COP28 Announcement Tracker: Key Announcements from the 2023 U.N. Climate Summit

Throughout the U.N. climate summit (COP28)—which officially runs from November 30 to December 12, 2023—a number of agreements, declarations, and collaborations will be and have been announced on a range of climate, environmental, and energy topics. EESI is tracking the happenings< of COP28 through our daily newsletter, COP28 Dispatch: What Congress Needs to Know from Dubai. This article provides a compilation of the announcements included in COP28 Dispatch.

Announcements made by world leaders related to nationally determined contributions (NDCs)—the commitments nations make under the Paris Agreement to cut their greenhouse gas emissions—are not included in this tracker. This information can be found in the Climate Action Tracker or through ClimateWatch.

These announcements are organized by key themes and signatories but many also touch on multiple different themes. For more on reports, tools, and U.S. federal government plans released during COP28, check out our tracker "COP28 Report Tracker: Key Climate Reports Launched at the 2023 U.N. Climate Summit."

 

International Declarations and announcements that include the United States federal government

 

Adaptation and resilience

• Climate, relief, recovery, and peace:  Seventy states and 39 organizations gave their support to yesterday’s voluntary, non-binding COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace. The declaration calls for increased support and collaboration for climate adaptation and resilience, and notes the role of climate action in the peace-building process. The U.S. was among the parties to join the relief declaration, and also announced its endorsement of the Getting Ahead of Disasters Charter.
• Keep cool without warming the planet: The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) held an event to announce the launch of the Global Cooling Pledge, in tandem with the release of its Global Cooling Watch report, Keeping It Chill: How to Meet Cooling Demands While Cutting Emissions. The report explores pathways to reducing emissions from cooling while also supporting the sectoral growth needed to meet increasing demand in the face of rising temperatures. The report’s recommendations fall under three key themes: passive cooling measures like insulation or reflective surfaces, energy efficiency for cooling equipment, and reductions in the use of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants (in accordance with international commitments under the Kigali Amendment). The UNEP’s Cool Coalition joined forces with the U.A.E. to create the cooling pledge, which is backed by over 60 countries, including the U.S.
• Global collaboration on climate-friendly agriculture: Over the weekend, the COP28 Presidency announced that over 130 countries have signed on to the COP28 U.A.E. Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action. The objectives of the sustainable agriculture declaration are to scale up adaptation and resilience activities, promote food security and nutrition, support agricultural workers, strengthen the integrated management of water, and maximize the climate and environmental benefits of agriculture through sustainable approaches. In his remarks during the announcement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Behind the statistics on food insecurity [are] real people… As President Biden has said, if parents can’t feed their children, nothing else matters.” The secretary also announced a pledge of $50 million for the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils fund.
• PREPARE-ing the private sector: A U.S. Center event provided updates on the President’s Emergency Plan on Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), launched at COP27 to mobilize private sector resources, among other goals. USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced that 21 companies have joined PREPARE in the last year, mobilizing an estimated $2.3 billion in adaptation finance for developing countries. U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry highlighted a finding from PREPARE signatory Boston Consulting Group that every dollar a company invests in adaptation and resilience yields $2 to $15 dollars in financial benefits, through cost savings and avoiding loss and damage.

 

Clean energy

• Tripling nuclear by 2050: U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry joined over 20 other countries in endorsing the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy. The declaration recognizes the importance of nuclear energy as a path to carbon neutrality and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C (2.7°F).

 

