Glasgow Dispatch - November 8 | Newsletter

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Welcome! Today is adaptation and loss and damage day at COP26

Climate adaptations are steps taken to address the impacts of climate change, including shifting farming practices, opening cooling centers for extreme heat events, and reestablishing wetlands that can absorb storm surges.

Loss and damage is the acknowledgement that even with adaptation, countries will still suffer from climate impacts and experience permanent losses. At a COP26 Presidency event on the topic, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley stated that failure to fund the loss and damage mechanism “is a denial of the crisis. It is a denial that 20-40% of the world’s population is already in the ‘red zone.’ It is a denial that the world’s physical and biological systems are approaching a series of tipping points.”

Congressional delegations arrived at COP26 over the weekend. We have added a new Congress at COP26 section to the newsletter to help you keep up with the latest happenings involving senators and representatives in Glasgow.

In case you missed it, read EESI’s statement on the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

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

Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, speaks at a WRI press conference. Photo Credit: UNFCCC

Negotiations: On Saturday, the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) held their closing plenaries, which means they concluded some matters and referred others to the Presidency for further work (for a full list of conclusions and forwarded items, see the Earth Negotiation Bulletin sections on SBI and SBSTA).

The COP26 Presidency held an informal stocktaking plenary this morning to outline the path forward. The Presidency decided that it would allow technical work to continue on certain negotiating streams, including Article 6 and transparency, through Tuesday. Negotiations picked back up on other topics, particularly many finance agenda items.

Pairs of ministers have been identified to guide each of the following topics through the political phase of the negotiations that started today or will start Tuesday, depending on the topic: Article 6, transparency, loss and damage, response measures, global goal on adaptation, and common time frames for NDCs. For a comprehensive overview of the current status of negotiations after week one, check out the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin COP26 Halfway webinar.

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Watch or read highlights from our briefing, The Negotiations: What’s on the Table, which featured Jen Allan, writer and editor for Earth Negotiations Bulletin.

Global goal on adaptation: The global goal on adaptation is on the negotiating agenda for the first time at COP26. Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, explained its importance: “We have clarity on the global goal to limit warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. We do not have a comparable target or goal to help the world deal with some of the inevitable impacts of climate change. One of the things the climate vulnerable countries are pushing for here in Glasgow is for us to actually address that gap so that we have clarity on how we will collectively be able to build global resilience.” Adow highlighted that one of the goals of the Allied for Climate Transformation 2025 (ACT2025) consortium is to encourage countries to launch a process to determine specifics of the global goal on adaptation.

Adaptation announcements: Over 70 global leaders have endorsed the Principles for Locally Led Adaptation; $232 million has been committed to the Adaptation Fund, including an additional £15 million (about $20 million) announced today by the U.K.; the U.K announced £290 million (about $393 million) in new funding for adaptation, including £274 million for the Climate Action for a Resilient Asia program; and 88 countries are now covered by Adaptation Communications or National Adaptation Plans.

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resources: Watch or read highlights of our briefings, Climate Adaptation and Resilience: The Road to COP26 and Momentum on Climate Adaptation.

Nature day: Saturday was nature day at COP26. Events focused on the multiple mitigation and adaptation benefits of nature.

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Watch or read the highlights of our recent briefing featuring Sir Robert Watson and Former UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, Creating Policies, Coalitions, and Actions for Global Sustainable Development.

U.S. senators join USAID and partners during an event on Saturday. Photo Credit: Sustainable Energy for All

Senators: A bipartisan delegation of 18 U.S. senators were at COP26 over the weekend to share their commitment to climate action by speaking at events across Glasgow.

House GOP delegation: Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), John Curtis (R-Utah), Garret Graves (R-La.), and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) also attended COP26 over the weekend. This is the first all-Republican delegation to a COP, and they spent the weekend at events and roundtables discussing climate policy. Democratic representatives are expected at the venue later this week.

Bridging the divide: Nine members of Congress spoke on areas of collaboration on climate policy at an Atlantic Council event on Saturday. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) spoke on climate impacts and nature-based solutions—favorite solutions included forest restoration, no till agriculture, cover cropping, reinforcing river banks, methane abatement through the use of biodigesters, urban trees, seeding oyster beds, and creating job opportunities for young people to enter farming and land stewardship. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) discussed energy efficiency, cybersecurity for energy infrastructure, just transition, and putting a price on carbon.

Power Africa: On Saturday, USAID signed onto a strategic partnership between its program, Power Africa, and the new Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. According to the press release, the partnership sets out three strategic goals: end energy poverty, address climate change, and strengthen conditions in which clean energy can thrive. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) were in attendance.

Build Back Better: Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said at a U.S. Climate Action Center event on Saturday that “we are at a critical juncture. I am very confident that we will be able to pass the Build Back Better bill … and it is going to unleash a revolution on clean energy.” At the same event, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council Manish Bapna said the Senate must “pass the Build Back Better Act, the essential climate action that we need. The reason is fairly simple. What happens in the U.S. matters. It matters because of the cumulative historical emissions of the U.S. It matters because the U.S. needs to restore credibility internationally … It matters because millions of people all around the world are suffering today from the climate crisis.”

Coastal resilience: At a U.S. Climate Action Center event over the weekend, Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said that “the infrastructure bill is evidence that we are making major investments in resiliency.” But he added that passage of the Build Back Better Act would invest “hundreds of billions of dollars into resiliency.” Cardin discussed how Maryland is working to boost coastal resilience, including through living shorelines, beneficial use of dredged materials, and wetland restoration. “We have a bipartisan commitment to coastal restoration in the Congress of the United States … but the most important thing we can do for the Chesapeake Bay is [to have] a successful COP26. Climate change is our greatest threat,” he said.

