COP28 Dispatch

What Congress Needs to Know from Dubai

Welcome! Today is the start of the World Climate Action Summit.

Expo City was buzzing today in Dubai. COP28 is now in full swing with negotiations underway, pavilions bursting at the seams with tens of thousands of event participants, and meetings in every nook of the expansive venue. Together, the World Climate Action Summit and the Local Climate Action Summit featured leaders from almost every country, showcasing their commitments to climate action. In his remarks at the World Climate Action Summit, Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres called for “a phase out of fossil fuels with a clear time frame aligned with 1.5°C.”

If you are in Dubai, catch up with EESI President Daniel Bresette and Policy Manager Anna McGinn! To connect, email Anna at [email protected]. You can also visit our booth in area 95 between B5 and B6. We are booth number 43.

Miss yesterday’s edition? Check it out here. We are also compiling key COP28 announcements and reports throughout the conference—check back for updates.

Confused by COP terminology and acronyms? Check out EESI's glossary of terms and other helpful guides in the Resources section!

Key Takeaways for Congress

Negotiators met for most of the agenda items, including the global stocktake. (Negotiations)
Heads of state from Japan, Slovakia, Spain, and the U.A.E. delivered substantial pledges in parallel with the World Climate Action Summit. (Around the World)
The first Local Climate Action Summit gathered local and regional actors and government representatives to give them a formal voice at COP. (Around the World)

Negotiations

Negotiations on long-term climate finance. Credit: IISD Earth
Negotiations Bulletin

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).
- EESI Briefing: Climate Change Loss and Damage

Underway: The negotiations kicked off in earnest late Thursday evening with countries meeting on the global stocktake. Today, negotiators met for most of the items on the agenda, including the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, the work program on just transition pathways, climate action on agriculture and food security, and climate finance.
- EESI Briefing: What’s on the Table for the Negotiations

U.S. Updates

Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir speaks about the nexus
of war and climate change and her efforts to promote gender equality
in policy-making. Also pictured (from left): Presidential German State
Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action Jennifer
Morgan, Munich Security Conference Chairman Christoph Heusgen,
Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry,
and Center on Global Energy Policy Founding Director and
Columbia University Professor Jason Bordoff. Credit: EESI

Climate change contributes to conflict, and vice-versa: “Wait until you see what happens when the full measure of the climate crisis hits,” said U.S. Envoy for Climate John Kerry about the geopolitical turmoil happening around the world. The fact that climate change is a “threat multiplier” complicating national security is well-documented, explained Kerry and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at an event hosted by the Munich Security Conference. Russia’s aggressive weaponization of energy resources and the accelerated warming in the Arctic are among several emerging security risks that are increasingly worrisome to NATO member nations. Conflict also undermines the trust between countries necessary to address climate change, explained Stoltenberg, which puts added strain on diplomatic efforts to cooperate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Our Ocean: U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis shared their vision for the 2024 Our Ocean Conference set to be held in Athens in April 2024. Since the first such conference in 2016, countries and civil society have made more than 2,100 commitments related to the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 on ocean sustainability. Greece controls a significant share of the world’s shipping industry and plans to prioritize green shipping and establish marine protected areas during the upcoming summit.
- EESI Issue Brief: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation at U.S. Ports

Around the World

From left: EESI President Daniel Bresette, Woodwell Climate
President & CEO R. Max Holmes, and President Special Envoy
for New Climate Economy in the D.R.C. Stéphanie Mbombo at a
Woodwell Climate Event. Credit: EESI

World leaders speak up: Heads of state delivered statements in parallel with the opening of the World Climate Action Summit. Many leaders touted progress in meeting or surpassing their NDCs, while others from developing nations called for additional and accessible funding to help meet domestic climate adaptation and mitigation goals. Key announcements included:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.

