#cop27 climate summit

[wikipediaxpress]

The difference between 1.5°C, 2°C or 3°C average global warming can sound marginal. But these temperature rises represent vastly different scenarios for the future. Our survival on this planet hinges on these few degrees 🌡️

📸: United Nations Climate Change

[davidluganda]

Climate Change is one enemy youth need to fight together

[danilorocca]

Palazzo Madama in Rosso, Imbrattatori di Storia Vs Imbrattatori di Natura

Le azioni di Ultima Generazione attuate con vernice non indelebile, gesti disperati, per richiamare l'attenzione di adulti narcisi e perduti, sordi nei loro sogni di potere

Se nessuno vede il vilipendio come fare a riconoscere di chi sia la responsabilità

The Guardian, quotidiano britannico e globale, dal 2018, a differenza di molti altri quotidiani, ad esempio dei grandi media generalisti italiani, ha scelto e deciso di parlare con coerenza giornalistica della crisi climatica. Assumendo in modo corale, dalla proprietà al comitato di redazione l’emergenza del clima come uno dei problemi principali del nostro tempo e dando di conseguenza alta priorità al problema nella gerarchia delle notizie del network.

I giornalisti di Guardian hanno fatto propria una scelta di verità.

I NUOVI IMBRATTATORI

Quando vogliamo parlare di gesti come quelli che hanno destato molto clamore e indignazione dei giorni scorsi con l'imbrattamento dei muri delle colonne di ingresso e delle finestre basse di Palazzo Madama, sede del Senato, azione messa a segno con vernice lavabile da attivisti di #UltimaGenerazione, organizzazione di giovani e giovanissimi ecologisti, dobbiamo credo, guardare i ragazzi. E, guardando i ragazzi, guardare noi. Madri e padri di ragazzi, ex ragazzi, vetero ragazzi, scegliendo di proiettarsi senza indugio nell'oggi.

Noi, adulti, direttori di giornali, editori, politici, commentatori, figure di avanspettacolo della politica di destra e sinistra, industriali, consumatori, siamo I PADRONI E CUSTODI DEL MONDO. Anche se facciamo solo pezzi del reale, ogni nostro gesto, oggi, incide in maniera ineluttabile e decisiva, sul mondo e sul mondo di domani. Su quello che avranno in eredità i nostri flgli, i nipoti.

Imbrattare non è un bel modo di farsi sentire. Se alle prime piogge, che non so quando siano, quando saranno, i bei pilastri della facciata del monumentale palazzo governativo non saranno lindi, i ragazzi di Ultima Generazione dovrebbero essere portati sui ponteggi con i restauratori, a riparare. Il tempo che serve. Chi rompe, paga. Il lavoro manuale con insegnanti e artieri è oro ed ha enorme valore pedagogico.

Ma questo vale anche per noi

Pensiamo a quanto noi, NOI, con il nostro disinteresse, il nostro lavoro da convertire eco, magari domani, i nostri prodotti, il nostro stile di vita, le nostre facce voltate dall'altra parte. Sempre. Tutti quei videogame che abbiamo comprato per anni ai nostri ragazzi sporcandogli la vita, abbruttendogli la testa, annientando la loro capacità di concentrazione, mettedo davanti i nostri valori, con le automobili, sempre più mastodontiche, le merendine che gli davamo, sempre più inquinate. Che impattano e costano. Provare a pensare quanto noi, abbiamo imbrattato il mondo, il mondo che i giovani avranno in dote. Le vernici sui templi preziosi sono la loro restituzione concettuale portata con gesti disperati. E, del resto, come sono custoditi i veri tesori dell'umanità.

Una azione trasgressiva, come tante se ne sono viste in passato, ha un valore reale e un valore simbolico. E, a me, le performance pseudodistruttive degli attivisti di Ultima generazione appaiono più come gesti ultimi in anni ultimi, di giovani disperati. Personalmente, come giornalista, non giudico mai i gesti disperati. Se faccio in tempo, li scongiuro.

