Glasgow Dispatch - November 10

View this newsletter online Subscribe Review EESI Welcome! Today is transportation day at COP26 Countries around the world are working to reduce emissions by shifting to zero-emissions transportation. Check out this Changing Transport tracker to see the role of transportation in the climate policies of different countries.  Transportation announcements echoed across the venue today, from the COP26 Declaration on Accelerating the Transition to 100% Zero Emissions Cars and Vans to numerous new commitments on aviation and sustainable aviation fuels.    Transportation is the highest-emitting sector in the United States, contributing 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Around the country, transportation services, governments, and advocates are working to reduce transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions and make transportation systems more resilient to climate impacts.  ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Watch or read the highlights of our briefings, By Air, Land, and Sea: Navigating the Climate Future and Congressional Climate Camp #2: Federal Policies for High Emitting Sectors.    Negotiations are picking up at COP26. Check out our new Negotiations section for the full update!   Missed yesterday’s issue? Check it out here! Confused by COP terminology and acronyms? Check out the UNFCCC glossary of terms and other helpful guides in the Resources section!   Topics   Key Takeaways  |  Negotiations  |  U.S. Updates  |  Around the World  |  Resources  |  Events   John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua give separate press conferences about the new U.S.-China joint declaration. Photo Credits: UNFCCC U.S.-China declaration: The U.S. and China released the Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s. In two separate press conferences, U.S. Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry and China’s Climate Change Envoy Xie Zhenhua emphasized the need for collaboration between their countries. Kerry stated that “the United States and China have no shortage of differences, but on climate, cooperation is the only way to get this job done.” Similarly, Xie Zhenhua said “the release of the joint declaration shows that collaboration is the only choice for China and the United States.”   Increasing climate ambition was also a focus. According to Kerry, “This declaration includes strong statements about the alarming science, the emissions gap, and the urgent need to accelerate the action to close that gap.” Xie Zhenhua stated that China has “committed to adopting enhanced climate action in the 2020s ... in order to achieve the Paris Agreement goals and strengthen its implementation.”   Kerry also said “we will work together to limit methane” and that China will develop a national action plan to reduce methane emissions by COP27 to be held in late 2022. Light-duty vehicles: Ministers from the U.K. and the Netherlands announced the launch of the COP26 Declaration on Accelerating the Transition to 100% Zero Emissions Cars and Vans, which states that signatory countries “will work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets.” There are currently 33 signatory countries; 40 cities, states, and regional governments (including many U.S. cities and states); and 11 car manufacturers (including Volvo, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Mercedes-Benz); numerous fleet owners and operators; shared mobility platforms; investors with significant shareholdings in the auto industry; and financial institutions. The U.K. also announced £4 million (about $5.3 million) toward the World Bank’s new funding stream for transportation decarbonization, kicking off the goal to mobilize $200 million over the next 10 years. And, the Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council met today to discuss additional ways to support transportation decarbonization in developing countries. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our article “International Collaborations and Commitments on Zero-Emission Vehicles at COP26 and Beyond: A Q&A with British Climate Attaché Reem Yusuf.” Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles: The same ministers from the U.K. and the Netherlands also announced a Memorandum of Understanding on Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles. The MOU outlines a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 for the sector, and sets an interim target of 30% of new trucks and buses being zero emissions by 2030. Fifteen countries have signed on to the MOU, but this does not include the United States. The ministers also announced the release of the Zero Emission Vehicles Factbook: A BloombergNEF special report prepared for COP26 on all classes of vehicles.   No bikes: Announcements around improving bike infrastructure and other low-carbon forms of transportation were notably absent from transportation day at COP26. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Read our article, “Making Way for Bicycle Infrastructure.” There were many announcements today related to aviation: Net-zero aviation: The U.S. unveiled its 2021 Aviation Climate Action Plan, with a goal of achieving net-zero emissions from the U.S. aviation sector by 2050. To reach that goal, the plan outlines several steps, including increasing the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), improving the efficiency and technology of aircraft, potentially using electricity or hydrogen for short flights, and strengthening the climate resilience of airports.   International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition: The International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition was launched today with 20 countries signing on. The Coalition, which includes the U.S., Kenya, Canada, and the U.K., commits to adopting “an ambitious global goal for international aviation CO2 emissions” and supporting “specific measures to reduce aviation emissions including sustainable aviation fuels.”   