Subnational climate action: The first Local Climate Action Summit gathered local and regional actors and government representatives to give them a formal voice at COP. Speakers at the event emphasized that transformative climate action cannot occur without local leadership. As “first-responders” to climate challenges, cities require resources for building climate resilience. Notably, the mayors of Bogotá, Colombia, and Makati, Philippines, called on multilateral development banks to remove bureaucratic barriers to funding, to distribute financing in local currency for increased loan transparency, and to fund city-level projects, which tend to be smaller and hold less risk for banks.

Loss and damage, 10 years later: At the UNFCCC event, “Loss and Damage in Focus: 10 Years of the Warsaw International Mechanism,” experts from the U.N., government, and nonprofits discussed the significance of loss and damage funding. Speakers celebrated this week’s operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, while emphasizing the importance of including factors like health, gender, youth, and climate migration into the fund’s work. Speakers also highlighted the need to take a moral, human-rights based approach to the fund’s work, giving voice to those who are unheard, and getting capital in the hands of those who need it the most.
- EESI Briefing: Climate Change Loss and Damage

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.

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.
- EESI Article: “Looking to COP28, Here’s Where Key Past COP Announcements Stand”

Challenges for developing countries: At an event hosted by Bolivia and the Third World Network, panelists from developing countries, including Ecuador and India, discussed climate diplomacy challenges. Thiagarajan Jayaraman at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in India spoke of mistrust and double standards between industrialized and developing nations. “With the United States of America, the signature does not mean much because every time they have an election, the rest of the world is wondering whether they are still going to be in the agreement or they are going to leave it,” said Jayaraman. “[But] nobody talks [about that] as a climate governance problem. ‘Governance problem’ is [a developing] country [problem].”

Mapping out a more resilient Caribbean: The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) launched its Climate Smart Map initiative at an event hosted in partnership with Island Innovation, a global network of islands. The Climate Smart Map is a data analysis tool designed to enable leaders in the Caribbean—an area that is highly vulnerable to climate impacts—to make well-informed decisions to enhance resilience and sustainability. Datasets incorporated into the CCSA’s interactive map include climate risk, climate readiness, climate vulnerability, and governance.

Developing carbon markets in Africa: Greater transparency in carbon markets is needed for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.) to take advantage of sustainable economic development opportunities. At an event hosted by the Woodwell Climate Research Center, President Special Envoy for New Climate Economy in the D.R.C. Stéphanie Mbombo spoke about the importance of giving the people of the D.R.C. a viable option to prevent runaway deforestation and damaging resource extraction. Carbon markets, she argued, would help monetize climate-friendly soil and forest sequestration. Also presenting at the event were Woodwell President and CEO R. Max Holmes, who addressed the state of carbon markets, and EESI President Daniel Bresette, who discussed the U.S. Congress’s role at COP and why it matters.

Other News

For EESI, we are proud to bring COP28 updates to Congress in
collaboration with our great partners—familiar and new. Credit: EESI

WE CAN achieve zero emissions, for real: In a new report, The Need for Real Zero Not Net Zero: Shifting from False Solutions to Real Solutions and a Just Transition, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International illuminates the link between net-nero pledges and artificial solutions. According to its current parameters, the “net zero” label enables governments and industries to greenwash and procrastinate on their climate commitments while sometimes relying on unreliable technology, which all leads to increasing hardship in low-income and frontline communities. The report recommends a “real zero” approach that aims to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.

The power of mangroves and coral: At a Nature-Positive pavilion event, Steven Victor, Palau’s minister of agriculture, fisheries, and environment, emphasized the importance of including ocean health in NDCs and national adaptation plans. The event also highlighted progress made so far on the Mangrove Breakthrough (launched at COP27) and the Coral Reef Breakthrough (launched in October 2023), which were designed to garner funding commitments to support these ecosystems. The Coral Reef Breakthrough aims to raise $500 million by 2023, and representatives announced today that they have already mobilized $200 million.