Climate finance

• $429 million: On the first day of COP28, countries pledged about $429 million to establish and operationalize the heavily-discussed Loss and Damage Fund. Pledges were made by the E.U. ($145 million), the U.A.E. ($100 million), Germany ($100 million), the U.K. ($75 million), the U.S. ($24.5 million), and Japan ($10 million). Many more heads of state are expected to announce pledges in the coming days. Countries also concluded a year-long set of meetings with an agreement on the basic parameters of the fund during today’s opening session.
• U.S pledge: During the series of high-level statements from national leaders, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund and highlighted the $9.5 billion in U.S. contributions to international climate finance as of 2023. For more on high-level statements, see Around the World.
• Accelerating the energy transition: To help prevent warming from surpassing 2°C (3.6°F), developing nations require access to capital to finance their own renewable energy transitions. At an event hosted by the U.S. Center, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry shared updates on the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), which was announced at COP27 to address that issue. Kerry announced that the ETA will be fully operational by Earth Day 2024. It could mobilize up to $200 billion in total energy transition finance for developing countries by 2035. The financing platform will also channel 5% of credits generated from renewable energy into funds for adaptation.
• Investing in women in the workforce: The U.S. announced a $1.4 billion investment in the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) initiative, which aims to help improve women’s participation and leadership in green and blue economies around the world. WISE was launched earlier this year by Vice President Kamala Harris.
• De-risking private finance: At a U.S. Center event hosted by USAID and the Department of State, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry announced Blended Finance for the Energy Transition (BFET) grant recipients. The BFET program awards grant funding to the private sector with the goal of de-risking private investment in solar, wind, and green grid connectivity. Grants were awarded to the India-based Eversource Climate Investment Partners II and to Switzerland-based responsAbility Investments AG. BFET aims to secure a total of $1.4 billion in green investments, half from private capital. 
• Developments in nuclear: Two announcements were made at a U.S. Center event on the global deployment of nuclear energy. First, Export-Import Bank (EXIM) Chair Reta Jo Lewis announced the approval of a resolution to help fund exports of U.S.-made small modular reactor systems, with the goal of boosting the competitiveness of U.S. exporters. Not to be outdone, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins announced that the U.S. and its fellow members of the “Sapporo 5” (Canada, Japan, the U.K., and France) collectively intend to invest at least $4.2 billion towards increasing uranium production capacity and providing reliable nuclear fuel supplies to U.S. allies. Of this funding, $700 million is set to come from the Inflation Reduction Act. The Biden-Harris Administration anticipates this initial injection will encourage investments from the private sector.
• Aligning climate and development: An event at the U.S. Center featured the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and ministers from Malawi, Indonesia, and Nepal, all countries that have received large, five-year grants (compacts) from MCC. President Osmani shared that Kosovo has just submitted their first voluntary NDC. She also highlighted that MCC’s recent investment is “the most transformative energy investment in Kosovo in decades.” Until recently, the majority of Kosovo’s energy came from coal. MCC funding from the U.S. will support transitioning away from coal, deploying energy storage, and training the workforce, especially women.
• Catalyzing green investment: At a U.S. Center event, “Mobilizing and Localizing Climate Finance,” Samantha Power, USAID administrator, shared information on the 2024 launch of the Green Guarantee Company, which she called “the first privately-run guarantee company devoted to green bonds and loans in developing countries.” The initial investment of $100 million, which includes U.S. government funding, is expected to catalyze $1 billion in new investment for climate adaptation and mitigation in the least developed countries. Power also announced the first three of five grants to be made to insurance technology companies to develop climate solutions: Floodbase, Blue Marvel, and WTW.

 

Education

• U.N. General Assembly | President Dennis Francis announced the first-ever U.N. Sustainability Week, to be held in New York City in April 2024.

 

Emission reductions

• U.S. leadership in methane reduction: On Saturday, the U.S. and China, alongside the U.A.E., hosted a joint Summit on Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases and  announced over $1 billion in new grant funding. At an event hosted by the U.S. Center on Sunday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced that the EPA released rigorous final technology standards for reduced methane emissions from the oil and gas sector under the agency’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program. These standards will prevent an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038, amounting to an almost 80% reduction. Net climate benefits of the standards will total $98 billion.
• Measure what matters: Experts from NASA, the EPA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and NOAA gathered at a U.S. Center event to champion developments in open-source data on greenhouse gas emissions to support climate change mitigation. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced the launch of the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center. This new resource—built through interagency collaboration—showcases data in three key areas: anthropogenic emissions, naturally-occurring fluxes in emissions, and methane leaks.

 

U.S. Administration and Agency announcements

 

White House

• Youth send a message: At a U.S. Center event on youth voices in climate action, CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory announced the first-ever U.S. Ocean Justice Strategy, a plan to ensure equity and environmental justice are part of federal ocean and Great Lakes activities. Building on the announcement, a panel of young speakers stressed the importance of action over words, calling for improved public school education on climate, a fossil fuel phaseout, and greater opportunity for young people to engage on climate issues.

 

Department of State

• Women climate entrepreneurs: The Department of State and the Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurship (CCE), a public-private partnership launched at COP26, held a pitch event at the U.S. Center showcasing early-stage climate solutions developed by female entrepreneurs. Four women took the stage to represent the following companies: The Surpluss, a platform that guides sustainability partnerships based on synergies between local governments and businesses; MENSAPO, a start-up that specializes in advanced modular recycling technology that can transform organic waste into reusable resources; Forest Hero, a data analysis platform that facilitates responsible reforestation and carbon offsetting; and ClimaCrew, a company enhancing marine resilience and economic opportunity through the seaweed sector in India. The judges selected Forest Hero Founder Dana Shukirbayeva to receive funding and other support from CCE.

