COP27 Day 3: Finance Takes Precedence, Island Nations Ask India for ‘Damages'
Here are the key highlights of the 27th UN Climate Summit.
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The third official day of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh centred around the theme of climate finance, with updates of coalition drives, a new emissions report, and key carbon market formations driven by major economies and developing states.
Here are the key highlights of Day 3:
US Launches Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA)
The ETA will finance the decommissioning of coal and accelerate clean energy deployment in developing countries. It also plans to unlock new private capital to help developing nations invest in renewable and low-carbon technologies in exchange for carbon credits. However, concerns around the issuance and pricing of credits continue to persist.
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UN Launches Detailed Global Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The world’s most detailed global inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was unveiled at COP27, revealing that emissions from the oil and gas sector may be up to three times higher than reported.
Called Climate TRACE, the inventory has been contributed to by more than 100 organisations, including Global Energy Monitor, Carbon Mapper and Google.org.
At present, the inventory includes facility-level emissions data for more than 72,000 sources of GHG emissions in high-emission sector.
Egypt Plans USD 15 Billion Climate Programme
The Egyptian Government’s ministry for international cooperation had earlier announced a new programme to raise and allocate finance for water, food, and energy projects that will reduce emissions.
It has now announced partnership with the US and support from international banks, energy and climate finance bodies to get the National Platform for Green Projects Program - ‘NWFE’ up and running, targeting USD 15 bn of investment this decade.
The energy projects should enable Egypt to replace some of its least efficient fossil fuel plants, the Government has stated.
Nations Sign Up to the Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative (ASCI) Declaration
For the continent of Africa, several nations signed up to the Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative Declaration; a single set of principles for the responsible production of agricultural commodities in Africa.
The principles include:
Protecting forests
Good governance
Transparency, while ensuring social benefits for farmers, communities, indigenous peoples and their human rights
The ten countries are: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Edo State (Nigeria), Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.
Multiple Finance Alliances Post Progress Updates
Finance sector collaborations on net-zero, collectively representing more than USD 32trn of assets, announced new members and posted progress updates at COP27.
The Net-Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM) has confirmed that it now represents 291 organisations, collectively responsible for some USD 55.3trn of assets under management.
86 more NZAM members announced initial targets for addressing their portfolio emissions, bringing the total number of members with specific targets to 169. These 169 organisations collectively manage USD 21.8trn of assets.
Paris-Aligned Asset Owners (PAAO) initiative also posted its progress and released its first annual progress report.
It confirmed that 40 asset owners have set their initial interim targets on the road to net-zero by 2050 at the latest, out of the 57 signatories to the initiative. Overall, the initiative represents USSD 3.3trn of assets under management.
Africa’s Investment Slump for Renewables: Report
New research from BloombergNEF (BNEF) has warned that African nations are lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to investment for renewable energy.
The report found that while 86 percent of the African nations surveyed by BNEF now have long-term clean power targets – up from 57 percent in 2019 – the capital actually being deployed is progressing slowly.
It was further found that only $2.6bn of capital was deployed across renewable power-generating projects in Africa in 2021 – accounting for less than one percent of the USD 434bn invested globally.
Restore Africa Announces Batch of Carbon Removal Projects
Carbon, which was once only a major cause for pollution and the dire fluctuations in our climate, has now become a tradable commodity that is slowly creating its own market system around the world, along with other greenhouse gasses (GHGs).
Carbon trading is a mechanism to manage GHG and carbon emissions across the globe.
COP27 saw big announcements on the carbon markets front with Climate Impact Partners and The Global EverGreening Alliance announcing a partnership to deliver USD330m in community-led carbon removal projects in Africa and Asia.
Expected to be set up from 2023 onwards, the projects will try to ensure that a share of the revenue from carbon credit sales will be reserved for local communities.
Uganda Spearheads Declaration on Climate-Related Migration
Speaking at the world leaders summit portion of the COP, Barbados’ Mia Mottley mentioned that if the Paris Agreement is breached, up to a billion people will be forced to migrate.
Joined by 14 other African nations, Uganda launched the Kapmpala Declaration formally, after negotiations in July.
Uganda’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Ssentamu Nankabirwa said at the launch:
Island Nations Want China, India To Pay for Climate Damage
Prime Minister of island nation Antigua and Barbuda targetted India and China and said that such highly polluting emerging economies should pay into a climate compensation fund to help countries rebuild after suffering climate change-driven disasters.
As per experts however, US and European Union are using Island nations to do their bidding. Although even on a fair share basis, India would owe very little to poorer countries in terms of climate finance.
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