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G7, G20 to push international climate ambition

  • Market: Emissions
  • 25/11/21

The G7 and G20 summits could act as "accelerators" of international climate ambitions, as Germany's incoming government pledges to take on a leading role in international climate policy during Germany's G7 presidency in 2022.

The parties forming Germany's prospective new government, in their coalition agreement presented on 24 November, pledged that Germany will use its G7 presidency to establish climate partnerships, along with an "international climate club" which would be open to all countries.

The parties — the Social Democrat SPD, the Greens and the pro-business FDP — pledged that the new government they will form will aim to strengthen multilateral co-operation "within the scope of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement".

The new government will also aim to extend German environmental, climate and energy co-operations. These co-operations would focus on boosting growth in renewable power capacity and its corresponding infrastructure, and on green hydrogen production, among other things, the coalition parties said.

The new government would also fulfil its commitment towards the $100bn climate finance pledge, potentially raising its commitment in the future.

Wilfried Rickels of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy said today that the coalition's push for a leading role in climate policy during Germany's G7 presidency "emphasises the necessarily international nature of climate policy".

Policy analyst Lisa Katharina Schmid of the federal environment ministry, which is led by caretaker environment minister Svenja Schulze of the SPD, said on 24 November that G7 and G20 venues offer the possibility of annual "check-ins" which will build up pressure to raise climate ambition.

Germany's federal environmental office UBA is hoping for the G7 and G20 summits to act as an "accelerator" for their members' climate ambitions in the period to 2030, UBA climate expert Juliane Berger said. A study commissioned by UBA which was presented this week, "Advancing multilateral cooperation on climate action", suggests using international venues such as G7 and G20 as "stepping stones".

Non-governmental organisation E3G's Berlin-based policy adviser Jennifer Tollmann pointed out the growing role that nationally determined contributions (NDCs) play at G7 and G20 summits. At the last G20 summit, which took place in Rome last month ahead of the UN Cop 26 climate conference in Glasgow, leaders of the club's countries agreed on reviewing their NDCs, among other climate-related pledges.

Deputy director general at the German federal environment ministry Norbert Gorissen stressed the importance of a "serious follow-up" on the many announcements made at Cop 26. This responsibility falls to the UK presidency of Cop 26, and on all other parties having initiated the announcements, but civil society, think-tanks and international organisations also have a role to play, Gorissen said.

International co-operation played a big role at Cop 26, Gorissen said, adding that "it must play an even stronger role afterwards". The growing role of international co-operation is reflected in the success at Cop 26 in reaching an agreement on the rules for Article 6 — covering international carbon markets — of the Paris climate agreement, Gorissen argued.

The new federal government, under caretaker finance minister Olaf Scholz of the SPD, is expected to be sworn in in the week of December 6, once party members give the green light to the coalition agreement.


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07/07/25

Multilateralism should steer climate finance: Brics

Multilateralism should steer climate finance: Brics

Sao Paulo, 7 July (Argus) — Developed countries must fully engage in climate finance to support developing countries trying to meet Paris agreement goals, top Brazilian officials said at the Brics summit held in Rio de Janeiro on 6-7 July. "One decade after the Paris agreement, [the world] lacks resources for a fair and planned transition," Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said. "Developing countries will be the most affected by losses and damages, while they are also the ones that have fewer ways to fund mitigation and adaptation," Lula da Silva said during his keynote address Monday. The Brics summit discussed climate finance in anticipation of the UN Cop 30 climate summit , which will be also be held Brazil, in November. The group issued a declaration that reinforced its commitment to uphold multilateralism as a solution for climate actions, while it also emphasized developed countries' responsibility towards developing countries to financially enable just transition pathways and sustainable development aligned with the Paris agreement. The Cop 29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024 managed to reach an agreement to allocate $300bn/yr in resources for climate action. But delegates to the upcoming UN Cop 30 summit are targeting at least $1.3bn/yr in public and private funds to tackle climate change, focusing especially on countries that are already dealing with extreme weather conditions and lack financial resources to mitigate it. The Brics also announced a memorandum of understanding on the Brics Carbon Markets Partnership focused on capacity building and multinational cooperation to support climate strategies such as mitigation efforts and emergency resource mobilization. The declaration opposes unilateral protectionist measures, arguing that they "deliberately disrupt the global supply and production chains and distort competition." Climate justice, the fight against desertification, strengthened climate diplomacy and subsidies to environmental services were the main topics of discussion during the Brics summit, Brazil's environment minister Marina Silva said. Brazil will launch its own initiatives to promote climate finance in Cop 30. One program already launched is the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) fund that aims to raise $125bn to preserve 1bn hectares of global tropical forests across 80 developing countries. Brics' development bank NDB will target 40pc of its investments to promote sustainable development, such as energy transition. The bank has approved $40bn in investments for clean energy, environment protection and water supply, it said last week. Brazil accounts for $6.4bn of total investments, gathering resources to 29 projects under climate actions, according to the institution. Brazil currently holds the presidency of the Brics, which also includes Russia, China, India and South Africa. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran are also members. Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Cuba, Uganda, Malaysia, Nigeria, Vietnam and Uzbekistan act as partner nations. Heated speech During his keynote address, Lula criticized the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an institution that promotes unilateralism and stressed his support for reforming institutions of the UN to promote multilateralism and political equity for developing countries. He also mentioned that 65 of the biggest banks in the world committed to a $869bn investment to the fossil fuels sector last year. "Market incentives run contrary to sustainability," he said. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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NGOs pitch Amazon preservation funding to Cop 30


