COP27 Dispatch - November 10, 2022 | Newsletter

Welcome! Today is science and youth and future generations day at COP27.

On this two-theme day, science day highlights the numerous landmark scientific reports that have been released this year, and youth and future generations day elevates the voices of young people, led by the official UNFCCC youth constituency YOUNGO.

For the first time this COP, there was a youth-led forum between youth representatives and country negotiators of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the E.U., the G77 and China, and the U.S., allowing young people to provide their input to negotiators.

In a call for global climate action, Sudanese-American poet and U.N. Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador Emi Mahmoud read her poem Di Baladna (Our Land), which is from the perspective of Earth and includes the line: “Child of mine, if you are reading this, I need you. - Your Mother.”

Registered attendees at COP27

How many people are at COP27?: There are almost 46,000 people who registered to attend COP27, and so far, 29,330 people have picked up their badges. Explore COP attendance throughout the years.

If you are in Egypt, catch up with EESI's Executive Director Daniel Bresette and Policy Manager Anna McGinn! To connect, visit us at Booth 14 in Area B or email Anna at [email protected].

Missed yesterday’s issue? Check it out here! Also, be sure to find EESI's glossary of terms and other helpful guides in the Resources section!

Members of Congress started arriving at COP27 today. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is leading a delegation of 13 House members, spoke at multiple events. (Congress)

U.S. state leaders, including Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and the mayors of Greenville, Mississippi, and San Jose, California, joined numerous events. State and local leaders from Maryland and Hawaii also participated. (U.S. Updates)

A report was published highlighting 10 new findings in climate science. (Other News)

Sections

UNFCCC Head of Communications Alexander Saier (left) and Special Representative of the COP27 President Wael Aboulmagd (right) speak at a COP27 Presidency press conference. Credit: UNFCCC

COP27 Presidency updates: At a press conference from the COP27 Presidency, the Special Representative of the COP27 President, Ambassador Wael Aboulmagd, stated “a first-draft decision text for the mitigation work programme is being released as we speak.” Aboulmagd added that there will be a meeting of heads of delegations Saturday morning to receive inputs on the cover decisions—the high-level documents that countries may develop and adopt as part of the outcome of the negotiations to demonstrate their shared commitment to addressing climate change. He also noted that there was a high-level ministerial dialogue yesterday on the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance for post-2025 climate finance targets. Finally, Aboulmagd stated that negotiators are “making progress” on technical details of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which is related to carbon markets.

► EESI Briefing: What’s on the Table for the Negotiations?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) arrives at the Resilience Hub at COP27 for a panel discussion that also featured Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.). Credit: Environmental and Energy Study Institute

Pelosi in Egypt: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) addressed the disproportionate effects of the climate crisis on women globally and the important role they can play in the climate resilience workforce. She also promoted the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, prospects for future climate action, and her hopes for the negotiations. The panel also included Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.). Pelosi is leading a delegation of 13 House members who also arrived today.

More members at COP: The Senate delegation will be led by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). A GOP delegation, led by Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) and joined by Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-N.C), and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), is expected to arrive tomorrow. A bipartisan delegation led by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) is also expected to arrive soon.

Mayor Errick Simmons of Greenville, Mississippi, speaking at a panel. Credit: Earthday.org

U.S. state leaders: Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb and a panel of state officials from Indiana, Maryland, and Hawaii spoke today about climate action in U.S. states and implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Holcomb, who is a Republican, asked participants to put their party affiliations aside, saying that he sees enormous potential for opportunity, collaboration, and creativity when it comes to the energy transition.

► EESI Article: “What the Inflation Reduction Act Means for U.S. Engagement at COP27”

Cities and nature: At a panel with city leaders from around the world, two U.S. mayors and a city council member discussed how they are employing nature-based solutions. Mayor Errick Simmons of Greenville, Mississippi, discussed the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative and the 66,000 acres of wetlands and floodplains that Greenville will be protecting and restoring to make the region more resilient to extreme drought and other disasters. Kelly King, a city councilor in Maui, Hawaii, laid out the city’s plans for mapping wetlands for restoration. Mayor Sam Liccardo of San Jose, California, discussed strategies to protect water resources and use them efficiently.