Forse, prima di prendere posizione, dovremmo prendere posizione davanti allo specchio. Alla nostra immagine. Provare a guardare bene la figura che si delinea dietro la facciata. Quelle linde facciate morali.

Scopriremmo come Dorian Gray i cumuli di sporcizia che l'azione del potere, delle sue leve, ha lasciato come incrostazioni nel nostro retrovolto. Ci vergogneremmo, o, forse, non ci vergogneremo mai. E puniremo, con accanimento, come sempre, l'altra faccia della nostra vita adulta, i ragazzi.

Rocca 01. 23

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s global balancing act is trickier than ever

“Brazil is back,” vowed president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to cheering crowds at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt two years ago. Having defeated his hard-right rival, Jair Bolsonaro, and won back power after more than a decade out of office, Lula wanted to flag not only his own comeback but his desire to return the South American giant to the global stage.

During Lula’s first two terms, and before corruption scandals tarnished his reputation, the former metal worker had been feted as an international star. At one of the first meetings in 2009 of the G20, a body that gave Brazil a rare seat at the top table, then US president Barack Obama dubbed him “the most popular politician on Earth”. That same year, Brazil also co-founded the Brics bloc of developing nations.

Now Brazil — and Lula — are back in the spotlight. On Monday, the president will host the G20 leaders in Rio de Janeiro, one in a series of high-profile international summits to come. Some time next year, Brazil will welcome the newly expanded Brics group of emerging countries, and in November 2025 will also host the annual UN climate conference in the Amazon port of Belém.

Lula’s return to centre stage says much about the shifting geopolitics of the era, as growing competition for influence between the US and China gradually overshadows a system of international institutions once dominated by Washington.

The new environment has opened up space for a group of middle-ranking powers, many of them not formally aligned — among them Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and the Gulf states, as well as India, a potential future superpower. Many of these governments are trying to expand their international influence in part by playing off the US, China and in some cases Russia.

But Brazil’s efforts to take advantage of the changing geopolitical landscape are also facing challenges. Lula’s attempt to act as a regional power and mediate the political crisis in Venezuela has floundered. Brazil, which prides itself on its own transition from dictatorship to democracy, has been uncomfortable at Russia and China’s efforts to make the Brics group more openly anti-western. And the election of Donald Trump in the US is likely to complicate Lula’s plan to showcase its climate diplomacy.

The country, say analysts, now finds itself having to navigate a much more complicated international scenario, in which its traditional neutrality may come under pressure from all sides. “Brazil is hedging. It’s on the fence,” says Oliver Stuenkel, a foreign policy expert at Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation, of its approach to China and the US.

“Brazil is seeking to implement now this strategy of multi-alignment in a very uncertain global environment,” he adds. “Its major source of power, the capacity to navigate multilateral fora . . . is under so much strain now that this strategy of multi-alignment will become more challenging and maybe more costly.”

Continue reading.

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Hundreds of lobbyists for industrial agriculture are attending the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, analysis shows.

They include representatives from some of the world’s largest agribusiness companies including the Brazilian meatpacker JBS, the animal pharmaceuticals company Elanco, and the food giant PepsiCo, as well as trade groups representing the food sector.

Overall, 204 agriculture delegates have accessed the talks this year, analysis by DeSmog and the Guardian reveals. While the total number has dropped compared with the record highs at Cop28, the figures show climate Cops remain a top priority for businesses working in agriculture, a sector that accounts for up to a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Food sector lobbyists remain highly influential, and have travelled to Baku as part of country delegations from Brazil, Russia and Australia, among others. This year, nearly 40% of delegates travelled to the summit with country badges, giving them privileged access to diplomatic negotiations, up from 30% at Cop28, and just 5% at Cop27.

Delegates from the meat and dairy sector sent 52 delegates to the summit this year, with 20 travelling with Brazil’s government, the analysis found. They outnumbered the delegation of the Caribbean island of Barbados, which in July was devastated by Hurricane Beryl, a disaster linked to climate breakdown.

Meat and dairy producers are coming under greater scrutiny due to increasing pollution from cattle and sheep, which emit about a third of the global output of methane. Farming also relies on synthetic fertilisers that are both fossil fuel-based and emit greenhouse gases, and drive deforestation.