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Check out our report, A Resilient Future for Coastal Communities: Federal Policy Recommendations from Solutions in Practice.

Former President Barack Obama speaks at COP26. Photo Credit: UNFCCC

“The U.S. has to lead”: Former President Barack Obama spoke today and said that “as the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the U.S. has to lead.” Obama highlighted recent U.S. achievements on climate, including increasing international finance for adaptation. “We can't afford hopelessness,” he said. “Instead, we are going to have to muster the will and the passion and the activism of citizens pushing governments, companies, and everyone else to meet this challenge.”

Governors: Six U.S. governors are at COP26 as a part of the U.S. Climate Alliance delegation. Governors Kate Brown (D-Ore.), David Ige (D-Hawaii), Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.) spoke at a press conference today on climate action and a net zero future. Governor Inslee shared that 68 governors and provincial leaders, calling themselves the "supranational action coalition", met over the weekend to discuss their climate actions. This group of states and provinces represents over 400 million people and 20% of the world’s GDP.

Local action: On Saturday, a panel of U.S. state legislators from Colorado, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Washington came together to discuss the climate efforts in their states. At a U.S. Center event today, NOAA highlighted the resources that local leaders have at their disposal, such as the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit. Sushma Masemore, assistant secretary for environment at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, pointed out the importance of these tools by saying that “our nation’s billion-dollar disasters are also our state’s billion-dollar disasters.”

Ocean acidification: Today, the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification (OA Alliance) and U.S. state partners shared a recently published special issue of the Coastal Management Journal entitled “Ocean Acidification: Insight for Policy and Integrated Management.” This issue, which includes input from 42 authors across nine states, explores the opportunities and challenges of state-level responses to ocean acidification. The OA Alliance also moderated a panel with Governors Kate Brown (D-Ore.) and Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), who highlighted the importance of increased education regarding ocean acidification and working with tribal nations and other local groups to create community-led acidification plans that are specific to the Pacific Northwest.

IRENA and AOSIS signed an agreement today to mobilize climate finance. Photo Credit: IRENA

Updated NDCs: Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand, Ghana, and Comoros have all submitted updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) since the opening of COP26. In total, 122 parties (121 countries plus the E.U.), out of 193 parties to the Paris Agreement, have now submitted updated NDCs.

Adaptation finance: At an event hosted by the Champions Group on Adaptation Finance, which includes Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.K., panelists discussed how to speed up financing solutions for projects. As the moderator, Angelique Pouponneau, CEO of the Seychelles Conservation and Adaptation Trust, said: “It’s one thing to say finance is available and another for it to be accessible.” A number of wealthier countries have upped their adaptation finance commitments during COP26. To learn more about climate finance, see the finance edition of Glasgow Dispatch.

Adaptation Fund: On the topic of the Adaptation Fund, Egyptian Minister of the Environment Yasmine Fouad stated that “the available resources in the Fund [are] not enough for supporting the needs” of developing countries. Similarly, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC Ovais Sarmad stated that $850 million has been allocated for climate adaptation activities in developing countries through the Adaptation Fund, but “the need always outstrips the availability of resources. This is why contributions to the Fund are so important.” Today, the U.K. government announced it would provide £15 million (about $20 million) to the Adaptation Fund.

National Adaptation Plans: At a U.S. Center event today, facilitated by the National Adaptation Plan Global Network, environmental officers from Grenada and Ghana discussed putting climate plans to work at the regional level, with emphasis on ensuring that climate funds are actually used on climate projects and training local officials to see problems with a climate perspective.

Infrastructure Risk Assessment Tool: The government of Jamaica has worked closely with the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment, Oxford University, and the Green Climate Fund to become, as Prime Minister Andrew Holness explains, “the first country in the world to develop a climate resilient assessment tool.” The tool, which was exhibited today at COP26, is a way for Jamaica to systematically assess risk across the country in order to attract investment and allocate adaptation funding in the most impactful areas. The tool is open source and the goal is for other countries to use the model as well—at least 10 countries have already expressed interest.

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Watch or read the highlights of our briefing, Momentum on Climate Adaptation, featuring the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment.

Alliances for Climate Action: The Alliances for Climate Action (ACA) is a network of national networks working to accelerate decarbonization. Today, Chile launched the newest national ACA with 16 members from local governments, companies, universities, associations, and civil society. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, the U.S., and Vietnam already have alliances in place.

Island nations: The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) furthered their partnership today by signing an agreement to work together to mobilize climate finance and install renewable energy. This initiative will be carried out through the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Lighthouses Initiative.

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

Tuesday, November 9

Adaptation Research Alliance Formal Launch at Science and Innovation Day
6:30am-8am ET/ 11:30am-1pm GMT
Hosts: Adaptation Research Alliance and UK Aid

⇒⇒⇒ EESI Resource: Read our article on the Adaptation Research Alliance.

How Collaboration Can Take Us from Commitment to Implementation
7:30am ET/ 12:30pm GMT
Host: U.S. Climate Action Center

More Bang for the Buck - Investing in Mitigation and Resilience Together
12:00pm ET/5:00pm GMT
Hosts: U.S. Climate Action Center and Business Council for Sustainable Energy

Yes, in My Backyard: Climate Predictions for Your Neighborhood
2pm ET/ 7:00pm GMT
Hosts: British Embassy Washington and British Consulate General in Los Angeles

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.

www.eesi.org

CFC #10627

Glasgow Dispatch - November 8

Adaptation and loss and damage day

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