No ‘phase-out’, but COP28 puts oil and gas sector on notice
13/12/2023: Countries have agreed on the need to shift away from burning fossil fuels for the first time in the UN climate process, at Cop28 talks in Dubai. The “UAE consensus” did not go so far as to call for a “phase-out”, as more than a hundred countries wanted. It settled on “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems”.
Source: Climate Home News
Negligible US contribution to loss and damage fund
12/12/2023: Contributions by various countries at COP28 towards the new World Bank-hosted Climate Loss and Damage Fund have reached $700 million, of which the US accounts for just $17.5 million. This equals nine minutes of Pentagon spending, says Jeffrey D. Sachs, a world-renowned economist.
Source: Inter Press Service
Finance for adaptation is Africa’s call to action at COP28
4/12/2023: The chair of the African Group at COP28 highlights the shocking gap between the adaptation needs of vulnerable countries and the funding that has been made available so far. The UN’s Adaptation Gap report has estimated that adaptation needs are now 10-18 times as great as the flows of international public finance.
Source: African Arguments
Phase out of fossil fuels critical to right to water in MENA
8/12/2023: The climate crisis is severely exacerbating water scarcity in the Middle East and North Africa region. Governments at COP28 should act to urgently phase out fossil fuels and deliver climate finance, two measures that are critical to ensure people’s right to water.
Source: Amnesty International
UN view on progress and prospects for COP28
7/12/2023: COP28 is expected to close on 12 December. Here’s a snapshot of what’s happened so far and what’s ahead. Negotiators must focus on how to bolster emissions-cutting targets set by the Paris Agreement and what to do about the future of fossil fuels.
Source: UN News
US tests Congress with $3bn Green Climate Fund pledge
2/12/2023: In a bid to overcome its record of under-delivery that angers developing countries, the US has promised $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund. However, President Biden will have to persuade Republicans in Congress to approve the money, unless he takes control of Congress himself through elections in 2024.
Source: Climate Home News
Countries pledge $400m to set up loss and damage fund
30/11/2023: A new loss and damage fund for the victims of climate disaster has been approved by negotiators on the first day of COP28 in Dubai. Germany and COP28 hosts United Arab Emirates have committed $100 million each to the start-up phase of the fund.
Source: Climate Home News
Campaigners warn of $343 billion climate finance ‘black hole’
30/11/2023: Donor countries are expected to announce at COP28 that they have hit a target to deliver $100 billion of annual climate finance. New analysis of data reported to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development casts doubts on whether the figures really stand up.
Source: Devex
Richest 1% emit as much as two-thirds of humanity
20/11/2023: A new Oxfam report, drawing on research by the Stockholm Environment Institute, exposes the stark gap between the carbon footprints of the super-rich and the bulk of people across the world. Oxfam calls on governments to dramatically reduce inequality.
Source: Oxfam International
Australia’s offer of climate migration to Tuvalu is groundbreaking
11/11/2023: ~The Australia–Tuvalu Falepili Union Treaty will provide migration pathways for people from Tuvalu facing the existential threat of climate change. It will allow up to 280 Tuvaluans to migrate to Australia each year and is the world’s first bilateral agreement on climate mobility.
Source: The Conversation