Countdown has launched an open
call for photography,
as part of a new initiative to better visualize
the story of how climate change is affecting
communities and how people are working to find
solutions. The initiative, run in collaboration
with Climate Visuals, will source, licence and
elevate 100 powerful images - creating a free,
public database.
Enjoyed
this round-up? Keep up to date with daily news
from the Race to Zero, Race to Resilience and
our partners on racetozero.unfccc.int!
| |
| | | | |