 

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Adaptation finance in action: At the U.S. Center’s event “Accelerating Adaptation Investment: Enhancing and Activating the Role of Different Actors,” hosted by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and ClimateWorks Foundation, moderator Aparna Shrivastava, deputy chief climate officer of DFC, highlighted the yearly need for between $200 billion and $380 billion in adaptation finance. Although adaptation finance is at an all-time high of over $60 billion each year, it is not sufficient, and funding streams need to go beyond just the public sector. Speaker Candace Vahlsing, senior policy advisor for climate at USAID, announced that six winners have been selected for USAID’s Adaptation Finance Window grant program, which aims to help mobilize private sector investment in adaptation.
• $20 billion for climate action: A significant private sector investment was announced today with the signing of a new partnership under the Comprehensive Action for Climate Change Initiative (CACCI). CACCI is a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) program that was launched at COP26 to provide technical and financial support specifically for African nations, but has since expanded in response to global demand. At today’s event, leaders from Genesis Energy and BG Titan Group pledged $10 billion dollars each to support sustainable projects in developing nations.

 

United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA)

• Institutions investing in climate: At a U.S. Center event on the importance of institutional investors as partners in climate and energy projects, stakeholders announced a new strategic partnership agreement between the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the Investor Leadership Network, a coalition that oversees $10 trillion in assets. The USTDA will help provide project preparation guidance, with a focus on mobilizing capital for high-impact, commercially viable clean energy, sustainable infrastructure, and critical minerals projects in developing and emerging economies.

 

 

International declarations and announcements that do not involve the United States, U.S. states, or U.S. cities

 

Adaptation and resilience

• Extreme heat: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headlined an event at the Resilience Hub on women-led solutions to extreme heat. Clinton underscored the urgency of these solutions by pointing out that 61,000 people in Europe died from extreme heat during the summer of 2022, and noted that most other regions of the world do not track heat deaths. At the event, the Asian Development Bank launched a new technical assistance program on women and heat stress, which will initially serve Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tajikistan. Throughout the event, speakers highlighted the disproportionate climate risks that face women who work in factories, agriculture, and the informal sector.

 

Clean energy

• Belgium | Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced that Belgium has ended direct public finance for fossil fuels, and noted that the country’s North Sea wind turbines will produce enough energy by 2030 to cover the electricity consumption of five million households.
• Cote d’Ivoire | Vice President Tiemoko Meyliet Koné called for the mobilization of more resources from the Green Climate Fund and other partners for adaptation and energy transition investments in African countries. He cited Cote d’Ivoire’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to 42% by 2030.
• Overhauling the agri-food and health systems: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the U.A.E. launched the Empowering Lives and Livelihoods – Renewables for Climate Action initiative, which aims to harness renewable energy solutions to transform the agri-food and health sectors. IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera stated that this new initiative will “provide an opportunity to simultaneously advance both energy and food security, while contributing to job creation, gender equality and climate action.”

 

Climate finance

• Loss and damage: The brand new Loss and Damage Fund received additional financial commitments today, as Italy and France each announced investments of €100 million ($108.9 million).
• Spain | Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged to increase his country’s contribution to the new Loss and Damage Fund by €20 million ($21.7 million).
• U.A.E. | Deputy Vice President Sheikh Mansour announced the creation of a fund worth $30 billion to support climate action.
• High-income island nations left out: Ministers and prime ministers from higher-income small island states spoke out at a high-level side event on climate finance, citing that their higher-income statuses have—despite their small economies—ultimately barred them from access to much-needed climate finance. To support these small, climate-vulnerable island nations, the Asian Development Bank has announced a new financing initiative that will make loans available to these countries at a 1% interest rate.
• Norway | Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre shared that Norway met its goal last year of doubling its climate finance payments, with a contribution of kr15.5 billion ($1.5 billion), and announced the nation’s commitment to triple its contribution to adaptation finance by 2026.
• Singapore | Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean announced that the country will raise its carbon emissions tax to $19 per ton in 2024 and up to $37-$60 per ton by 2030, which would make it one of the highest such taxes in Asia. He also announced the launch of the Asia-focused blended finance initiative, Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership, which aims to mobilize $5 billion for “green and transition projects.”
• Mobilizing for methane: At the Methane Ministerial, Special Envoy John Kerry said tackling methane emissions is the “fastest, simplest, least expensive, most efficient way of being able to rapidly reduce emissions on the planet.” The ministerial also featured an announcement that almost €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) from the European Investment Bank will go towards international methane abatement.
• Closing the climate adaptation finance gap: The United Nations Industrial Development Organization and its Global Environment Facility (GEF) have partnered on a project designed to bolster private sector investment in climate adaptation and resilience. This project will draw from the insights attained by the 19 winners of the GEF’s Challenge Program for Adaptation Innovation, which provides seed money to projects that demonstrate innovative climate adaptation solutions for the countries most vulnerable to climate impacts.
• Australia mobilizes climate funding: Australia pledged $100 million to the Pacific Resilience Facility and $50 million to the Green Climate Fund. The latter marks Australia’s official return to the Green Climate Fund after withdrawing in 2018 under the previous prime minister. Both pledges had been announced at the Pacific Islands Forum last month, but the amounts were not specified until yesterday.

