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WEDNESDAY
20 NOVEMBER
Driving
the day
Cities,
regions, and industry leaders are taking action to
transform how we live, work and move. Their
actions are paving the way for national climate
plans (or NDCs) to commit to deep emissions
reductions, while also creating jobs, cutting
costs, improving health, and safeguarding
vulnerable lives.
With many
cities, states and regions embracing action,
countries are urged to break down
inter-governmental siloes, and ensure that new
national climate and adaptation goals reflect the
immense potential to mainstream clean, efficient
buildings and infrastructure.
Cities
and regions are forging ahead with action to
tackle emissions from buildings and
transport
Regional
governments have close relationships to people -
and the buildings and infrastructure that they
oversee are the backdrop on which our lives play
out. Certain mayors and governors are moving
faster than national governments in tackling
building emissions. For example:
●
Helsinki
has introduced carbon limits
on
construction two years ahead of the national
government's plans.
●
California
has introduced a revised building code this July
to limit embodied carbon within
all commercial buildings and large
schools.
● 75% of C40
member-cities are slashing per capita emissions
faster than their respective national
governments.
● Of
the 381 Race to Zero cities reporting through CDP
in 2023, 84% had climate action plans or
mitigation strategies, up from 78% in
2022.
● Today, 8
regions from Africa and Latin America join the
Subnational Global Cooling
Pledge to tackle
extreme heat that affects 30M+
citizens.
This
includes scaling-up green spaces, driving demand
for efficient cooling, and developing heat
actions plans by 2026.
Despite
this regionally-led progress the stark reality is
that annual
urban climate finance must increase more than
fivefold to preserve a 1.5°C climate
pathway.
In
a communique from the G20 in Brazil, mayors of the
U20 called for USD 800bn of annual public
investment for cities’ climate action by 2030 to
close the emissions gap for 1.5°C. The message is
clear: commitments are not enough, clarity is
needed on where
money
goes and who
it
benefits.
‘Avoid
and Shift’: The mantra for smart sustainable
cities:
Major
cities
from London to Dakar are introducing smart urban
planning strategies that ‘avoid the need for
motorised transport, and ‘shift’ citizens to
clean, collective, low impact modes of transport,
e.g.:
● London’s
Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion has
reduced the number of schools exposed to
illegally high levels of air pollution from 455 to
under 20, and soon
zero; and incentivises uptake of metro, bus and
bike use.
●
Dakar has
launched Africa’s first fully-electric Bus Rapid
Transit, the 18km network and fleet of 144 e-buses
powered by renewable energy enables 300,000
passengers a day to halve the average commute time
- incentivizing the shift away from private
vehicles.
● The
World Resources Institute (WRI) and the African
Guarantee Fund have announced a 25 million
EURO project funded by the Mitigation Action
Facility (MAF) to electrify 2- and 3-wheelers in
Kenya. This
initiative aims to achieve 15% market penetration
of electric vehicles, reduce emissions by 1
million metric tonnes of CO2, and increase local
EV manufacturing and assembly by 85%.
These
methods and others - represented in the Avoid and
Shift Breakthrough and
Global ZEV
Transition Roadmap - show
how electrification enhances cities’ appeal -
enabling them to become cleaner, healthier, more
vibrant places to live and work.
Constructing
a Net Zero World - Built Environment Pioneers
In the
buildings sector, a vanguard of actors is
spearheading innovation. Over 20% of major real
estate asset management and owner companies have
joined the Race to
Zero,
committing to cut emissions across all scopes -
this represents the embodied and operational
emissions of USD 1.4T Assets Under
Management.
●
Real estate leaders in Azerbaijan, responsible for
Baku’s iconic skyline, including the Flame Towers,
will deliver
their sustainable built
environment ‘blueprint’
building on the Azerbaijan
Sustainable Built Environment Pledge,
spearheaded by the UN Climate Change High-Level
Champions and UN Global Compact.
●
Race to
Zero Member, Schneider
Electric has
topped Time Magazine’s ‘World's
Most Sustainable Companies for 2024’ list,
helping customers save and avoid 553 million
tonnes of CO2 since 2018, while transforming its
supply chain.
International
collaboration is maturing - paving the way for
faster national implementation
The
construction sector
remains off track to meet
the Paris Agreement. However, a myriad of
construction-based non-State actors, are
collaborating to deliver systems change
‘blueprints’, supporting implementation of the
Buildings and
Cement Breakthroughs:
● An
international consortium of non-State actors, led
by the World Green Building Council is progressing
toward shared
definitions and principles for near
zero, resilient buildings.
● National
governments, NGOs and private actors are united
under the Blueprint
for a Solutions Deployment Platform for
transforming buildings.
● The
One Planet Network has unveiled a framework to
support national action to mainstream circularity.
● The
Global
Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has
launched low carbon definitions for cement and
concrete, providing international alignment needed
to raise demand and fast track green materials
procurement.
These
ground-up actions are inspiring national
governments. At COP 29, Brazil, France and Kenya
will hold the Intergovernmental Council on
Buildings and Climate’s first
Ministerial meeting, attended by 60+ Ministers and
High-level representatives to transform the
buildings sector. Also, Kenya and
Chile are
introducing new building regulations to normalise
better buildings.