But while studies point to the need for a drastic drop in meat and dairy production and a shift to climate-friendly farming, the agribusiness industry has lobbied hard against tougher environmental laws, in the EU, the US and at climate summits.

An Lambrechts, a senior campaign strategist from Greenpeace International, said there was a clear “conflict of interest” between big agriculture’s presence at the talks and the need for climate action.

“We see the same conflict of interest with the fossil fuel industry and how they act to drive the world away from the scope of actions and solutions that are needed to fight climate change and address its impacts,” she said.

Brazil, the host of next year’s climate summit, was a major funnel for agricultural giants this year. That has sparked concerns over the sway agribusiness may hold over Cop30, which many see as an opportunity for ambitious food systems reform.

The Brazilian government brought in 35 agriculture lobbyists, including more than 20 representatives of the meat companies JBS, BRF and Marfrig, as well as powerful industry groups such as the Association of Brazilian Beef Exporters.

[donate4freeca]

Why is the COP27 important to charities?

Hi, and welcome to our blog about the significance of COP27 for Fundraising For Charity! As the world faces the repercussions of climate change, charities need to acknowledge and address these concerns. Nearly every aspect of charitable activity is impacted by climate change, including environmental preservation and humanitarian aid. The global summit COP27 presents a unique chance for charity to work together and change the world. This article will examine how COP27 could respond to these issues, provide instances of charitable organizations impacted by climate change, explain how readers could get involved, and highlight the advantages of supporting this crucial gathering.

Climate change's effects on humanitarian causes

The environment and philanthropic causes are both impacted by climate change. Think of companies that supply impoverished areas with safe water. Droughts become increasingly severe and frequent as a result of global warming, making it harder to get clean drinking water.

Wildfires, floods, and hurricanes further complicate the work of disaster relief organizations. Vulnerable communities are being destroyed and forced to relocate as a result of more frequent and severe natural disasters.

Global food security is also threatened by climate change. Hunger relief organizations have to contend with weather patterns that are shifting, which affects farming and leads to crop failures. Food shortages get worse as a result, and farmers suffer.

In addition to these direct repercussions, charities also suffer indirect ones due to climate change. Warming temperatures also contribute to the spread of infectious diseases like dengue fever and malaria, which presents extra issues for healthcare charities.

All sectors of charitable causes are impacted by climate change. Companies looking for future solutions and efforts must comprehend these ramifications. By acknowledging the challenges, charities can more effectively advocate for climate-friendly legislation at the COP27.

How the COP27 can handle problems pertaining to charitable work

Climate change is a significant challenge for charitable organizations. In vulnerable places, poverty, malnutrition, and displacement are made worse by climate change. In order to address these grave challenges, COP27 (Conference of Parties) needs to receive charitable attention.

At COP27, charities can collaborate with governments, legislators, and other stakeholders to find sustainable solutions. Talks and discourse at COP27 can lessen the impact of climate change on charitable giving. This entails promoting resilience-building in sensitive areas, renewable energy, and environmental conservation.

Let us illustrate how COP27 could assist charity in addressing climate change-related issues with a few real-world instances. Increasing sea levels damage livelihoods and increase community vulnerability, according to coastal organizations.

Hurricanes and droughts have damaged essential infrastructure or interfered with the supply of clean water in many poor nations where NGOs work.

Charities should go to workshops and seminars related to their activity during COP27. Through their practical knowledge and expertise, they can impact policy decisions in ways that benefit impacted communities throughout these discussions.

Giving to COP27 benefits nonprofit organizations and global sustainability initiatives. Funding for climate adaptation or global accords reducing greenhouse gas emissions could result from the meeting.

Some charitable organizations impacted by climate change

Globally, charities are being impacted by climate change. Numerous groups are adapting to novel concerns, ranging from poverty alleviation to environmental preservation.

A foundation that gives poor countries access to clean drinking water has been damaged by climate change. Water supplies dry up as droughts worsen, depriving populations of clean water. The company needs to make an investment in deeper wells or rainwater collection.

