COP28 Dispatch

What Congress Needs to Know from Dubai

Welcome! Today’s themes at COP28 are finance, trade, gender equality, and accountability.

It is hard to pick just one theme per day when climate change touches so many issues. Today at COP28, leaders have turned toward finance, trade, gender equality, and accountability. One overarching theme among the sessions is that a holistic, community-based, cross-sector approach to tackling adaptation and mitigation from every angle and industry is the best way to ensure climate goals are met quickly and fairly.

EESI held its first of two press conferences to share climate action success stories from the U.S. In case you missed it, check out the video here or read more in Congress at COP28.

If you are in Dubai, catch up with EESI President Daniel Bresette and Policy Manager Anna McGinn! To connect, email Anna at [email protected].

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

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced the launch of the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center, which provides open source emissions data. (U.S. Updates)
The U.S. announced a $1.4 billion investment in the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) initiative. (U.S. Updates)
The 2023 Production Gap Report states that governments are on track to produce 110% more fossil fuels in 2030 than the limit required to prevent further warming of 1.5°C (2.7°F). (Other News)

Negotiations

Climate finance negotiations. Credit: IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis.

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

Fossil fuel phaseout: Jacob Werksman, an E.U. negotiator for the global stocktake, shared that there is alignment among country groups like the E.U., the High Ambition Coalition, and the Alliance of Small Island States on a fossil fuel phaseout. However, as Ulargui (see above) explained, they are in the first stages of negotiating on this and the outcome is not clear. She called on the COP President to be an honest broker when the negotiations do come to a close.
- EESI Overview: Fossil Fuels

Just transition: The work programme on just transition pathways, which held its first annual high-level ministerial round table on Sunday, published a draft negotiating text to be reviewed when parties reconvene in informal consultations. For updates on other negotiating tracks, see the Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s daily report (detailed summary) and highlights (quick overview).

Congress at COP28

EESI held a press conference on Monday to share successes on
climate action in the U.S. within the context of COP28. Pictured
(from left): Daniel Bresette, Paula Glover, Shanna Edberg,
and Prerna Bhat (more details below). Credit: Carrie
Lederer | Carrier Pigeon Productions.

U.S. perspectives on COP28: EESI organized a press conference featuring Alliance to Save Energy President Paula Glover, Hispanic Access Foundation Director of Conservation Programs Shanna Edberg, and Prerna Bhat, a climate policy aide for Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Bhat reflected on her time at COP28 so far and discussed how her experience will inform her work communicating the important climate benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to constituents and the American public in general. Edberg described her focus on equitable climate solutions and the importance of finding ways to express and amplify Latino culture and heritage. Glover highlighted an “efficiency first” approach to lowering energy demand and consumption in the building sector, which facilitates the deployment of cost-effective renewable technology deployment.

U.S. Updates

An Earth Information Center installation showcasing the
interagency effort to provide open-source data on greenhouse
gas emissions. Credit: EESI.

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.

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.
- EESI Podcast: “Hot Today, Hotter Tomorrow: Policy Solutions to the Dangers of Extreme Heat”

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.
- EESI Article: “How Measuring the Differences Between Barrels of Oil Improves Climate Policy”

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.
- EESI Briefing: Congress and International Climate Finance

Whole-of-government approaches: “Our climate investments are sacrosanct to this president… and we’re going to do everything in our power to implement on them now,” explained Shalanda Young, director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), at a U.S. Center event on holistic approaches to incorporating climate change into economic policy. Young was joined by finance ministers from Canada, Denmark, and Uruguay, who detailed economic policies their nations have made to advance climate solutions.

Financing mitigation with the IRA: At an America Is All In event, U.S. Treasury Department Climate Counselor Ethan Zindler touted tax credits within the IRA that are facilitating a clean energy transition in the U.S. Karen Fang, Bank of America’s Global Head of Sustainable Finance, noted that thanks to the IRA, clean energy projects are diversifying, growing larger, and rolling out faster, but warned that remaining supply chain challenges risk bottlenecking and slowing project implementation.
- EESI Briefing: The Latest on the Clean Energy Tax Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act

Resilient supply chains for renewable energy: The challenges of strengthening the global supply chains for solar panels were the topic of a Solar Hub panel, which featured a special address by U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary David Turk. Panelists echoed the concern that insecure and unreliable sourcing for upstream materials and downstream components would seriously jeopardize the goal to triple renewable energy by 2030 that has been adopted by more than 100 governments so far during COP28. DOE and the U.S. solar industry do their best to be collaborative and transparent, explained Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Marootian, consistent with applicable laws and American values. Panelists agreed that socially-minded investors are also pushing solar companies to eliminate forced labor and child labor from the supply chain by working with governments, suppliers, and customers.

Around the World

Gender and Finance Day “family photo” of finance negotiators
from around the world. Credit: IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis.

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.
- EESI Briefing: Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases

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.

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.”

Nature and climate: Ministers from Colombia and Germany co-hosted the ministerial roundtable on nature and climate change. They circulated a letter for ministers to sign calling on the COP28 Presidency and the Subsidiary Body Chairs to integrate the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework into the global stocktake, conserve 30% of wildlife habitat by 2030, and better integrate the UNFCCC’s work with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- EESI Briefing: Natural Climate Solutions

Key support for LDCs: The Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG), an entity created by the UNFCCC negotiating process more than 20 years ago, produces resources and provides technical assistance to support the least developed countries' (LDCs’) climate work. The group just produced the report, Mapping of Available Sources of Finance for Climate Change Adaptation for the Least Developed Countries, which catalogs funding opportunities available to LDCs by funding recipient type, type of need, and project size. The LEG also does substantial work to support LDCs write and implement their national adaptation plans.