Sustainable Aviation Fuels: At a U.S. Center event, the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA) announced the addition of an Aviators Group. SABA was founded in April 2021 to drive investment in SAF and its Customer Group includes Bank of America, Boeing, and Netflix. The new Aviators Group includes Amazon Air, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, and United Airlines and “enables SABA to send an even stronger demand signal to drive greater SAF production, price reduction and technological innovation,” according to RMI, a co-founder of SABA. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, and other airline officials spoke at the event.    Sustainable aviation fuel toolkit: The World Economic Forum and the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition launched the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Policy Toolkit to provide policymakers around the world with policy options for expanding production and implementation of SAF. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resources: Check out our many resources on aviation: Watch or read highlights from our briefing After COVID: A Lower Carbon Future for Commercial Aviation; read our article, “New Legislation Sets Policy Menu for Sustainable Aviation Fuels;” listen to our podcast episode, “Innovations in Aviation Technology Sets Stage for a Greener Future;” read our fact sheet, The Growth in Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Commercial Aviation.     Maldives Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology Animati Shauna. Photo Credit: IISD Draft cover decision: Overnight, the COP26 Presidency released the first draft text of the COP26 cover decision summarizing the negotiation takeaways in three separate documents (1/CP.26, 1/CMP.16, and 1/CMA.3). The Presidency held meetings today with the heads of delegations and ministers that are co-facilitating negotiation streams to discuss the cover decision texts and the status of the negotiations. The Presidency intends to put out a new text tonight and convene a plenary in the morning. Some topics that have not been included in COP decisions in prior years include the call for “parties to accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels,” the invitation for “parties to consider further opportunities to reduce non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions,” the emphasis on nature-based solutions, and the creation of “a work programme to urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation during the critical decade of the 2020s” (quotes from 1/CP.26). Helen Mountford, vice president for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute (WRI), cited these new areas during a press conference today, which also provided additional details on the draft cover decision and the status of finance and Article 6 negotiations. Simon Evans of Carbon Brief also provides in-depth analysis of the draft COP26 cover decision as it stood today. As the negotiations accelerate, you can also keep up with happenings through Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s highlights. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Evans will be speaking at our upcoming briefing on November 18, Recap of COP26: Key Outcomes and What Comes Next, which you can sign up for here. Reflecting on week one negotiations: Marianne Karlsen of Norway, the chair of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI), said today that SBI “accomplished exactly what was expected” during the first week of COP26. She explained, “we had 49 agenda items under the SBI, and we worked extremely diligently throughout the whole week to address those mandates.” She noted that much of their work does not make the headlines, but it is what allows the UNFCCC to operate and move forward efforts like the adaptation committee, education and training programs, technology transfer, and capacity building.   Transportation Secretary Buttigieg at the launch of the Clydebank Declaration. Photo Credit: IISD House delegation: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) held a press conference alongside Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.). On the topic of fossil fuel subsidies, Speaker Pelosi said “I've been trying to get rid of those subsidies for as long as I have been in a position to do so.” When asked if America is back in terms of climate action, Rep. Jared Huffman said “I hope one of the things that you are hearing from our delegation here is not just a willingness to ask the rest of the world to step up and do better. We have to do that in the United States ourselves. And you are right. We are not there yet. We have disconnects. We are putting together the most historic package of investments and climate action our country, maybe the world, has ever seen.” The Build Back Better Act was brought up multiple times during the press conference. Rep. Adriano Espaillat said “I think that the voices of those disproportionately affected have been very strong and will lead the way to ensure that … we build back, not only better for them, [but that] we build back green.” ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our fact sheet Proposals to Reduce Fossil Fuel Subsidies. Congressional staff delegation: A bipartisan and bicameral Congressional staff delegation is in Glasgow this week. The 20-staffer-strong delegation led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff is meeting with counterparts in other countries and sharing U.S. efforts to address climate change.   Hydrogen: The H2 Twin Cities Initiative was launched at a U.S. Center event. The Initiative aims “to accelerate hydrogen deployments by pairing communities around the world to collaborate, share ideas, learn from each other, and accelerate progress, particularly at the city and municipality level,” according to a press release.   