To save endangered species, a wildlife conservation organization battles habitat degradation brought on by rising temperatures and deforestation. Ecosystems are disrupted by climate change, putting fragile creatures in peril. To counteract these effects, the charity has stepped up its reforestation and support for environmental policies.

Disaster relief organizations face more obstacles as the frequency of catastrophic weather disasters rises. Worldwide populations suffer from increasingly frequent and severe hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. These organizations need to make resilience investments and modifications to their disaster response plans.

Charities' options for participating in COP27

As charities tackle both social and environmental issues, their participation in COP27 is essential. Charities can take part in these activities:

1. Spread awareness: Nonprofits can educate local communities about vulnerable groups and climate change. They can arrange webinars, workshops, or open events to increase awareness of the need of taking action.

2. Affect policy changes: Charities can support solutions to climate change and sustainable development for underserved communities. To put successful plans into action, they might collaborate with national and international policymakers.

3. Work together with other groups: Charities can make a bigger difference by partnering with other nonprofits that champion related causes. They can work together to accomplish goals by exchanging resources, knowledge, and best practices.

4. Promote sustainable behaviors: Motivate supporters and employees to adopt eco-friendly activities. This could be recycling, utilizing renewable energy, or encouraging environmentally friendly transportation.

5. Fundraising: Since charities rely on donations, COP27-related initiatives are a great way to raise money and spread awareness of the issue of climate change.

Participation by charities in COP27 events such as these will contribute to the creation of a sustainable future and enhance their standing as agents of change.

Benefits of COP27 support for nonprofit organizations and the global community

1. worldwide Impact: By aiding COP27, charities can combat climate change on a worldwide scale. At this global conference, charities can have an impact on environmental policy and actions that will help the environment and further their own causes.

2. Higher income Opportunities: Funding for environmental conservation and sustainability initiatives is increasing as the impact of climate change increases. Charities connected to the COP27 can take use of these funding opportunities to grow and assist more people.

3. Better Cooperation: COP27 brings together individuals, companies, NGOs, and governments. Through participation in this convention, charities can establish contacts with other like-minded groups. Cooperation fosters advocacy, resource sharing, and knowledge sharing, all of which can boost influence.

4. Adaptation Strategies: Organizations that provide healthcare and disaster relief in places that are vulnerable to climate change confront unique challenges. At COP27, charities can pick up innovative adaptation strategies from international experts and incorporate them into their operations.

5. Sustainability: Charities are encouraged to create sustainable practices by supporting COP27. Carbon emissions could be decreased by energy-efficient infrastructure upgrades or fieldworkers using eco-friendly transportation.

6. Environmental Education: COP27 assists organizations in educating beneficiaries and supporters about the issues of climate change. Through outreach and education initiatives related to the conference's main themes, charities encourage environmental protection on a personal and local level.

In summary:

The fight against climate change requires charities. We've found that charitable initiatives are impacted by climate change. Organizations assist the most vulnerable during natural disasters, food and water shortages, and other emergencies.

Through Ways To Fundraise For Charity participation in COP27, these issues can be resolved. On this global platform, they might collaborate with governments, legislators, scientists, and other interested parties to develop sustainable policies and initiatives.

During COP27, charities can draw attention to their concerns over climate change. They can back programs that tackle these problems and encourage sustainability in their business practices.

Charities can extend their impact and reach beyond specific projects or programs by providing financial or collaborative support for COP27 activities. They send a strong message that everyone in society must work together to save the environment by supporting this global climate action effort.

[ausetkmt]

World Indigenous leaders meeting this week at an annual UN summit have warned that the west’s climate strategy risks the exploitation of Indigenous territories, resources and people.

New and emerging threats about the transition to a greener economy, including mineral mining, were at the forefront of debate as hundreds of Indigenous chiefs, presidents, chairmen and delegates gathered at the 22nd United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

“It is common to hear the expression to ‘leave no one behind’. But perhaps those who are leading are not on the right path,” the forum’s chairman, Dario Mejía Montalvo, told delegates on Monday as the 12-day summit opened in New York in the first full convening since the pandemic outbreak.

