Glasgow Dispatch - November 15

View this newsletter online Subscribe Review EESI Final Issue: The Glasgow Climate Pact In today’s final issue of Glasgow Dispatch, we cover the decisions that came out of COP26 in the Key Takeaways section and the U.S. delegation’s response in U.S. Happenings. Read EESI’s reaction to the Glasgow Climate Pact and what it means for U.S. climate policy.   We have also taken the information published in this newsletter over the last two weeks and compiled it into three trackers (on announcements, reports, and Congressional engagement at the summit), which can be found in the EESI COP26 Resources section below.   ⇒⇒⇒ Upcoming Congressional Briefing: For a comprehensive breakdown of what happened at COP26, we invite you to join us on Thursday, November 18, from 10:30am–12:00pm ET for a briefing that will go beyond the headlines into the nuances of COP26’s outcomes and explore what comes next. RSVP here.  What did you think about this newsletter? Let us know through this anonymous, one-minute survey! And if you have any questions about COP26, email Anna McGinn at [email protected]. Confused by COP terminology and acronyms? Check out the UNFCCC glossary of terms and other helpful guides in the Resources section! Thank you for following COP26 with us! Until COP27, stay well and let’s get to work!   Topics   Key Takeaways  |  U.S. Updates  |  EESI COP26 Resources  |  Resources   Minister Seve Paeniu from Tuvalu speaks about his grandchildren during the final informal plenary session at COP26. Credit: UNFCCC Late Saturday night in Glasgow, the COP26 Presidency gaveled to a close all the UNFCCC governing bodies—COP26, CMP16 (issues related to the Kyoto Protocol), and CMA3 (issues related to the Paris Agreement). The final cover decision, the Glasgow Climate Pact, was adopted along with dozens of additional decisions. In her closing remarks, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said, “At COP26, Parties built a bridge between good intentions and measurable actions to lower emissions, increase resilience, and provide much needed finance.” She underscored that for every announcement made at COP26, “We look forward to firm plans and the fine print.” Here are some of the outcomes of COP26: Glasgow Climate Pact: The cover decision, which has been named the Glasgow Climate Pact, is made up of three documents (1/CP.26, 1/CMP.16, and 1/CMA.3). The COP and CMA documents include eight sections: science and urgency; adaptation; adaptation finance; mitigation; finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building for mitigation and adaptation; loss and damage; implementation; and collaboration. Under mitigation, countries decided that they will “convene an annual high-level ministerial round table on pre-2030 ambition” starting at COP27 in 2022. The Pact includes direct references to “the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuels subsidies” for the first time in a UNFCCC decision. The decision also calls for countries to reduce non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions, specifically calling out methane. We get into some of the other commitments made in the Glasgow Climate Pact as well as other decisions below.   Paris rulebook: Heading into Glasgow, countries had three major remaining elements of the Paris rulebook (i.e., plans for how to implement the Paris Agreement) to finalize: Article 6 on international cooperation (mainly through carbon markets), common time frames for setting mitigation targets, and a plan for measuring and reporting progress through an enhanced transparency framework. Agreement on these elements evaded negotiators since they set out to create the rulebook in 2016. At COP26, countries adopted decisions on all three elements, which means that negotiations on how to operationalize the Paris Agreement have come to a close. The decisions can be found here: Article 6.2, Article 6.4, Article 6.8, common time frames, and the enhanced transparency framework. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Watch or read the highlights of our briefing, The Negotiations: What’s on the Table, to dive into the details of Article 6. International climate finance: Developed countries were supposed to deliver on the $100 billion per year climate finance pledge at COP26. However, they announced in advance of the summit that they would fall short of this target, and they laid out a Climate Finance Delivery Plan to explain how they intend to meet the goal soon. At COP26, countries did lay out a process to determine what the global climate finance mobilization goal should be for post-2025 (which is when the $100 billion per year commitment ends). Under this decision, the new collective quantified goal on climate finance will be determined by 2024 through expert- and ministerial-level dialogues coordinated by an ad hoc work programme that will run from 2022-2024. Adaptation finance received more attention than at any previous COP. The adaptation finance section of the Glasgow Climate Pact “urges developed country Parties to at least double their collective provision of climate finance for adaptation to developing country Parties from 2019 levels by 2025.” Developing countries put loss and damage at center stage during week two of COP26, calling for a loss and damage financial mechanism to be established. This did not happen, however. Instead, as outlined in the loss and damage section of the Glasgow Climate Pact, countries established the Glasgow Dialogue to discuss “the arrangement for the funding of activities to avert, minimize, and address loss and damage.” Countries also fully operationalized the Santiago network for loss and damage and decided the network would receive funds for technical assistance. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Watch or read the highlights of our briefing, The Role of International Climate Finance. Adaptation: The global goal on adaptation was on the agenda for the first time at COP26. Countries decided to establish a two-year Glasgow-Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the global goal on adaptation (Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, will host COP27) with eight objectives, such as “enhance understanding of the global goal on adaptation, including of the methodologies, indicators, data and metrics, needs, and support needed for assessing progress towards it.” ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resources: Watch or read the highlights of our briefings, Momentum on Adaptation and The Road to COP26: Raising Global Ambition to Address Climate Impacts. Climate empowerment: Countries adopted a 10-year Glasgow work programme on Action for Climate Empowerment focused on education, training, public awareness, public access to information, public participation, and international cooperation. For in-depth summaries and analysis of the final COP26 outcomes, Carbon Brief published their COP26: Key outcomes agreed at the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow this morning, and Earth Negotiations Bulletin announced that their full recap will be available tomorrow.   Special Envoy John Kerry speaks during the final informal plenary session of COP26. Credit: UNFCCC U.S. negotiating team response: After the adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry held a press conference in which he stated “that as a result of this decision, and as a result of the announcements that have been made over the course of the last few weeks, we are, in fact, closer than we have ever been before to avoiding climate chaos and securing cleaner air, safer water, and a healthier planet.” Kerry added that Glasgow is not “the finish line” and that “Paris built the arena, and Glasgow starts the race. And tonight, the starting gun was fired.” Kerry noted that for the first time, the phasedown of coal “is on the books.” He also brought up several other outcomes from COP26, including raising ambition, completing the Paris rulebook, creating a blueprint to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal alive, and getting closer to reaching the international climate finance goal. Other U.S. announcements Kerry highlighted included rejoining the High Ambition Coalition, committing to end deforestation, and launching the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) for developing countries. Capitol Hill response: Chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) issued a press release stating: “Today, COP26 closes with the adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact. Tomorrow, we start working on its implementation and building support for additional climate ambition, adaptation, and finance. Solving the climate crisis will require hard work and long-term commitments—and that’s what we’ve seen from countries in Glasgow for the past two weeks. As we return to Washington next week, we'll make good on our promise to pass the largest single investment in climate action and clean energy in American history through the Build Back Better Act.” Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said in a press release that “COP26 is ending, but our climate work continues in greater urgency. The United States and other countries who have contributed the most to the climate crisis must be leading efforts to do the most to reverse its fast-acting course.” ​​​​​​ House Democratic COP26 delegation with Special Envoy John Kerry. Credit: Nancy Pelosi Congress Tracker: Our Congress at COP26 Tracker lists the 44 members of Congress and other notable federal and state officials who attended COP26. Members of Congress who attended COP26 represented 27 states and both sides of the aisle.   Announcements Tracker: All announcements from Glasgow Dispatch compiled in one document! Our COP26 Announcement Tracker organizes key announcements from COP26 by topic.   Reports Tracker: Our COP26 Report Tracker includes key reports and U.S. federal government plans released during COP26.   COP26 briefings: Watch recordings or read highlights from our five-part briefing series, What Congress Needs to Know in the Lead Up to COP26. The series includes: Part one: A conversation between Sir Robert Watson and Christiana Figueres on creating policies, coalitions, and actions for global sustainable development. Part two: A briefing on initiatives launched or scaled up in recent years that underpin the momentum on adaptation and resilience. Part three: A briefing on the current state of international climate finance, the role and status of the Green Climate Fund and other funding mechanisms, and Congress’s role in meeting U.S. climate finance commitments. Part four: Background on the COP26 negotiations and what they mean for Congress. Part five: Upcoming! A recap of COP26 outcomes and what comes next. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​RSVP here.   Missed an issue of our newsletter? All issues of Glasgow Dispatch: What Congress Needs to Know About COP26 can be found on our website. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​   Media statement: Read our media statement, “Progress at COP26 Must Now Lead to Accelerated, Equitable Implementation of Climate Solutions.” 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 Thanks for reading!   If you thought this newsletter was interesting, forward it to someone you know! Liked what you see here? Get updates on climate, energy, and environmental issues through our biweekly newsletter, Climate Change Solutions. 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