EU wants mitigation work programme on Bonn talks agenda
The EU — with significant support from developing countries — yesterday proposed that the UNFCCC Bonn climate talks agenda officially reflects the mitigation work programme, an EU official said today.
The EU proposal was supported by the alliance of small island states, least developed countries and the independent alliance of Latin America and the Caribbean, but was blocked by the Arab Group of countries, the like-minded developing countries — a bloc of low- and middle-income countries — and Brazil, South Africa, China, and India.
This has left the talks in Bonn, Germany, without an adopted agenda so far.
The EU's proposed agenda item in essence pushed to accelerate mitigation action — which an EU-led group of 80 countries argued hard for up until the final hours of the UN Cop 27 climate summit in November 2022 in Egypt. The mitigation work programme was discussed on 3-5 June before the Bonn climate conference, under the first global dialogue on the issue. "The commencement of the global dialogue and investment-focused event under the mitigation work programme presents a new opportunity to build momentum and a global cooperation to enhance pre-2030 ambitions and implementation in this critical decade," Australia said during the plenary yesterday.
The programme was established at Cop 26 in Glasgow, in 2021, to "urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation". Its mandate was set to include at least two annual global dialogues and "investment-focused events" to unlock finance and scale up implementation of action on mitigation. The topic decided for 2023 is that of accelerating the just energy transition.
Australia added yesterday that it looked forward to engage with parties to reflect on the dialogue under the Bonn provisional agenda item, after the EU's proposal was rejected. Although there was an agreement to move forward with discussions, a representative for China said that decisions made during any talks on items that have not been agreed would carry no legal weight.
The "high stakes issue is that if we don't see an agenda formally agreed here in Bonn, the conversations that do happen on these topics basically can't make it into Cop 28 in a formal way", campaign group Destination Zero's Catherine Abreu said today.
Another agenda addition, put forward by the G77 group of countries plus China, proposed an item on national adaptation plans, "in particular emphasising the need for provision of finance in order to deliver those plans and the doubling of adaptation finance", Abreu said. But although it asked questions, the EU did not block this, an official said.
"Even in this agenda fight we are seeing this struggle between the need to increase ambition and the need to make sure that there's adequate finance in order to deliver that ambition", Abreu said.
Climate finance, including discussions over the establishment of a loss and damage fund, agreed on at Cop 27, will be a key theme at both the Bonn talks and at Cop 28.
The Bonn talks began yesterday and run until 15 June. They mark the midpoint for Cop 28, set to take place in December in Dubai, and set the groundwork for the summit.
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G7 coal exit goal puts focus on Germany, Japan and US
G7 coal exit goal puts focus on Germany, Japan and US
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G7 countries put timeframe on 'unabated' coal phase-out
G7 countries put timeframe on 'unabated' coal phase-out
London, 30 April (Argus) — G7 countries today committed to phasing out "unabated coal power generation" by 2035 — putting a timeframe on a coal phase-out for the first time. The communique, from a meeting of G7 climate, energy and environment ministers in Turin, northern Italy, represents "an historic agreement" on coal, Canadian environment minister Steven Guilbeault said. Although most G7 nations have set a deadline for phasing out coal-fired power, the agreement marks a step forward for Japan in particular, which had previously not made the commitment, and is a "milestone moment", senior policy advisor at think-tank E3G Katrine Petersen said. The G7 countries are Italy — this year's host — Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US. The EU is a non-enumerated member. But the pledge contains a caveat in its reference to "unabated" coal-fired power — suggesting that abatement technologies such as carbon capture and storage could justify its use, while some of the wording around a deadline is less clear. The communique sets a timeframe of "the first half of [the] 2030s or in a timeline consistent with keeping a limit of 1.5°C temperature rise within reach, in line with countries' net-zero pathways". OECD countries should end coal use by 2030 and the rest of the world by 2040, in order to align with the global warming limit of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels set out in the Paris Agreement, according to research institute Climate Analytics. The countries welcomed the outcomes of the UN Cop 28 climate summit , pledging to "accelerate the phase out of unabated fossil fuels so as to achieve net zero in energy systems by 2050". It backed the Cop 28 goal to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 and added support for a global target for energy storage in the power sector of 1.5TW by 2030. The group committed to submit climate plans — known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — with "the highest possible ambition" from late this year or in early 2025. And it also called on the IEA to "provide recommendations" next year on how to implement a transition away from fossil fuels. The G7 also reiterated its commitment to a "fully or predominantly decarbonised power sector by 2035" — first made in May 2022 and highlighted roles for carbon management, carbon markets, hydrogen and biofuels. Simon Stiell, head of UN climate body the UNFCCC, urged the G7 and G20 countries to lead on climate action, in a recent speech . The group noted in today's outcome that "further actions from all countries, especially major economies, are required". The communique broadly reaffirmed existing positions on climate finance, although any concrete steps are not likely to be taken ahead of Cop 29 in November. The group underlined its pledge to end "inefficient fossil fuel subsidies" by 2025 or earlier, but added a new promise to "promote a common definition" of the term, which is likely to increase countries' accountability. The group will report on its progress towards ending those subsidies next year, it added. Fostering energy security The communique placed a strong focus on the need for "diverse, resilient, and responsible energy technology supply chains, including manufacturing and critical minerals". It noted the important of "guarding against possible weaponisation of economic dependencies on critical minerals and critical raw materials" — many of which are mined and processed outside the G7 group. Energy security held sway on the group's take on natural gas. It reiterated its stance that gas investments "can be appropriate… if implemented in a manner consistent with our climate objectives" and noted that increased LNG deliveries could play a key role. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