 

Emission reductions

• Japan | Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to end new construction of domestic, unabated coal power plants.
• Slovakia | President Zuzana Čaputová announced that the country will end coal-powered electricity production by the end of 2023 and phase it out of all heat generation by 2026.
• E.U. positions: An E.U. press conference offered updates on ongoing negotiations. Valvanera Ulargui, representing the Spanish Presidency of the E.U. Council, shared the E.U.’s priorities for the negotiations: clear language on a fossil fuel phaseout, an end to new coal production, the use of abatement technologies primarily as a supplement to a fossil fuel phaseout, a strong focus on adaptation, aligning financial flows with Paris Agreement goals, and mobilizing private sector finance.
• Global methane fight growing stronger: At a U.S.-China summit on Saturday, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan pledged to join over 150 nations in curbing methane pollution, according to U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Rick Duke. Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are respectively the fourth and twelfth largest emitters of oil- and gas-related methane. The Global Methane Pledge was launched at COP26 by President Joe Biden and other world leaders.

 

Declarations and announcements that include U.S. cities, states, and/or the private sector but not the federal government

 

Adaptation and resilience

• Accelerating early warnings: Kaushik Sethuraman, head of programs for Meta’s Central Social Impact Group, announced the company’s plans to expand an early-warning alert pilot program on Facebook. The program is currently operating in four countries and will expand to over 30 countries in 2024. It aims to deliver weather alerts to Facebook users and help them share information with friends and family. The U.N.’s Early Warnings for All initiative aims to ensure everyone is protected by an early-warning system by 2027. Only 52% of countries have multi-hazard early-warning systems, with gaps most common in Africa, Small Island Developing States, and Least Developed Countries.
• Philanthropy and adaptation: Eleven philanthropic organizations signed a call to action to increase climate adaptation and resilience work. They promised to accelerate and scale up investment by collaborating with each other, coordinating strategies, engaging non-philanthropic actors, and providing transparency on processes. The call to action cited the 2023 UNEP Adaptation Gap Report, which finds that current international public financing only covers 10% of low-income countries’ yearly adaptation needs.

 

Emission reductions

• Utilities join the global climate fight: A group of 25 global utilities and power companies launched the Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA), to be led by the International Renewable Energy Agency and the U.N. Climate Change High-Level Champions. The Alliance marks a first-of-its-kind commitment to achieve net-zero sectoral emissions by 2050 through electrification and clean energy deployment, including preparing the energy grid for renewables. UNEZA will focus on mobilizing finance, securing supply chains, building a skilled workforce, and working with lawmakers and regulators.
• Local Climate Action Summit: The two-day Local Climate Action Summit concluded on Saturday. The sessions covered a wide range of topics from adaptation and climate finance to multi-level governance and methane. COP28 delegates from more than 60 countries participated in the proceedings, including more than 250 mayors and governors. Mayors from 25 U.S. states and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham represented the U.S. over the course of the summit. As part of the event, the COP28 Presidency kicked off the Coalition for High Ambition Multi-Level Partnerships (CHAMP). The initiative is designed to involve state and local governments in the development of the next round of NDCs. At the time of the launch, 63 countries had endorsed CHAMP. Bloomberg Philanthropies also put out a report as a part of the summit, Paris to Dubai: Local Climate Leadership in Action.

 

Vehicles

• On board for clean transportation: A COP28 Presidency press conference provided updates on the Call to Action to double the share of energy efficient and fossil-free land transportation by 2030. The letter has been signed by more than 50 multi-sector organizations, and Chile and Colombia also signed on today. The Call to Action was organized by the Partnership for Sustainable Low Carbon Transport and REN 21, in partnership with the International Union of Railways, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, the International Association of Public Transport, the World Resources Institute, and others.