Glasgow Dispatch - November 4 | Newsletter

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Welcome! Today is energy day at COP26

Countries announced new coalitions and initiatives today to accelerate the transition to clean energy worldwide, with a particular emphasis on phasing out coal. Conversations emphasized the importance of a just transition and the critical role of financial institutions in moving to a clean energy economy.

The U.S. connection: In August 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the United States would aim to reach 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035. In 2020, renewable and nuclear energy composed about 40 percent of U.S. utility-scale electrical generation.

To accelerate its transition, the U.S. has signed on to several efforts, including ending public finance for fossil fuels by the end of 2022, the Green Grids Initiative, and the First Movers Coalition. Read on to learn more about each of these commitments and those that the U.S. has yet to join.

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our briefing series, Modernizing the U.S. Energy System: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Path Forward.

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 U.S. Updates Around the World Resources Events

Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC, discusses the latest IPCC report. Photo Credit: UNFCCC

Adding up the pledges: The International Energy Agency assessed climate commitments made before and at COP26 and found that if all countries achieve their net-zero emissions goals and meet the goals of the global methane pledge, global average temperature rise can be kept to 1.8 degrees Celsius by 2100. The UNFCCC just released an updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) synthesis report showing that current NDCs will not keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

Negotiations: Negotiators are at work across many negotiation streams, including finance, common reporting tables, transparency, Article 6, inputs for the global stocktake, common time frames, and the review of the long-term global goal of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius. For the best play-by-play of what is happening in the negotiating rooms, read Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s report of the main proceedings and highlights.

Climate science: Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented the results of their August report on the physical science of climate change at a UNFCCC event. The scientists were unequivocal, according to IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee: “Recent changes in climate are unprecedented in thousands of years due to human activities—our activities ... Every region is being affected. Every change is affecting every person around the world in multiple ways and with very inequitable consequences.”

Adaptation funding: A new report, The Adaptation Gap Report 2021: The Gathering Storm, launched by the U.N. Environment Programme, found that climate adaptation costs in developing countries are five to ten times greater than current public financing. See yesterday’s issue for more on climate finance.

There were many announcements today related to coal:

Coal phaseout: So far at COP26, over $20 billion has been announced to support the phaseout of coal. This includes $10 billion provided through the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and $8.5 billion for the South Africa Just Transition Partnership.

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our How Coal Country Can Adapt to the Energy Transition Issue Brief.

Ending public finance for fossil fuels: 20 countries—including the U.S., U.K., Italy, Canada, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, the Marshall Islands, and Mali—and five public finance institutions committed “to ending international public support for the unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022 and instead prioritising support for the clean energy transition,” according to a press release. This could shift $17.8 billion annually in public financing towards clean energy.

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our Proposals to Reduce Fossil Fuel Subsidies Fact Sheet.

Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement: The states of Oregon and Hawaii, countries including Poland, Vietnam, Egypt, and Chile, and several banks and organizations signed onto the Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement, an agreement to phase out coal power, end support for new coal plants domestically and internationally, and scale up development of clean energy while also supporting a just transition. Additional countries signed on to some, but not all, components of the statement. Major economies will have until the 2030s to phase out coal power and the rest of the world will have until the 2040s. The U.S. was not a signatory of the statement.

Powering Past Coal Alliance: 28 new members, including Ukraine, Chile, Singapore, Mauritius, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, and Estonia and 11 financial institutions, joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a coalition working to advance the transition from coal to clean energy. Current U.S. state members include California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington, and U.S. cities include Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaks at a U.S. Center event on offshore wind. Credit: U.S. Center

First Movers Coalition: Following up on an announcement from President Biden on November 2, the First Movers Coalition, led by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and the World Economic Forum, was officially launched today. The Coalition—made up of companies like Apple and Amazon—will commit to buying low-carbon products by 2030 and developing green supply chains.

Wind energy: During a U.S. Center event, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued a global challenge on behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration for every country to join the U.S. in setting “ambitious domestic offshore wind energy commitments.” The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says that the world should install 380 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 2,000 gigawatts by 2050 to meet Paris Agreement goals. Denmark's Climate Ambassador Tomas Anker shared that, to reach these goals, Denmark would like to establish a Global Offshore Wind Alliance, which will hopefully be ready ahead of COP27 next year.

Women in energy: The Global Power System Transformation Consortium (G-PST), a collaboration between power system operators and research institutions, announced the Women in Power System Transformation program—in partnership with USAID and a major power supplier in Indonesia—to support women interested in working in system operations and utilities.

View of the COP26 venue. Photo Credit: COP26 Flickr

One Sun, One World, One Grid: Across COP26 today, events covered the One Sun Declaration: Green Grids Initiative. The idea is to build a more interconnected grid, as the press release explains: “The sun never sets–every hour, half the planet is bathed in sunshine. By trading energy from sun, wind, and water across borders, we can deliver more than enough clean energy to meet the needs of everyone on earth.” The initiative is endorsed by 83 countries including the U.S.

Sustainable hydropower: The San José Declaration on Sustainable Hydropower, first adopted at the World Hydropower Congress in September 2021, was the headline of an event featuring current and former ministers from Iceland and Australia. The declaration includes three new messages: a new hydropower sustainability standard, a commitment to not develop hydropower in World Heritage Sites, and reviews to evaluate existing dams for opportunities to refurbish, retrofit, or decommission them.

National Adaptation Plans: Albania, Armenia, Nepal, South Africa, South Sudan, and Tonga have submitted National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) in the lead-up to and during COP26. NAPs are a tool established by the UNFCCC for countries to chart a strategy to address the impacts of climate change.

Energy access: At a U.S. Center event on climate and health equity, Damilola Ogunbiyi, special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, remarked that of the roughly 750 million people who do not have access to energy, 600 million of them reside in Africa. “If you want to empower people to get out of poverty,” she said, “you need to give them energy.” Despite the obstacles, Ogunbiyi also saw opportunity: “If we stopped thinking about the clean cooking issue, the electrification issue as this dire challenge, and we start looking at the opportunities for the private sector to come in and do things at scale, it will be profitable.”

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
Articles: Quick reads connecting international climate talks to Congress
Climate Change Solutions: Biweekly newsletter covering climate, energy, and environmental issues

Friday, November 5

Unifying for Change: The Global Youth Voice at COP26
6:00am-7:15am ET/10:00-11:15am GMT
Host: COP26 Presidency

Elevating Indigenous Youth with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland
7:30am ET/11:30am GMT
Host: U.S. Center

Marrakech Partnership Water Action Event
Agenda
7:30am-10:15am ET/11:30pm-2:15pm GMT
Hosts: High-Level Climate Champions and Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action

Marrakech Partnership Ocean and Coastal Zones Action Event
Agenda
10:30am-1:15am ET/2:30pm-5:15pm GMT
Hosts: High-Level Climate Champions and Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Actio

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.

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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.