COP28 Presidency on Finance Day: Officials from the Presidency were joined by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Co-Chair of the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance Lord Nicholas Stern at a press conference to talk about the critical role of climate finance in the global push to achieve climate commitments. Stern gave an overview of the report, A Climate Finance Framework: Decisive Action to Deliver on the Paris Agreement, which concluded that accomplishing the 2030 climate targets will require a total investment of approximately $2.4 trillion per year directed to emerging markets and developing countries other than China.

Ocean investments: At a U.N. Climate Change side event on ocean and coastal communities, experts across government, ocean, and fishery sectors described significant knowledge gaps that preclude the inclusion of ocean health in NDCs. Further research is needed to support emerging mitigation solutions such as ocean-based carbon removal technologies. Speakers stressed that the inclusion of ocean health in global climate dialogues must also lean on knowledge-gathering from coastal communities, Indigenous peoples, and scientific experts.

Other News

A Clean Air Task Force event tackles methane finance issues.
Credit: EESI.

Please mind the gap: The 2023 Production Gap Report reveals that despite a projected decrease in demand and pledges from governments to reduce production, current policies and rates of fossil fuel production put governments on track to produce 110% more fossil fuels in 2030 than the maximum limit required to prevent further warming of 1.5°C (2.7°F). Anisha Nazareth, one of the report authors, discussed these findings, as well as pathways for governments to close the “production gap,” at a press conference hosted by the nonprofit Climate Emergency Forum.

Finance to reduce methane emissions: The Climate Policy Initiative, a nonprofit research group, published its second analysis of financial flows specifically directed to methane abatement. They found that there is currently about $13.7 billion in methane abatement finance available but that at least $40 billion is needed. The analysis includes a comprehensive look at the wastewater and agriculture sectors, as well as information on the oil and gas sector, though the data was insufficient for a comprehensive analysis.
- EESI Article: “Addressing Methane Emissions Is Critical for Fighting Climate Crisis”

States lead the way: The U.S. Climate Alliance’s new report, All Hands on Deck: Securing America’s Net-Zero Future with State-Led, High-Impact Action, finds that its 25 member states and territories—which represent more than half of the U.S. economy—succeeded in reducing their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 18% between 2005 and 2021, and are on track to cut emissions further to 26% below 2005 levels by 2025.

IPCC’s seventh assessment cycle is underway: The IPCC held a side event highlighting key findings from its Sixth Assessment Report, completed in March 2023, and sharing the outlook for the seventh assessment cycle, which is already underway. IPCC Chair Jim Skea identified three key themes for the current cycle: policy relevance and consistent engagement with the UNFCCC; enhanced collaboration between the three IPCC working groups, and a holistic approach to interconnected crises like biodiversity and pollution; and inclusivity, with an emphasis on gender balance, input from younger scientists, and higher country representation.
- EESI Briefing: Key Findings from the Newest Global Assessment Report on Climate Change

Displaced people taking action: At a side event hosted by several U.N. agencies and humanitarian organizations, speakers with lived experience of displacement shared their stories and discussed the importance of centering displaced people in creating solutions to climate problems. “Displaced people are also experts in their own way, and we need that expertise to be able to address their needs, or else we’ll find ourselves in the trap of aid that will never end,” explained Joelle Hangi, inclusivity lead at the Global Platform for Action, a U.N.-hosted initiative.

Healing global health systems through collaboration: Outsized emissions from the healthcare system contribute to climate change, which, in turn, negatively impacts human health. At the same time, health facilities often struggle to deal with the spike in services needed during climate-related emergencies, especially when access to electricity becomes unreliable. This matter was discussed in-depth at a U.N. high-level event focused on the transformative power of international partnerships in addressing climate-induced health challenges. Panelists from Pakistan, Somalia, Canada, and others gathered to share the progress made by the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) and other partnerships.

Mangrove breakthrough update: At a Nature Conservancy event, the Global Mangrove Alliance and the U.N. Climate Change High Level-Champions launched the Mangrove Breakthrough Financial Roadmap. The roadmap lays out how tools like microfinance, insurance, blended finance funds, and accelerators can help support mangrove protection and restoration.

Indigenous access to climate finance: The America Is All In Action Center hosted an event on how climate finance can be increased to meet the needs of Indigenous people and local communities. Neema Lekule, gender program coordinator for the Ujamaa Community Resource Team, highlighted that women and youth are among the groups most affected by climate change and emphasized the importance of preserving the ecosystems that many lives depend upon.

Built by women: At the plenary session “Women Building a Climate-Resilient World: An Event with Former Secretary Hillary Clinton,” female leaders from the public and private sectors joined Clinton to discuss new funding for the WISE initiative, and the importance of equipping women to help build climate solutions. Amazon Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability Kara Hurst shared that the company is investing in three female-led or female-focused accelerator and incubator organizations in Africa.
- EESI Article: “In Climate Diplomacy, Being Gender-Blind Leaves Women Behind”

Financing nature’s solutions: At the High-Level Event on Nature and Water Finance for Climate, speakers discussed how finance and nature can combine to create great opportunities for climate investment. “There’s some backlash on ESG, but there’s no backlash on nature,” explained Mark Versey, CEO of Aviva Investors. According to Versey, Aviva has invested $100 million in landscape restoration projects.

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.

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