Clydebank Declaration: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at a COP Presidency event that “in shipping … there’s a paradox. On one hand, pound per pound, it is typically the least carbon intensive means of moving goods. Yet there is so much of it, consuming so much fuel, that it represents an enormous source of emissions.” To address those emissions, the U.S. and 21 other countries signed onto the Clydebank Declaration which aims to establish zero-emission shipping corridors. Buttigieg said “the U.S. is determined not simply to sign the Declaration, but to help right away in operationalizing it though our Quad Shipping Task Force.” ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our briefing, Ports Leading the Way on Mitigation and Resilience. ​​​​​​ Bruce Bilimon speaking on behalf of Pacific SIDS at the high-level world leaders event. Photo Credit: UNFCCC  National statements: Countries whose Heads of State did not provide national statements during the World Leaders Summit continued to present national statements today. Thirty-six officials spoke, including: Brazil: Minister of the Environment Joaquim Leite stated Brazil’s commitment to achieving a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. “We have given clear signals that Brazil is part of the solution,” Leite said, referencing Brazil’s involvement with the ongoing negotiations. Pacific Small Island Developing States: Marshall Islands Minister of Health and Human Services Bruce Bilimon spoke on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States. “For Pacific states, climate change is the single greatest threat to our livelihood, security, and wellbeing,” he said. “The ocean is our home, our way of life, and the key to our future.” United Arab Emirates: Special Envoy for Climate Change Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber announced the commitment from the United Arab Emirates to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. He also emphasized the continued work that the U.A.E. will do to host COP28 in 2023. U.N. Global Compact: The U.N. Global Compact is the world’s largest sustainability initiative, calling companies to align their strategies with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. In a UNFCCC event, it was announced that 1,045 companies have now joined the initiative. These companies span over 53 sectors in 60 countries, have more than 32 million employees, and represent $23 trillion in market capitalization. The Global Compact also recently released a new status report on the business ambition to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.   Short-lived climate pollutants: The Kenya Climate Change Working Group convened a meeting today to highlight the climate and public health benefits of reducing short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons. Second Lady of Ghana Samira Bawumia discussed the role of clean cooking stoves in Africa and Asia in reducing these emissions, and she shared that there is much work to be done because “close to 900 million of Africa’s population lack clean cooking solutions today.” ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Read our fact sheet, Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: Why Are They Important? Diesel trucks in the U.K.: The U.K. announced it would “shift to clean trucks by committing to end the sale of most new diesel trucks between 2035 and 2040.” The COP26 Presidency held an event today on efforts to reduce emissions from the freight industry. Tracking the negotiations Earth Negotiation Bulletin: A play-by-play of the negotiations plus expert analysis from the International Institute for Sustainable Development | @IISD_ENB Carbon Brief: Who wants what at COP26 living document to be updated in real time | @CarbonBrief ECO Newsletter: The climate advocate’s perspective from Climate Action Network International | @CANIntl COP26 Resource Hub: Analysis from the World Resources Institute | @WRIClimate Research and Independent NGOs: Notes from negotiating session taken by researchers at COP26  Background and logistics U.K. COP26 Presidency website: Priorities, details, and logistics for the negotiations | @COP26 UNFCCC COP26 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 EESI resources Briefing series: What Congress needs to know in the lead up to COP26 Creating Policies, Coalitions, and Actions for Global Sustainable Development Momentum on Climate Adaptation The Role of International Climate Finance The Negotiations: What’s on the Table Articles: Quick reads connecting international climate talks to Congress Climate Change Solutions: Biweekly newsletter covering climate, energy, and environmental issues

Thursday, November 11   Presidency Event: Building Back Better: Accelerating deep collaboration for Built Environment climate action 4:00am ET / 9:00am GMT Host: UNFCCC   Initiative Launch the Summary for Urban Policymakers (SUP) of the IPCC 6th Assessment Report 6:00am-7:30am ET/ 11:00am-12:30pm GMT Host: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)   Global Climate Action High-Level Event: Racing for a better world 10:30am-12:30pm ET/ 3:30pm-5:30pm GMT Host: UNFCCC   Presidency Event: Ministers and Mayors on buildings as a critical climate solution 11:00am ET / 4:00pm GMT Host: UNFCCC   Justice and Equity at the Center: Innovative Housing Policy to Build a More Sustainable Society for All 11:30am ET/ 4:30pm GMT Host: U.S. Center Questions about COP26?   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 COP26 will be running from November 1 to November 14. 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, 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.   www.eesi.org                 CFC #10627