04/07/25
News
04/07/25

NGOs pitch Amazon preservation funding to Cop 30

Sao Paulo, 4 July (Argus) — Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Brazil's northern Amazon region set up a plan to draw investments to conservation, restoration and sustainable development in the biome. The plan — submitted to the UN Cop 30 climate summits presidency on 4 July — suggests redirecting subsidies from high-greenhouse gas emission activities to sustainable projects and promoting environmental services, as well as fighting against illegal economic practices such as animal trafficking and property speculation of public lands, according to the NGOs. The Amazon gathered around $5.8bn in investments between 2013-22, while it is worth at least $317bn/yr in ecosystem services, such as climate regulation — vital for agriculture and hydroelectric power generation — and biodiversity, according to the World Bank. The institution also estimated that $7bn would be necessary to preserve the biome against deforestation and ward it off from the tipping point, when it would suffer permanent damage like desertification and severe changes in the rainfall pattern. Main financial resources for the plan may come from the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) initiative, which Brazil launched in 2023 to raise funds to protect tropical forests and combat deforestation, the NGOs said. Considering the program's annual raising of $5bn, the groups expect that $2bn of it will fund the Amazon forest preservation. Another proposal includes the creation of a Global Declaration for Amazon to engage countries enrolled in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in contributing to strengthen the biome against climate change. Brazil will host UN Cop 30 climate summit in November, when it expects to deliver a roadmap to increase global climate finance to $1.3 trillion/yr. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Carbon – In Focus: Article 6 out of ETS in EU proposal


04/07/25
News
04/07/25

Carbon – In Focus: Article 6 out of ETS in EU proposal

London, 4 July (Argus) — The European Commission will allow international carbon credits to contribute to the bloc's 2040 climate target, but will exclude their use in the EU emissions trading system (ETS), temporarily allaying fears of a potential carbon market impact, although questions around solutions to the ETS' diminishing allowance supply persist. The commission's proposal to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions by 90pc by 2040 compared with 1990 levels would, from 2036 onwards, allow up to 3pc of the goal to be met using international carbon credits issued under Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement. But contrary to speculation since the commission's director-general Kurt Vandenberghe indicated last month that the goal would include "flexibilities", it does not envisage integrating the offsets into the EU ETS. "These international credits should not play a role for compliance in the EU carbon market," the proposal states. The text must still be negotiated by the European Parliament and EU member states before its adoption, but the commission's approach is likely to have provided some initial reassurance to EU ETS participants, which may have feared the inclusion of credits could undermine the market. A study by research body the Oeko-Institut published last month warned that introducing Article 6 credits to the ETS "poses significant risks to the functioning and environmental integrity of the system". CDM impacts linger The concerns are not without precedent. Until 2020, participants were permitted to meet part of their ETS compliance obligations using international carbon offsets issued under Article 6's predecessor, the clean development mechanism (CDM). The high availability of often cheap credits of varying environmental integrity increased the ETS' supply glut last decade, which in turn dampened the signal for companies covered by the scheme to decarbonise. The EU ETS benchmark front-year contract closed at an average of €11.90/t of CO2 equivalent in Argus assessments over the system's third trading phase, from 2013-20. EU carbon market tightens But the market context by the end of next decade will be very different. The system's supply cap is expected to fall to zero by 2039, from 2.04bn allowances in 2013, leading to calls for the integration of instruments — in some cases including international credits — to bring flexibility to the market and avoid forcing sectors with residual emissions to shut down. And Article 6 credits will be more closely regulated than their antecedents, which could support their value and make any interaction between the markets less bearish for EU ETS allowances. At the World Bank's Innovate4Climate conference in Seville, Spain, last month, head of carbon markets at Spain-based bank BBVA, Ingo Ramming, told delegates that the EU needs to overcome reservations about international carbon credits stemming from past CDM experiences if it is to find a solution to the declining ETS supply cap. Political challenges remain Article 6's inclusion in the 2040 target in any form is likely to prove divisive in negotiations on the proposal. A number of EU countries were pushing for the inclusion of Article 6 credits in the goal ahead of the commission's proposal, but some parliamentary groups were quick to signal their disapproval of the approach set out in the text. Leader of the Greens in the parliament Bas Eickhout said he hopes to persuade other parties not to allow international credits into the target, while the S&D group — the second-largest in parliament — warned against their use, terming them "a last resort". By Victoria Hatherick EU ETS front-year contract €/t CO2e Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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UN Green Climate Fund approves projects worth $1.2bn


