Glasgow Dispatch - November 5

View this newsletter online Subscribe Review EESI Welcome! Today is youth and public empowerment day at COP26   Youth-focused events took place across COP26 today, including discussions with the COP26 Presidency, U.N. panels, and special events highlighting youth voices. At the same time, protestors took to the streets of Glasgow outside the COP26 venue to demand greater and faster climate action from world leaders.  The protest drew thousands of people, with more expected over the weekend. Both Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate gave speeches. “We need to continue holding leaders accountable for their actions,” Nakate said. “We cannot keep quiet about climate injustice.” Inside the venue, according to Special Presidential Envoy John Kerry, about 50 members of Congress—Democrats and Republicans—and a large Congressional staff delegation are expected to arrive in Glasgow today and over the weekend. Among other engagements, Senators and Representatives will be speaking at events at the U.S. Center and the U.S. Climate Action Center this weekend.    Missed yesterday’s issue? Check it out here! Don’t miss us too much over the weekend, we will be back in your inbox on Monday afternoon! 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   SBSTA informal consultations on matters relating to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Photo by IISD/ENB Negotiations: Technical negotiations will run through tomorrow before negotiators hand over their work to the U.K. Presidency to lead the ministerial-level political negotiations that start on Monday, as outlined in this note from the COP26 President. There are three outstanding elements of the Paris rulebook under negotiation at COP26:   Article 6 is focused on mechanisms that will allow countries to cooperate to reduce emissions, in particular, through carbon markets. A set of draft texts came out this morning from the Article 6 negotiations (Article 6.2, Article 6.4, and Article 6.8). It seems as though there is cautious optimism that progress is being made towards an ambitious mechanism—one that ensures global emissions are actually reduced through international carbon markets. The Enhanced Transparency Framework establishes how countries will measure, evaluate, and report emission reductions, adaptation, finance, and other climate support given or received. The negotiations are very technical, with negotiators discussing spreadsheets and calculations. Some technical items still need to be sorted out before the work can be handed over to the Presidency. Common Time Frames for country climate commitments still need to be established so that they are comparable. A draft text came out this morning. Technical negotiations have concluded on this topic and decisions need to be made at the political level. Outside the rulebook, there are many other negotiating streams taking place, including 22 agenda items related to international climate finance. One area of note is that negotiators have acknowledged that they need to start working on what the finance mobilization goal will be post-2025 (since that is the end year for the $100 billion per year goal). The post-2025 goal will not be decided at COP26, but negotiators hope to make a plan for how to design it by the end of next week. For the best play-by-play of what is happening in each of the negotiating rooms, read Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s report of the main proceedings and highlights. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: For more information about details of the negotiations, watch or read the highlights of our recent briefing, The Negotiations: What’s on the Table. Ocean and climate: During Ocean Action Day today, Co-chair of the IPCC Working Group II Hans-Otto Pörtner discussed two IPCC reports, Biodiversity and Climate Change and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. Pörtner summarized the biodiversity report by saying, “Ambitious emissions reduction from fossil fuels is a precondition to maintain and strengthen biodiversity … Every bit of warming matters and every lost species and degraded ecosystem matters.” ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our briefing on biodiversity, Creating Policies, Coalitions, and Actions for Global Sustainable Development: A Conversation with Sir Robert Watson and Christiana Figueres. Global Youth Statement: At the 16th Conference of Youth—the youth equivalent of COP that took place immediately prior to COP26—attendees released the Global Youth Statement. The statement includes a number of demands for world leaders to hold them accountable for addressing the climate crisis. More than 2,000 environmental organizations, institutions, and individuals from 130 countries contributed to its writing, and over 40,000 people have signed it. At a COP26 Presidency event today, a panel of youth discussed the statement and other demands with COP26 President Alok Sharma, who said “Let me commit to you, I will do everything I can to get this over the line.” Tuntiak Katan, indigenous leader of the Shuar Nation of Ecuador, speaks at an event. Photo Credit: UNFCCC  Indigenous voices: The U.S. Center hosted a panel led by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to highlight global indigenous youth. One of the panelists was Tuntiak Katan, an indigenous leader of the Shuar Nation of Ecuador. “I also have a son, and I wonder if when he grows up he will have biodiversity and be able to enjoy it,” he said. “We all have the responsibility to work for ourselves, but also for the future generations.”   