The longtime advocacy group, Cultural Survival, in partnership with other organizations, highlighted how mining for minerals such as nickel, lithium, cobalt and copper – the resources needed to support products like electric car batteries – are presenting conflicts in tribal communities in the United States and around the world.

As countries scramble to uphold pledges to keep global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels by 2030, big business and government are latching on to environmentally driven projects such as mineral needs or wind power that are usurping the rights of Indigenous peoples – from the American south-west to the Arctic and the Serengeti in Africa.

Brian Mason, chairman of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian reservation in Nevada said that the 70 or so lithium mining applications targeting Paiute lands have come without free, prior and informed consent – what is considered the cornerstone of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He described the lithium extraction efforts as being on a “fast track” to supply the Biden administration’s net-zero strategy to create a domestic supply of EVs . “It’s kinda just being rammed down our throats,” he said. “At the cost of Indigenous peoples once again.”

Gunn-Britt Retter of the Saami Council, an organization representing the Sami peoples of Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden, said she had been raising awareness about what she calls the “green colonialism” driving harmful sustainability projects on Sami and Indigenous lands. The most recent example has been the Fosen onshore windfarm that was built despite a supreme court ruling in Norway in defense of Sami reindeer herding grounds.

“They look to us to carry the heaviest burden and it’s a disproportionate part of the burden,” she said of Indigenous peoples caught in the middle of a climate conundrum. “We need to reduce CO2 emissions globally, and we need to seek alternative energy sources, but we also need to protect the Indigenous cultures because we are the guardians of nature, which is part of the solution.”

Mejía Montalvo, who belongs to the Zenú peoples of San Andrés Sotavento in Colombia, said global climate talks have failed to properly include Indigenous peoples, yet at the same time, such dialogue has relied on a well of Indigenous knowledge systems to imagine future climate goals. “The issue of climate change and biodiversity cannot be resolved without the real and effective participation of Indigenous peoples.”

He urged the 193 member states affiliated with the UN, as well as its international governing bodies, to set a quota for actions that guarantee Indigenous peoples can take part in decisions affecting our planet, and in a way that puts them “on equal footing” with states – meaning, voting power, which Indigenous peoples lack.

The most recent example of the disparity came last fall in the historic “loss and damage” fund for vulnerable countries reached at Cop27 in Egypt. Indigenous peoples lacked explicit reference in the agreement, despite many world leaders, including the US president, Joe Biden, acknowledging the importance of Indigenous peoples in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

But there has been progress. The rights-based Paris agreement within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the environmental treaty to combat the climate crisis – has provided a rare opportunity for formal Indigenous participation in the creation of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP). The constituent body held its first meeting as a recognized working group in 2019, and engaged in dialogue with the Cop presidency last year in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Of the short cast of international leaders who spoke at the start of the global event on Monday was the first ever appearance by a UN secretary general, António Guterres, at a permanent forum opening ceremony. Also present was Deb Haaland, US interior secretary and tribal citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna, who received a standing ovation following her remarks where she acknowledged a litany of historic injustices against Indigenous peoples and a collective need to heal, saying Indigenous peoples must be brought into the fold in global human rights decision-making.

Lahela Mattos of Ka’Lāhui Hawai’i and a representative of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, urged the permanent forum chair to work with UN agencies like the World Health Organization to develop and implement comprehensive policies to better protect the safety of Indigenous women and girls as a way to protect the planet. “The destruction of and violence committed against our Earth Mother perpetuates, violence against Indigenous peoples, specifically Indigenous women who are protectors and bearers of life on this planet.”

The recommendation regarding “environmental violence” on Indigenous women and girls was first featured in a recent human rights treaty body outcome and represents one of the first fundamental links between human rights abuses and environmental catastrophe – a connection that most stakeholders grappling with the climate crisis have yet to make.

“Let us not forget that climate is the language of Mother Earth,” said Mejía Montalvo.