Ambition
Loop in action in UAE climate plan
The
UAE’s new
climate plan ‘NDC’
sets a high bar
for buildings, committing the sector’s emissions
to fall by 79% by 2035 from 2019 levels - through
actions such as revised building codes, building
energy labels, and increasing retrofitting.
Critically,
the NDC draws on the UAE
Sustainability Built Environment
Blueprint.
Introduced at COP 28 by major real estate firms
and supported by the Emirates Green Building
Council, the Blueprint shows the power of ‘radical
collaboration’ between public and private sectors
to drive sustainable development.
Unlocking
Emissions Cuts in City Transport Systems for
NDCs
A
UN-Habitat
study
shows
that most of the first NDCs did not account for
cities’ emissions reduction potential, while a
recent Habitat
for Humanity
report notes that only 16 (of 194) current NDCs
mention informality.
To
address these gaps, the International Transport Forum (ITF)
Guide to Integrating Transport into NDCs
will be officially launched by the Government of
Chile at the ‘Greening Urban Transport
Ministerial.’ A ‘whole-of-society’ approach can
help to ensure cities’ work on increasing public
transport and active travel - to ultimately get
city-level transport action into national climate
plans (NDCs).
CHAMP
breaks down inter-governmental siloes - spreading
ambition and action:
According
to Arup
analysis for the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM)
and C40,
cities committed to climate action can fill up to
40% of the global emissions gap between current
NDCs and a 1.5°C pathway by 2030.
The
Coalition
for High Ambition Multi Level Partnerships for
Climate Action (CHAMP)
is
playing a vital role in aligning multi-level
governance to unlock collective ambition. A year
since its launch, CHAMP has been endorsed by 74
countries, covering 34% of the global population,
61% of global GDP and 36% of global emissions.
Recent endorsers include Finland and the United
Kingdom.
Good
practice is coming to the fore. Colombia’s
national government has been running nationwide
workshops to engage subnational governments and
stakeholders in its forthcoming NDC. Also, in
Kenya, a financing initiative is gathering
insights on local investment needs, ensuring these
contributions shape and inform the country’s
NDC.
Zero
Emission Vehicles
Shipping
In
shipping, a Call to
Action
for
achieving a just transition for Africa’s seafarers
was launched. Supported by 19 diverse state and
non-State actors, the Call to
Action urges
global attention to 16 critical actions that are
required to ensure that African seafarers are
prioritized in shipping’s energy transition -
enabling them to work safely in a decarbonized
shipping environment.
Zero-emission
trucks and buses are ready
Zero-emission
trucks and buses are ready, achieving
price parity
and representing a growing investment opportunity
to decarbonise freight and urban mobility rapidly.
E-truck
sales in committed countries
increased by 75% in 2023, reaching a total of
35,000 units sold.
The
ZEVWISE coalition has unveiled a blueprint
for ten green freight corridors to be
developed by 2026. Examples include:
● Microsoft,
PepsiCo, and Maersk piloting heavy-duty electric
trucks in the first
electrified U.S. freight corridor between
Los Angeles and El Paso.
● Leading
multinationals, logistics service providers and
carriers joined the Green
Freight Support Program in Eastern Africa.
Watch the
inspiring
stories of the individuals driving
the trucking transition.
Today,
Transport & Development partners unite to
accelerate zero-emission vehicles in emerging
economies with the comprehensive ZEV Transition Council
action plan,
including USD 2.7B of new commitments since COP
28. Additionally, the IEA reports that two- and
three-wheelers in Asia, and buses in India and
Latin America, have been rapidly electrifying,
driving Zero Emission Vehicle adoption in emerging
markets.
Aviation
The cost
of aviation e-fuels could be 50% cheaper than
mainstream estimates, according to groundbreaking
data
published today by The Environmental Defense Fund.
The
analysis finds that leveraging synergies between
the transport and power sectors could slash the
cost of aviation e-fuels by half compared to
mainstream estimates.
Impact
Makers
In the
face of the climate crisis, solutions are emerging
faster than ever, tackling every aspect of the
challenge. The new High-Level Champions’ series,
Impact
Makers, shines a
spotlight on those leading this change from the
ground up.
Explore
today’s Impact Makers transforming mobility and
urban resilience:
Dr.
SEBASTIAN GROH - Driving
the transition to cleaner, greener transport in
Bangladesh.
DEEPA
LAMA
-
Promoting urban sustainability through kitchen
composting and rooftop farming in
Kathmandu.
Call
for inputs: COP 29 climate action
announcements
The
UNFCCC secretariat is tracking climate action
announcements made at COP 29, including the launch
of:
● climate
initiatives;
● pledges
and declarations;
● publications
and reports;
● any
other climate action announcements.
This
information will be used to inform the Global
Climate Action Portal (GCAP), formally known as
Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA),
in particular, its COP 29 event page. Please
find the online form to submit your inputs
here
or via the
QR code below.
For
further information please visit: https://climateaction.unfccc.int/Events/COP29). | 
