COP27 Dispatch - November 17, 2022

View this newsletter online Subscribe Review EESI Welcome! Today is solutions day at COP27. Today, solutions day, is the final thematic day of COP27. The next few days will be devoted to resolving the many challenges that remain in the negotiating rooms (see Negotiations section). While COP27 is supposed to close tomorrow, the ongoing negotiations mean that the conference will likely continue into the weekend. COP27 Dispatch will be publishing a newsletter issue tomorrow and a special wrap-up issue on Monday to summarize the main conclusions. EESI will also host a Congressional briefing on Friday, December 2, to examine the outcomes of COP27 in more detail and what it all means for Congress. RSVP for the briefing here.   Missed yesterday’s issue? Check it out here! Also, explore EESI's glossary of terms and other helpful guides in the Resources section.

Negotiators report that many roadblocks remain in the negotiating rooms, especially on finding a consensus on loss and damage finance. (Negotiations)   The U.S. officially launched the Net-Zero Government Initiative, which includes 18 national governments from around the world. (U.S. Updates)   There are now 150 countries that have signed onto the Global Methane Pledge. (Around the World) Sections   Negotiations  |  U.S. Updates  |  Around the World  |  Other News  |  Resources Negotiators take a moment to celebrate after agreeing on the operationalization of the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage. Credit: Loss and Damage Collaboration Twitter Feed COP27 Presidency: COP27 President Sameh Shoukry and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres provided brief remarks together in an effort to motivate negotiators. Shoukry said of the current status of the negotiations: “the Mitigation Work Programme is yet to reach the desired outcome, adaptation is still held back by procedural matters, ambitious outcomes on finance have not yet materialized, and on loss and damage parties are shying away from taking the difficult political decisions.” Important to note is that while the UNFCCC process is entirely driven by the member countries, the Presidency’s vision and guardrails do play an important role in shaping the outcomes of each COP. There are concerns among both observers and negotiators that the Egyptian COP27 Presidency has not provided clear vision for COP27, and this is contributing to the lack of progress on many negotiating fronts.    Expectations for COP27 outcomes: World Wildlife Fund International’s Global Policy Lead for Climate and Energy Practice Fernanda Carvalho explained the status of the negotiations in a press conference today. She described that a main goal of COP27 is to make progress on issues that will set up future negotiations for successful conclusions. For example, the Global Goal on Adaptation and the first Global Stocktake will conclude at COP28 and the new goal on climate finance should be decided on at COP29. For COP27, in addition to a strong outcome on the Mitigation Work Programme mandated by COP26, she also highlighted two other important hoped-for outcomes: a finance facility for loss and damage and a cover decision that increases ambition and builds upon past cover decisions, which she reported is not on track at the moment. ► EESI Briefing: What’s on the Table for the Negotiations? Loss and damage finance inaction: Representatives from the G77 and China, AOSIS, LDCs, and the Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean hosted a press conference sharing their concerns about the lack of progress in the negotiations on establishing a loss and damage finance facility. Pakistan Minister of Climate Change Sherry Rehman, who is representing the G77 and China group, emphasized that there needs to be at least a political announcement of intent to establish a facility for loss and damage finance. However, she said that this is not happening in the negotiations. “We see this as a climate justice issue,” Rehman said. “If it keeps getting kicked down the road, it will be a justice-denied issue. Vulnerability cannot be a death sentence.” ► EESI Briefing: Climate Change Loss and Damage E.U. press conference: Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans said that the COP27 Presidency has shared a bulleted document compiling views for the cover decision, but it is not a draft on which countries can find consensus. On loss and damage finance, Timmermans said that the E.U. is open to a proposal, but they have issues with the proposal submitted by the G77 and China, which defines a developing country by 1992 standards rather than a country’s current level of development. Timmermans said that there needs to be a fair system where every country that can contribute does contribute and where countries that most need financing get it. Overall, Timmermans stressed the urgency of the situation: “We have 48 hours left in principle. We need to start looking for political common ground as soon as possible.”   Technical assistance for loss and damage: While countries are wrestling with the loss and damage finance negotiations, negotiators did agree on how to fully operationalize the Santiago Network yesterday, which is a significant step forward on loss and damage. The Santiago Network was created in 2019 to provide technical assistance “for the implementation of relevant approaches for averting, minimizing, and addressing loss and damage” at all scales in developing countries, according to the UNFCCC website.   Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Brenda Mallory speaking at the U.S. Center. Credit: U.S. Center Net-Zero Government Initiative: At a U.S. Center event, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Brenda Mallory launched the Net-Zero Government Initiative to “show the leadership role of governments in catalyzing climate action.” In addition to the U.S., there are 17 countries in the initiative: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and the U.K. The initiative has three goals: 1) achieving net-zero emissions from national government operations by no later than 2050; 2) developing a roadmap by COP28 that outlines the pathway for achieving this goal, including interim targets; and 3) publishing that roadmap.   Early warning for early action: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced two new investments today to support both the deployment of early warning systems and to work to improve early action—how communities receive and act upon early warnings. USAID will support 20 African countries, small island states, and least developed countries to install early warning systems with an initial investment of $33 million, which could be increased to $75 million. To help communities use the information, USAID will provide small grants with up to $200 million in total funding through the Climate Smart and Disaster Ready Program. The State Department will complement these efforts by providing $50 million to support weather services in Africa and $13.6 million to the Systematic Observations Financing Facility to fill data gaps on weather, water, and climate information.   