[indepwom101]

📷 Det Danske Kongehus

🇩🇰 Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

Monday, March 20, 2023

“These days, decisive steps are being taken in Copenhagen towards the upcoming UN climate summit COP28.

Because Denmark, together with the Egyptian COP27 presidency and the upcoming COP28 presidency from the United Arab Emirates, are hosting an international climate conference, lasting over two days.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince took part this evening in an event at the Skuespilhuset for the approximately 50 ministers and leaders from all over the world, who both look back on the achievements of the past year in the climate fight and look forward to the next stage when COP28 is due to be held later this year.”

[davidluganda]

Call for ClimateAction

Inadequate progress on climate action calls for the urgent sector and system-wide transformations – in the electricity supply, industry, transport and buildings sectors, and the food and financial systems – as current climate pledges leave the world on track for a temperature rise of 2.4-2.6°C by the end of this century.

[mariacallous]

In the lead up to the COP27 climate summit, the urgency of climate change had never been clearer. A third of Pakistan had submerged under water, half of China’s landmass was parched by drought, and repeated heatwaves set Europe ablaze with some regions losing up to 80% of their harvest.

Despite this, the global community in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt was unable to muster the financial commitments needed to adequately respond to the climate crisis. Achieving the Paris Agreement’s temperature and adaptation goals requires an estimated global investment of $3-6 trillion a year until 2050, but current investment levels are nearly a tenth of that, just around $630 billion. Further, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), annual climate finance to developing countries needs to increase by four to eight times by 2030, yet COP27’s new finance pledges came nowhere near this target, and no headway was made on a new 2025 finance goal.

There were some victories, like the establishment of the Global Shield fund for climate risk, and a historical Loss and Damage Fund to help countries recover from climate impacts. But the details of these funds could take years to formalize before any country sees the proceeds. In the meantime, emerging market and developing economies will continue to face the brunt of the impacts of climate change with the fewest resources, while also being the least responsible for warming the planet.

Given this context, a new tool, debt-for-adaptations swaps, could be a game changing way to accelerate the lethargic pace at which climate finance is made accessible to countries desperately in need.

In a debt-for-adaptation swap, countries who borrowed money from other nations or multilateral development banks (e.g., the IMF and World Bank) could have that debt forgiven, if the money that was to be spent on repayment was instead diverted to climate adaptation and resilience projects. This has an opportunity to both alleviate debt distress and increase funding to adaptation which has proved far more difficult to finance than clean power. There has been a lot of interest in debt swaps from developing countries and multilateral development banks, especially at COP27, but not specifically focused on adaptation.

The U.S. should take on a leading role in this effort, not only because it is the right thing to do but also because it advances U.S. interests in its geo-strategic rivalry with China. As developing nations look to see who will help them out of the climate catastrophe, the U.S. has a chance to pioneer an alternate model to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is entrapping developing countries into loans and debt distress.

Moreso, the sovereign debt burden of developing countries is largely a historical product of colonialism. By championing debt-for-adaptation swaps, the Biden administration can advance its environmental justice objectives and quickly channel critical resources to vulnerable communities.

The State of Play: Loans and Mitigation Dominate, Grants and Adaptation Lag Behind

There is no common, universal definition for what “climate finance” means but it generally refers to two types of financial flows: (1) climate investments which seek to generate financial returns, and (2) climate aid which is given as a grant with no expectation of repayment.

Nearly 94% of existing climate finance is in the first category[1]—an investment through either debt or equity where the funder is expecting some financial return. These funders include commercial banks and investors, governments, and multilateral and national finance institutions (e.g., World Bank, International Monetary Fund, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation).

The expectation of revenue generation for climate investments structurally binds the success and likelihood of deals to broader macroeconomic and political trends. Therefore, climate investment has been slow in developing countries due to a real and perceived risk of doing business in countries which may be involved in or adjacent to armed conflicts, face political or economic instability, or experience humanitarian disasters. While private investors do want to invest in the developing world, most such projects are at very high-risk levels, well above what is considered ���investment grade.”

Projects that do meet the “investment grade” criteria are almost all focused on renewable energy. Indeed, 90% of all climate finance last year went exclusively to activities which mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This makes sense from an investor perspective because electricity can be bought and sold, generating predictable cash flows to yield returns.

