UN
Climate Change
Global
Climate Action
13
October
2021 | |
High Level Climate Champions
Newsletter | |
The
challenge for COP26 - to set the world on track
to halve emissions and build resilience within
the 2020s - may be staggering. But throughout
history, exponential change has made the
impossible suddenly possible - and it continues
to do so now.
For
evidence of this, look at the transformation
underway in the energy sector, across national
and local governments, finance, energy producers
and energy users.
In
2020, renewable energy sources grew rapidly and
electric vehicle sales set new records - even
under the economic weight of Covid-19 lockdowns,
the International Energy Agency said today in
its World
Energy Outlook 2021.
“The stubbornness of status quo” still stands in
the way of the IEA’s pathway to net zero
emissions by 2050, it added, with a large
rebound in coal and oil use this
year.
But
the goal is still in our reach, and the mindset
is changing exponentially. China committed
in September to stop building new coal-fired
power plants overseas and increase its support
for clean, sustainable development in poorer
countries. Soon after, the state-owned Bank of
China
announced it would end financing for new coal
mining and coal-fired power projects overseas
from October. Remember, this comes only a year
after China committed to reach net zero
emissions by 2060.
This
is what turning commitment into practice is all
about. China’s move facilitates the cancellation
of more than 40 gigawatts of coal power in 20
countries, according to E3G
and Ember.
The global list of proposed coal power projects
has already shrunk by three-quarters since we
clinched the Paris Agreement in
2015.
Now
the push to phase out fossil fuels is spreading
to oil and gas. The Beyond
Oil and Gas Alliance,
announced by Costa Rica and Denmark and
launching at COP26, commits national and
subnational governments to end new domestic oil
and gas exploration and extraction and gradually
end their existing production. The Global
Methane Pledge
commits countries to cut global methane
emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030, with
the European Union, Argentina, Ghana, Indonesia,
Iraq, Italy, Mexico, UK and US already signed
up.
The
clean energy transition will create jobs -
potentially 13 million more by 2030, the IEA
said, but those jobs won’t always be in the same
communities or professions that are seeing jobs
decline as a result. Managing the exit from
coal, for example, requires governments and
financial institutions to allow for the
reclamation and repurposing of land and to
maximize the opportunities for decent,
high-quality jobs in affected communities, it
said. | |
The
clean power sector hit an important breakthrough
last month, with more than 20 per cent of major
utilities by revenue joining the UN-backed Race
to Zero. That means they commit to halving
emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by
2050.
These
include Engie, E.On, Kenya Electricity
Generating Company, National Grid, ReNew Power,
RWE, Vattenfall and Vistra. Vattenfall
also strengthened its targets to cut its
emissions intensity by 77 per cent (rather than
40 per cent) by 2030 and reach net zero by 2040
(rather than 2050). The Swedish company did this
as part of the Science
Based Targets Initiative,
which in July raised its target to align with
limiting warming to 1.5°C. SSE,
another Race to Zero member, is also inviting
people to sign a call for ambitious climate
action at COP26, which will be listed on the
world’s largest future offshore wind farm at
Dogger Bank in the UK North Sea.
Big
sectors including finance, transport and
industry are following suit, and spurring
further change.
In
finance, Africa’s biggest bank, FirstRand
in South Africa, said it would immediately end
funding for new coal-fired power plants and halt
finance for coal mining over the next five
years. Canadian pension fund CDPQ
has said it will divest from oil production by
the end of 2022 and put C$10 billion into
decarbonizing industrial sectors. The Glasgow
Financial Alliance for Net Zero
is aligning the full breadth of the financial
sector behind halving emissions this decade and
reaching net zero by 2050.
In
road transport, recently Rolls-Royce
said it will only produce electric vehicles by
2030, Toyota
is investing around US$13.6 billion in battery
technology over the next decade, and Volvo
has secured its largest order for electric
trucks, for 100 in northern Europe. And in
mining, Fortescue Metals Group
aims to decarbonize its indirect emissions by
2040, using green hydrogen to produce iron ore
and steel.
These
are some of the six changes that governments and
the private sector can make in the 2020s to get
the world on track for a 1.5°C limit, according
to the Energy
Transition Commission:
a rapid reduction of methane emissions;
decarbonizing power and accelerating the coal
phaseout; quickening transport electrification.
Other steps include halting deforestation and
beginning reforestation; decarbonizing
buildings, heavy industry and heavy transport;
and reinvigorating energy and resource
efficiency.