► EESI Briefing: Natural Climate Solutions

Urban trees: American Forests showcased its Tree Equity Score tool, which evaluates tree canopies and surface temperatures in cities across the U.S., in addition to considering socio-economic data such as income, employment, and race. American Forests has also developed the Tree Equity Score Analyzer to help cities and municipalities improve their scores. The tool is set to be launched internationally.

► EESI Article: “In a Warming World, Urban Forestry Programs Help Residents Beat the Heat”

U.S. Nuclear Exports: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis announced that two letters of interest have been issued for U.S. nuclear exports to Romania. Lewis also announced EXIM’s support for climate finance has surpassed $176 million in fiscal year 2022.

Reducing health sector emissions: Acting Director of the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Dr. John Balbus, announced that HHS will align procurement efforts with England's National Health Service to reduce emissions from the transport and production of medicines, equipment, and other health products. The healthcare sector is responsible for about 8.5% of emissions in the U.S., and this latest announcement is part of a larger initiative organized by HHS and the White House to reduce the sector’s emissions. More than 100 healthcare organizations have now signed on to this initiative.

UNFCCC High-Level Champion Mahmoud Mohieldin speaking at a resilience event. Credit: UNFCCC

Climate Vulnerability Monitor: The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and V20 Countries (a group of countries with a shared vulnerability to climate change) released the third edition of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor report. The press release states that the report “presents a unique global assessment of the climate change loss and damage entirely updated for consistency with the IPCC’s AR6 [Sixth Assessment Report], with estimated, climate-attributable data for the world presented across three distinct bodies of work (biophysical, health, and economic).”

► EESI Briefing: Climate Change Loss and Damage

Aligning with the Paris Agreement: CVF released another report called the Traffic Light Assessment, which examines how current NDCs align with the Paris Agreement goals. This report is framed around the fact that countries have differing contributions and capacities to adapt to the climate crisis, and takes this into account by calculating country-specific emission allocations that consider GDP and ranking on the Human Development Index. A main conclusion is that the G7 countries, seven of the world’s advanced economies (including the U.S.), would have to cut emissions by 91% below their NDC targets to meet the 1.5°C goal on a fair shares basis.

Mobilizing insurance for climate adaptation: Building on the release earlier in the week of the Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action and UNFCCC High-Level Champion Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin led an action event on accelerating system transformation for resilience. One panel discussed the importance of the insurance industry in adaptation and loss and damage, including by providing a market-driven approach to provide “African solutions for African problems.”

Conference attendees walk through the facilities in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Credit: UNFCCC

10 New Insights in Climate Science: Future Earth, The Earth League, and the World Climate Research Programme have released their latest annual report called 10 New Insights In Climate Science in 2022. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell highlighted one finding of the report: “Adaptation actions are still crucial … but as the report says, the potential to adapt to climate change is not limitless and will not prevent all losses and damages … I therefore applaud parties for getting loss and damage on the agenda here at COP27.” Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Johan Rockström added that “1.6 billion people already today live in vulnerability hotspots, a number that will double in 2050 if we continue burning fossil fuels … that is one-third of the world’s population living in regions that are approaching limitations to adaptation.”

► EESI Briefing: Key Findings from the Newest Global Assessment Report on Climate Change

Protecting nature: The Hispanic Access Foundation released the report 10 Ways Access to Nature Can Bolster Biodiversity, Communities and Climate, highlighting how making nature more accessible can result in a multitude of benefits, including climate change mitigation.

► EESI Article: “Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss: Twin Crises, Interconnected Solutions”

IBM Sustainability Accelerator: The IBM Sustainability Accelerator “is a pro bono social impact program that applies IBM technologies, such as hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence, and an ecosystem of experts to enhance and scale nonprofit and government organization interventions helping populations especially vulnerable to environmental threats including climate change, extreme weather, and pollution.” IBM announced a new cohort of organizations joining the accelerator: the U.N. Development Programme, Sustainable Energy for All, Miyakojima City Government in Japan, Environment Without Borders Foundation, and Net-Zero Atlantic.

