COP28 Round-up: John Kerry, climate adaptation funds and low-carbon buildings
A summary of key announcements from the 2023 UN climate conference, why they matter and what is still missing
Finance continued to anchor discussions today at COP28, but the focus shifted to the built environment and transportation as new commitments were agreed.
US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry announced that 21 new companies have joined the US president’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience, while a new report by the Boston Consulting Group, the Global Resilience Partnership and the US Agency for International Development, focuses on the use of private capital to fund climate adaptation projects in both developed and developing economies. Financial pledges for adaptation projects have so far been overshadowed by contributions to the loss and damage fund as well as the Green Climate Fund. The latest figures provided by a COP28 communication agency state that the adaption fund has so far received $133.6mn in funding, as opposed to $726bn for loss and damage and $3.5bn for the Green Climate Fund.
A draft on proposed rules for a global carbon credit market, also known as the mechanism established under Article 6, paragraph 4 of the Paris Agreement, has been published this morning. “Article 6, as always, is difficult in the negotiating room,” BeZero Carbon chief ratings officer Teresa Hartmann told Sustainable Views. “The text has not advanced as fast as we expected it to. There’s still lots of outstanding technical issues on Article 6, but that was to be expected.” Some of the major hurdles to overcome include interoperability arrangements and emission avoidance and removals activities.
Thirty companies from the shipping industry published a joint commitment to stimulate the deployment of renewable hydrogen as a shipping fuel by 2030, in line with targets agreed by the International Maritime Organization earlier this year. The commitment features measures on fuel use, fleet development and port infrastructure. Signatories include Maersk, Ørsted and Man Energy Solutions. “In support of our collective actions, we call on the IMO and member states to adopt a [greenhouse gas] pricing mechanism, a levy, as the most appropriate mechanism to achieve a just and equitable transition, among other measures,” noted Rasmus Bach Nielsen, global head of fuel decarbonisation at Trafigura, another signatory.
A new working group on urban water resilience was launched today at COP28 under the Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, which was set up at last year’s COP. The technical-oriented group will set shared 2030 targets with non-state actors to further increase the resilience of cities against droughts and floods.
A group of 17 countries, including the UK, the US, Canada and Australia, have committed to advance policymaking to support low-carbon construction and increase the deployment of sustainable-source wood in the building sector, by 2030. The statement was welcomed by the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition with its convening chair, David Brand, commenting: “The construction sector and the built environment accounts for more than a third of global emissions, and it is critical that countries move quickly to lower carbon emissions and increase stored carbon by using far more timber in buildings.”
Today, is the last day of meetings for COP’s subsidiary bodies, with a few final agreements reached. However, a gender agreement was reached last night after negotiators left out a reference to “indigenous women and women from local communities” in the text, according to a report by non-profit the International Institute for Sustainable Development. One unspecified developed country allegedly opposed the inclusion, arguing against highlighting any specific group of women. Yesterday, former US vice-president Al Gore made several remarks to push for COP reform, whereby decisions should be agreed by a super majority, rather than by overall consensus.
The Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and Climate Change took place at COP28, whereby more than 40 ministers endorsed a joint outcome statement. According to the announcement, a 10-point plan was agreed to stimulate the inclusion of cities in climate change decision-making and to speed up urban climate finance so that urban areas can better face climate challenges. This was only the second time that ministers for housing and urban development took part in COP discussions. Attendees requested for this meeting to become a permanent feature of future COPs.
The Race to Zero campaign group — which was launched at COP26 in Glasgow and consists of companies, local governments and other institutions — has published a progress report, in which it details the target setting of members and their real impact on the economy.