The
COP26 in Glasgow, just three weeks away, is an
opportunity for national governments as well as
cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil
society to join forces in driving exponential
growth towards these six
changes. | |
Looking
for ways to spread ideas? The TEDx Countdown
programme is helping communities, organizations
and individuals produce TED-style climate events
locally, around the world. Between the end of
2020 and the end of this year, there will have
been over a thousand TEDx Countdown events in
more than 90 countries.
Check
out this
list
to find the hundreds of upcoming TEDx events and
then join one in your hometown!
TED
Countdown is also hosting a Summit in Edinburgh
this week, a global
livestream
at the end of this month and will be streaming
live from the Blue Zone during COP26.
| |
- At
least 85 per cent of the global population is
already affected by climate change impacts such
as crop failures, floods and heat waves,
according to a study published in Nature
Climate Change.
The evidence is much stronger in high-income
countries than low-income, where there is less
attribution research.
- Over
1,000
global businesses
representing US$4.7 trillion in annual revenue
have called on governments to adopt policies
that will reverse nature loss by 2030, saying
the Convention on Biodiversity COP15 this week
is the last best chance to turn the
tide.
- A
Global
Citizens’ Assembly
of 100 people has been launched to discuss
climate change responses ahead of COP26. Members
will
reflect
global demographics, with 60 per cent from Asia
and 17 per cent from Africa, half women and 70
per cent earning $10 a day or less.
- How
do we secure ambitious, just and equitable
climate decisions for vulnerable countries at
COP26? The new ACT2025
podcast miniseries
by WRI delves into what’s needed.
- The
Race to Zero has added a number of new
members from Chile,
including the local governments of Región
Metropolitana, Municipalidad de Renca,
Municipalidad de Vitacura, home improvements
retail chain Sodimac, cement maker Cementos
Polpaico and public bank Banco
Estado.
- The
Implementation Lab
event held during 2021 Africa Climate Week last
month gathered representatives from the Moroccan
government, the African Union Commission, the
International Union of Railways, NGOs and
companies from Senegal, South Africa, Egypt,
Zimbabwe and Uganda to discuss the pathways to a
net-zero and resilient transport sector in
Africa. This included the region’s challenges in
electrification, Covid recovery, climate finance
and the use of innovation and technology as
described in the
Marrakech Partnership Climate
Action Pathways.
The event was organized by the High-Level
Champions, the International Transport Forum and
the SLOCAT Partnership.
- After
drawing 11,500 people, including 7,000
entrepreneurs and 1,825 investors, to
the South
Summit 21
event this month, South Summit will work with
organizations to formalize their net-zero
commitments under the Race to Zero and plan a
Race to Zero roadshow in 2022.
- The
first-ever Middle
East and North Africa Climate Week
is set for from 28 February to 3 March 2022 in
Dubai, hosted by the United Arab Emirates
government with support from the UN and other
multilateral and national agencies.
Keep
up to date with news from around the Race to
Zero and Race to Resilience community, by
checking out racetozero.unfccc.int
for new stories every day!
| |
- 49th
Session of the Committee on World Food Security
(CFS49):
11-14 October
- Convention on Biodiversity
COP15,
hosted by China: 11-15 October, Kunming
- World
Bank Group/IMF Annual Meetings:
11-17 October, Washington, DC
- G20
Finance Ministers’ Meeting:
12-13 October, Washington, DC
- TED
Countdown Summit:
12-15 October, Edinburgh
- IIED
Regional dialogue series: scaling up locally led
adaptation:
13 (Asia-Pacific)-14 (Caribbean and Latin
America) October
- Technology Day - National Policy,
Local Action: Scaling Integrated Approaches to
Strengthen Coastal and Ocean Adaptation:
13 October
- UN
Global Sustainable Transport Conference
2021:
14-16
October
- Recognising the Value of Africa’s
Carbon Superpowers:
19 October
- Race to
Zero Europe - Countdown to COP26:
20 October
- Climate
Finance Opportunities to Foster Forest-Positive
Agriculture:
20 October
- Global
Race to Zero Summit:
20-21 October
- Climate
Action in Nigeria: Youth Paving the Way:
21 October
- LSE Just
Zero - Financing the Just Transition:
25 October
- TED
Countdown Global Livestream:
30 October
- G20
Leaders’ Summit,
hosted by Italy: 30-31 October,
Rome
- World
Cities Day 2021:
31 October
- COP26,
hosted by the UK and Italy: 1-12 November,
Glasgow
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