UN eyes policy crediting for carbon markets
UN eyes policy crediting for carbon markets
Berlin, 30 April (Argus) — The UN is considering extending the scope of carbon mitigation credit generation under the Paris climate agreement to policy implementation. The UN's climate arm has tasked research institute Perspectives Climate Group senior founding partner Axel Michaelowa with drawing up a paper on how to incorporate policy crediting into the new carbon market being developed under Article 6.4 of the Paris deal. This is expected to be finalised by the UN Cop 29 climate conference in Azerbaijan in November following persistent disagreements between countries at previous summits. Policy crediting is increasingly viewed as crucial amid the rising urgency to scale up mitigation activities, Michaelowa said at an industry event in Zurich yesterday. But policy crediting presents challenges, such as how to determine the additionality of the instruments for mitigation efforts. The World Bank, which developed the first ever policy crediting activity — the Transformative Carbon Asset Facility — in 2016, determines additionality indirectly as the difference between the facility's baseline and actual emissions. Michaelowa believes this is insufficient, urging separate additionality tests to prove the policy instrument mobilises mitigation. An eligible policy instrument typically closes the cost gap between mitigation and business-as-usual technologies, Michaelowa said. "Creditable" policy instruments are mandates, or financial incentives, for deploying low-carbon technologies or behaviours. Policies that reverse previous bad governance by eliminating obstacles to mitigation activities also qualify, Michaelowa said, for example a grid operator enforcing a stop on renewable power growth to ensure grid stability, as investments in the grid would be too costly. Uzbekistan signed an agreement under the World Bank's facility in June 2023 under which it can sell carbon credits issued for the emissions reductions resulting from its cuts to high fossil fuel subsidies. The resulting funds are used to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices on the lowest income consumers, and fund awareness campaigns on the need for cost-covering energy tariffs. Uzbekistan expects to reduce its emissions by 60mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) between 2022-27 as a result of the cuts, of which 2mn-2.5mn t CO2e are attributed directly to the facility's intervention, funded with $46.25mn by donor countries to result in a carbon price of between $18.50-23.12/t CO2e. The World Bank is looking at other countries and sectors to apply the lessons learned from the Uzbekistan pilot, its senior climate finance specialist Nuyi Tao said. By Chloe Jardine Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Germany urges closer NDC-climate finance link
Germany urges closer NDC-climate finance link
Berlin, 26 April (Argus) — German federal chancellor Olaf Scholz today stressed the need for nationally determined contributions (NDC) to the Paris climate deal to provide a framework and incentive for climate finance. NDCs — emissions cut targets which countries must draw up and regularly update under the Paris agreement — should provide "clear roadmaps for decarbonisation" to incentivise and reassure private investors, Scholz said at the 15th Petersberg climate dialogue in Berlin, a forum which paves the way for the UN Cop climate conference negotiations later this year. Drawing up an NDC is also about creating good framework conditions for investments in the individual countries themselves, Scholz said. In updating their NDCs, countries have an opportunity to secure investments in green technologies, he said. "Private investors are concerned about a reliable regulatory framework and good governance." Scholz echoed German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock's remarks made at the opening yesterday, when she proposed an "interlocking" of countries' NDCs with investment plans. Baerbock stressed the idea goes beyond getting the countries together to improve their NDCs. It would, for instance, ensure that fossil fuel producers announcing plans to reduce their production do not get penalised by a cut to their credit rating on the financial markets, she said. And it would be about facilitating matchmaking between the private sector in developed countries, and bringing together the ambitions enshrined in the NDCs with instruments ensuring they can be financed, Baerbock said. She gave the example of Barbados, which she said is using its NDC "not just as a national climate action plan but also as a national investment plan", by creating a bank that brings together various factors "linking climate-policy planning, project implementation, and public and private financing". Both Scholz and Baerbock reiterated calls for larger developing countries that have "significantly" contributed to emissions in the past 30 years, and which have the financial means to contribute, to do so. Cop 29 will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November. Finance will be a key topic as countries must decide on a new global goal, the so-called New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance, to replace the pledge missed by developed countries to give $100 bn/yr to developing countries by 2020. Baerbock called for a new annual climate finance budget for developing countries of $1 trillion. Germany plans to modernise its bilateral debt conversion programme, Scholz said. "This is not a panacea, but vulnerable middle-income countries that are willing to reform could also be eligible for climate debt conversion in the future," he said. By Chloe Jardine Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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