Protecting forests: At COP26, the U.S. announced a decade-long plan to conserve global forests. By 2030, the U.S. expects to provide up to $9 billion in international climate funding to carry out the plan. A newly updated and more ambitious plan was released at COP27 with the goal of restoring at least 200 million additional hectares of forest by 2030. The State Department also outlined progress that has been made so far. ► EESI Briefing: Natural Climate Solutions   Managing Director of the Dutch Cycling Embassy Lucas Harms (left) and the Netherlands Minister for the Environment Vivianne Heijnen (right) pose with bikes. Credit: Dutch Cycling Embassy Twitter Feed Global Methane Pledge: Leaders, including those from Egypt, the E.U., France, the U.N., and the U.S., attended a ministerial meeting focused on reducing methane emissions through the Global Methane Pledge. China’s Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs Xie Zhenhua made a surprise appearance to share his country’s plans to reduce methane emissions, but he did not indicate that China was joining the Global Methane Pledge. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry announced that 150 countries have signed onto the pledge. It was also announced that there are two new pathways in the pledge, focusing on methane emissions from waste and agriculture. ► EESI Article: “Addressing Methane Is Critical for Fighting Climate Crisis” Zero-emission vehicles: The COP26 U.K. Presidency made a number of announcements to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). The Presidency launched the Accelerating to Zero Coalition platform, connecting the world’s leading organizations and companies on zero-emission transportation. They also announced there are now a total of 214 signatories to the ZEV Declaration up from the initial 130 signatories at COP26. The Declaration commits signatory countries, cities, and companies to all-ZEV sales by 2035 for leading markets and by 2040 globally. ► EESI Article: “International Collaborations and Commitments on Zero-Emission Vehicles at COP26 and Beyond: A Q&A with British Climate Attaché Reem Yusuf” Active mobility: The Netherlands Minister for the Environment Vivianne Heijnen signed an agreement to improve active mobility in developing countries. The initiative will train 10,000 people, including urban planners, to become active mobility experts improving cycling and walking infrastructure around the world. Heijnen stated: “Investing in active mobility makes sense. The returns are a healthier population and less congested, more livable and sustainable cities.” ► EESI Article: “Q&A: The Dutch Lead the Way in Cycling, Here Are Some Tips for the U.S.”   Message to delegates at COP27. Credit: Environmental and Energy Study Institute Global climate action: The Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action is designed to bring together national governments with subnational governments, businesses, investors, and NGOs to work towards the goals established under the Paris Agreement. This effort, led by the UNFCCC High-Level Climate Champions, creates and supports partnerships, coalitions, and reports to advance climate adaptation and mitigation. Today’s High-Level Event closing ceremony highlighted that COP27 is the halfway point between when the Paris Agreement was adopted and 2030. It also focused on envisioning what a future looks like in which Paris targets are met.    Urban climate action: The COP27 Presidency convened the first Urbanization and Climate Ministerial bringing together mayors and ministers to discuss the issues facing cities. During the meeting, the Presidency announced the Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation initiative to accelerate urban climate actions through five tracks: buildings and housing, energy, waste and consumption, mobility, and water.   Urban mobility: The COP27 Presidency launched the Low Carbon Transport for Urban Sustainability initiative to tackle five issues to improve urban mobility, including the mobility financing gap, weak mobility policies, and the lack of alignment between mobility and broader climate goals. The initiative aims to scale up electric vehicles, invest in transportation, and build capacity to develop mobility frameworks in low- and middle-income countries. ► EESI Article: "Off the Rails: How America Can Revitalize Its Railroads" Global Peatlands Assessment: A new report launched by the U.N. Environment Programme and the Global Peatlands Initiative catalogs the current location and condition of peatland ecosystems. As described in the summary of the report, “Peatlands are unique and rare ecosystems that, despite only covering around 3-4% of the planet’s land surface, they contain up to one-third of the world’s soil carbon, which is twice the amount of carbon as found in the world’s forests. Keeping this carbon locked away is absolutely critical to achieving global climate goals.” There are 158 million hectares of peatlands across Canada and the United States, with fewer than 20% of them in protected areas.   1,000+ solutions: The Solar Impulse Foundation has built a Solutions Explorer that provides information on over 1,000 climate solutions, big and small, that could be implemented across different sectors and geographies. For each solution, there is information about what types of companies or organizations could use the solutions, the part of the supply chain it would apply to, where the solution is used today, and the environmental and financial benefits. Solutions include color-optimized solar modules allowing the combination of energy and crop production and a battery for the grid that stores electricity by heating refractory materials. EESI resources Articles: Quick reads connecting international climate talks to Congress Briefing series: What Congress Needs to Know About COP27 Key Findings from the Newest Global Assessment Report on Climate Change Climate Change Loss and Damage Natural Climate Solutions What's on the Table for the Negotiations? Climate Summit Recap: Key Outcomes and What Comes Next 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 U.S. Leaders at COP27: Members of Congress and Other U.S. Officials at the 2022 U.N. Climate Summit 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. If you thought this newsletter was interesting, forward it to someone you know! If you were forwarded this edition, sign up here. 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.