04/07/25
News
04/07/25

UN Green Climate Fund approves projects worth $1.2bn

London, 4 July (Argus) — The UN's Green Climate Fund (GCF) this week approved $1.225bn in climate finance across 17 projects in 36 countries — the largest amount of finance it has agreed at a single meeting. The projects will provide funding to developing countries for adaptation and mitigation. The former refers to adjusting to the effects of climate change where possible and the latter to cutting emissions. The GCF also this week signed project agreements for nine of the 17 projects, as part of its bid to speed up implementation. The fund is this year "scaling up its activities in response to the global demands for climate finance", it said. Finance remains the overriding topic at multilateral climate talks. Brazil, the host of November's UN Cop 30 climate summit, will deliver a "roadmap" at the conference setting out how global climate finance could be increased to $1.3 trillion/yr. The GCF now has a portfolio of 314 projects, which total $18bn in GCF resources and $67bn including co-financing. The fund operates under the financial mechanism of UN climate body the UNFCCC and is mandated to invest half of its resources in mitigation and half in adaptation. It is the world's largest climate fund and was originally capitalised with $10.3bn in 2015. The fund's first replenishment, in 2019, gathered a further $10bn in pledges and its second replenishment reached around $13.6bn after funds committed at Cop summits in 2023 and 2024 . By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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French 2024 emissions cuts 'incompatible' with net zero


03/07/25
News
03/07/25

French 2024 emissions cuts 'incompatible' with net zero

London, 3 July (Argus) — The pace of emissions reductions in France last year was "incompatible" with its goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, according to state climate watchdog Haut Conseil pour le Climat (HCC). Gross GHG emissions fell by 7mn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e) last year to 369mn t CO2e, a step down from the decline of 27mn t recorded a year earlier. Gross emissions last year were 32pc below the 1990 level, compared with a target of a 50pc decline, or down to 270mn t, by 2030. France's upcoming emissions plan, set to be published this year, aims at a 16mn t/yr fall in emissions to 2030 . About 70pc of the decline last year was linked to temporary factors, leaving only a 2mn t structural reduction, HCC said. Emissions from private vehicles — one of the largest sub-sectors, accounting for 18pc of emissions — stagnated despite the slow ongoing electrification of the fleet, suggesting an increase in the distances travelled. Lower emissions from buildings were almost entirely attributable to weather and higher energy prices, while a slowdown in the decline of industrial emissions was not linked to any uptick in production. And public policies to deliver decarbonisation are lacking, with a "relaunch" being necessary to meet objectives. Overarching plans have been delayed, HCC said, citing the SNBC emissions plan and PPE energy plan, both of which are expected to come out this year. Some policies have been put in place to contribute to decarbonisation, including regulations on vehicle fleet emissions and taxes on air travel. But progress has slowed or reversed in other areas, such as domestic energy efficiency programmes. And the decreased funding to two sub-sectors that require the majority of investment needed to reach 2030 targets — energy efficiency improvements to homes and electric vehicles — makes meeting these targets "unlikely" without considerable acceleration, HCC said. The slowdown in French emissions cuts comes at a crucial moment in the UN-run international climate process. The UN Cop 30 conference planned for Belem, Brazil, in November will mark the 10th anniversary of the Paris agreement, in which states committed to maintaining global temperature increases to well below 2°C, and preferably 1.5°C. In the run-up to the conference, countries and blocs should deliver their third nationally determined contributions (NDCs), or climate plans, outlining their efforts to cut emissions. But these plans are likely to fall short of the cuts necessary to keep the 1.5°C temperature limit, reinforced at Cop 28, within reach. France should work with the EU to ensure strong language on the phase-out of fossil fuels is present in Cop 30 outcomes, HCC said. But the country's own lack of a detailed fossil fuel exit plan, as well as declines in its provision of climate finance, could decredibilise its climate diplomacy, HCC warned. The European Commission on 2 July proposed an emissions reduction target of 90pc by 2040, which if extrapolated on a straight line would lead to a 73pc cut for 2035 in the NDC, according to non-governmental organisation WWF. By Rhys Talbot Change in annual gross emissions, France mn t CO2e Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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