Ocean-based climate solutions: Deputy Director for Climate and Environment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Jane Lubchenco stated that “ocean-based climate solutions could provide as much as 21% of the emissions reductions needed to meet a 1.5 degree target by 2050.” Lubchenco highlighted seven of the United States’ ocean-related commitments from COP26, which included adopting the Zero Emissions Shipping by 2050 Declaration, launching the First Movers Coalition, and releasing the PREPARE plan.   U.S.-Least Developed Countries Collaboration: Special Presidential Envoy John Kerry announced this morning that the U.S. had just signed onto an initiative in support of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) called the LDC Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR). The initiative is designed to support LDCs in reaching their 2050 Vision. President Biden has said he plans to work with Congress to provide $3 billion to LIFE-AR.   Carbon dioxide removal: Following an announcement made by President Biden on November 2, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm officially launched DOE’s Carbon Negative Shot, which is the “U.S. government’s first major effort in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and an all-hands-on-deck call for innovation in the expanding field of CDR—a key facet of the plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050,” according to a press release.   Climate-smart agriculture: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discussed a new USDA initiative, the Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Partnership Initiative, at a U.S. Center event. The Initiative, according to Vilsack, “aims to finance the production of climate smart commodities through a series of large scale pilots and demonstration projects.” ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Read our article on one of USDA’s climate programs, California Climate Hub Provides Essential Information to Farmers Threatened by Climate Change. Temilade Salami from Nigeria speaks at a U.N. Youth Advisory Group event. Photo Credit: UNFCCC Infrastructure: The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and The Resilience Shift released a white paper today, Governance of Infrastructure for Resilience. The report draws on case studies and stakeholder input from around the world to examine the barriers and opportunities “to implementing governance of infrastructure for resilience,” according to the executive summary. Themes covered in the white paper include infrastructure financing; regulations, codes, and standards; and data, information, and technology. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our infrastructure issue of Climate Change Solutions for dozens of resources on all aspects of the infrastructure conversation. U.N. Youth Advisory Group: The U.N. Youth Advisory Group moderated a panel featuring young climate activists and champions from around the world. The event emphasized meaningful youth involvement across all levels of climate planning. “We don’t just want to be used as props,” Temilade Salami, founder and executive director of EcoWarriors in Nigeria, said. “We want to be in the decision-making process.” Another speaker was Yassamin Ansari, a city councilor in Phoenix, Arizona, who talked about her transition from working with the U.N. to becoming a climate-focused politician. “The role that activists play to push people to go farther is really important,” she said. “But at the same time, I really think we need more young people in actual positions of power.”   Indonesia-IRENA Partnership: On the heels of taking over the G20 Presidency, Indonesia has agreed to a partnership with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) “to identify and implement decarbonisation pathways aligned with a 1.5°C future,” according to the press release. IRENA will write a roadmap for Indonesia’s energy transition. Indonesia is the highest emitter of greenhouse gases in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).   We Mean Business: The We Mean Business Coalition, an international group of seven partner organizations and thousands of businesses that are aiming to cut emissions in half by 2030, called for negotiators to settle on clear rules in the Article 6 negotiations, so that all companies “play the same game by the same fair rules,” according to Sophie Punte, managing director of policy for the Coalition.   Education and climate: 23 countries, including Finland, the U.K., and Nicaragua, made national climate education pledges, including teaching climate change to young people and building net zero schools. ⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our article about electrifying school bus fleets in Virginia.   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

Saturday, November 6 A Conversation with U.S. Senator Cardin (D-Md.) on Coastal Climate Resilience 7am ET/ 11am GMT Host: U.S. Climate Action Center   Congress’ Role in Enhancing U.S. Climate Leadership and Ambition 11am ET/ 3pm GMT Host: U.S. Center   Global Issues, Subnational Solutions: How U.S. States are Leading on Climate Action 1pm ET/ 5pm GMT Host: U.S. Climate Action Center   Monday, November 8 First Annual Gathering of Indigenous Knowledge Holders 5am-8am ET/ 10am-1pm GMT Host: UNFCCC   Adaptation: From Planning to Action 8:30am ET/ 1:30pm GMT Host: U.S. Center   Communities on the Front Line and the Local Leaders that Support Them 12:30pm ET/ 5:30pm GMT Hosts: British Embassy Washington and the British Consulates General Houston and Atlanta   Adapting to Thrive: U.S. Action on Global Climate Adaptation 1pm ET/ 6pm GMT Host: U.S. Center   Integrating Policies for Ocean Climate Action: Building Coastal Resiliency in the U.S. 1:30pm ET/ 6:30pm GMT  Host: U.S. Climate Action 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