Shifting climate finance flows: At an International Development Finance Club (IDFC) side event, speakers from IDFC and the Climate Policy Initiative explained that while global climate finance flows have reached a record high of almost $1.3 trillion, funding still lags behind the $9 trillion required by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F). Redirecting fossil fuel subsidies, increasing funding for adaptation projects, and lending with lower interest rates are some of the ways to improve and increase climate financing. The IDFC Green Finance Mapping Report 2023 dives deeper into the current state of climate finance.
- EESI Resources: Congress and International Climate Finance (briefing); “It’s Time for World Leaders to Put Their Subsidies Where Their Climate Goals Are” (podcast)

NDCs in action: In a conversation with Nick Nutall of the organization We Don’t Have Time, Cassie Flynn, global director of climate change at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), discussed NDCs as “stable signals for investments,” because the private sector can choose to align its decision-making with country pledges. Flynn cited that “first-generation” 2015 NDCs would have led to 3.5°C (6.3°F) of warming, but the 2020 NDCs would lead to only 2.5°C (4.5°F) of warming. To Flynn, this change can give us hope that countries can increase ambition in their 2025 NDCs and potentially “shave off” another degree of warming.

Uplifting traditional knowledge for island resilience: A side event at the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion explored how traditional knowledge strengthens community resilience, with an emphasis on Indigenous communities of the Pacific Islands. Kelihiano Kalolo, the Ulu o Tokelau (head of government) and minister of climate change of Tokelau, a New Zealand territory, described how the people of Tokelau build climate adaptation based on the interactions of different ecosystems and elements around them. A Tokelau legal officer further explained that traditional approaches to environmental observations, weather forecasting, water management, fishing, and agriculture are practiced in conjunction with technology to bolster sustainability and resilience.

Waste at stake: With this year’s COP hosting the first-ever waste and resources pavilion, International Solid Waste Association President Carlos Silva Filho emphasized the “significant link” between improved waste management and climate change mitigation—particularly, methane emissions reduction. At a side event on the role of the waste sector in achieving the Global Methane Pledge, Filho highlighted a recent Waste Management World article that argued against the perception that waste management can’t substantially contribute to emissions reduction. He called for a circular approach to protect the environment and the most vulnerable people.
- EESI briefing: Reducing Emissions by Reducing Food Waste

Resources

EESI resources

Article series: Quick reads connecting international climate talks to Congress
Briefing series: What Congress Needs to Know About COP28
- Congress and International Climate Finance
- What's on the Table for the Negotiations?
- The First Global Stocktake
Climate Change Solutions: Bi-weekly newsletter covering climate, energy, and environmental issues
COP28 Announcement Tracker: Key Announcements from the 2023 U.N. Climate Summit
COP28 Report Tracker: Key Climate Reports Launched at the 2023 U.N. Climate Summit
U.S. Leaders at COP28: Updates on Members of Congress and Other U.S. Officials at the 2023 U.N. Climate Summit
EESI's United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Glossary of Terms

Tracking the negotiations

CarbonBrief: Reporting and analysis on the U.N. climate talks, with in-depth tracking of country positions in the negotiations
COP28 Resource Hub: World Resources Institute's extensive set of resources on the climate negotiations
Earth Negotiations Bulletin: A play-by-play of the negotiations, plus expert analysis from the International Institute for Sustainable Development
ECO Newsletter: The climate advocate’s perspective from Climate Action Network International

Background and logistics

U.A.E. COP28 Presidency website: Priorities, details, and logistics for the negotiations from this year’s host country
UNFCCC COP28 website: Conference details and all updates on documents produced during the negotiations
Congressional Research Service: Reports related to the UNFCCC

Questions about COP28?

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

Thanks for reading!

This newsletter covering COP28 will be running from November 30 to December 12.
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Staff contributors: Daniel Bresette, Molly Brind’Amour, Alison Davis, Amaury Laporte, Anna McGinn, and Nicole Pouy

About EESI

EESI is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing science-based solutions for climate change, energy, and environmental challenges to achieve a sustainable, resilient, and equitable world. Founded on a bipartisan basis by members of Congress, EESI has been informing policymakers about the benefits of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and environmental conservation since 1984.

CFC #10627