Together4Transparency: During the two weeks of COP27, the UNFCCC is elevating events related to transparency under the banner of #Together4Transparency. UNFCCC transparency mechanisms apply to countries’ reporting on climate finance and on their greenhouse gas emissions. As a part of this effort, the IPCC has launched its newest software for countries to calculate their emissions, which includes key updates that will lead to more granular and disaggregated outputs.

Climate finance and debt: Yesterday, the COP27 Presidency unveiled two new initiatives, the Sustainable Debt Coalition and the Reducing the Cost of Green Borrowing, which aim to facilitate access to climate finance and alleviate debt burdens in developing countries.

► EESI Briefing: The Role of International Climate Finance

Active mobility: Active mobility, like walking and cycling, does not receive much attention at COP, though it is an important climate solution. To fill this gap, World Resources Institute Vice President and Regional Director for Europe Stientje van Veldhoven advocated for the creation of a $1 billion Active Mobility Fund designed to provide accessible funding and technical assistance to support walking and cycling projects in cities in low- and middle-income countries.

► EESI Article: “The Dutch Lead the Way in Cycling, Here Are Some Tips for the U.S.”

Insurance industry engagement: The Atlantic Council’s Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, the firm Marsh McLennan, and the Race to Resilience campaign have teamed up to “redefine the role of insurance in global disaster planning.” The effort features examples of innovative insurance models in practice, such as community-based catastrophe insurance and microinsurance. These insurance tools are being implemented around the world from New York City to India.

Fossil fuel lobbyists: Research from Global Witness found that there are 636 people at the conference affiliated with the fossil fuel industry, up from 503 at COP26. The United Arab Emirates, set to host COP28, has by far the most, with 70 fossil fuel lobbyists in their country delegation.

► EESI Fact Sheet: Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels

EESI resources

Articles: Quick reads connecting international climate talks to Congress
Briefing series: What Congress Needs to Know About COP27
Climate Change Solutions: Biweekly newsletter covering climate, energy, and environmental issues
COP27 Announcement Tracker: Key Announcements from the 2022 U.N. Climate Summit
COP27 Report Tracker: Key Climate Reports Launched at the 2022 U.N. Climate Summit
EESI United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Glossary of Terms
Go-to Resources on the Key Themes of COP27 for Week 1 and Week 2

Tracking the negotiations

CarbonBrief: Reporting and analysis on the U.N. Climate Talks, with in-depth tracking of country positions in the negotiations.
COP27 Resource Hub: World Resources Institute's extensive set of resources on the climate negotiations.
Earth Negotiation Bulletin: A play-by-play of the negotiations plus expert analysis from the International Institute for Sustainable Development | @IISD_ENB
ECO Newsletter: The climate advocate’s perspective from Climate Action Network International | @CANIntl

Background and logistics

Egypt COP27 Presidency website: Priorities, details, and logistics for the negotiations | @Cop27P
UNFCCC COP27 website: Conference details and all updates on documents produced during the negotiations | @UNFCCC and @UNFCCCDocuments
Congressional Research Service: Reports related to the UNFCCC
UNFCCC glossary of terms

Questions about COP27?

Reach out to EESI Policy Manager Anna McGinn with your question and we will get back to you or include the information in an upcoming newsletter.

Thanks for reading!

This newsletter covering COP27 will be running from November 7 to November 21.

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Thank you to EESI staff for their contributions: Anna McGinn, Savannah Bertrand, Emma Johnson, and Amaury Laporte

Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Daniel Bresette, Executive Director

EESI is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 1984 by a bipartisan Congressional caucus to provide timely information and develop innovative policy solutions that set us on a cleaner, more secure and sustainable energy path.

COP27 Dispatch - November 10, 2022

Science and Youth and Future Generations Day

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