The tradeoff is that climate adaptation has been almost entirely neglected in climate finance flows despite being more urgent for many developing countries. Roughly $50 billion in adaptation finance was tracked between 2019-2020, compared to $571 billion for mitigation. The U.N. estimates that developing countries already need $70 billion per year to cover adaptation costs now and will need $140–$300 billion in 2030, rising to $280-500 billion by 2050. The damage from this year’s monsoon flood in Pakistan alone will exceed $40 billion.

There are a range of reasons why adaptation projects like drought-resistant seeds, resilient buildings, environmental restoration, or sea walls have struggled to attract private sector financing. At its core, it is more difficult to capture the benefits of adapting to climate change in a way that generates revenue. Suffice it to say, as long as profit-motive drives the majority of climate finance flows, adaptation finance will lag behind.

What adaptation lacks in revenue generation opportunities, though, it makes up for in avoided damages. Adaptation finance can help avoid the costs of infrastructure collapse, climate refugees, and potential failed states. A conservative estimate finds that by 2050, the economic cost of climate change will be between $1 trillion and $1.8 trillion (not including non-economic losses like loss of cultural sites).

The hope is that climate aid, or money that’s given without expectation of financial return (e.g., grants), can fill this gap in climate adaptation finance. Unfortunately, developed countries have channeled a comparatively meager amount of overall climate finance through grant-based instruments. In total, grants currently account for only 6% of climate finance. Between 2016-2018, grant-based bilateral climate finance accounted for 34% of all U.S. contributions ($645M), 12% of Japan’s ($1.2B), and only 3% of France’s ($146M). There have been some bright spots, however, with 91% of the U.K.’s contributions coming through grants ($1.3B), 99% of Australia’s ($111M), and 100% of Sweden’s ($482M). At COP27, developed countries failed to make headway on the Glasgow Climate Pact to double adaptation finance, nor did they define the Global Goal on Adaptation (equivalent to the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C mitigation target).

In the U.S., there has been political reluctance to legislatively disburse funds for climate aid grants. President Biden requested $11.4 billion in climate aid every year till 2024, but Congress has authorized just $1 billion total. The politics of grant-based aid remain controversial, as Republicans and Democrats are virtually in different worlds on how to address the climate crisis and the role of the U.S. in supporting other countries.

Therefore, in the absence of a significant inflow of grant money, innovative solutions are needed to overcome the barriers to scaling up climate finance for adaptation. By using debt-for-adaptation swaps, climate finance for adaptation can be mobilized while

[jordanianroyals]

12 November 2024: Deputising for King Abdullah II, Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II participated in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) hosted by Azerbaijan in Baku.

Crown Prince Hussein delivered Jordan’s address at COP29, which is held with the participation of heads of state from around the world, as well as heads of delegation and representatives of international and economic organisations.

“In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,

On behalf of Jordan, I thank His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev and the people and government of Azerbaijan for hosting this important summit.

We have gathered here under the banner of solidarity: The family of nations joining as one to protect the planet we share.

We all know that without common action, we are destined to fall short.

Yet, we meet at a moment when faith in our ability to stand together is broken. When global norms, including the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions, are being flouted with impunity.When trust in the international community to stand up for its own values has collapsed. When humanitarian violations are broadcast daily, for the whole world to see, yet continue to be ignored and dismissed without consequence. 

Saving our planet must start from the premise that all lives are worth saving.

The solidarity we need depends on embracing that truth.

Yet, over the past 13 months, the world has stood by as thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza—the majority women and children.

How can we work together for our shared future, when some are deemed unworthy of one?

The ongoing violence in my region undermines peace and security beyond its borders. In the end, this will benefit no one.

My part of the world is already exposed to the harsh realities of climate change—to heat, to drought, to loss of biodiversity.

The war is compounding environmental challenges, for Gaza and beyond.

A recent United Nations Environment Programme study highlighted contamination of land, water, and air. Sewage and waste management systems have been destroyed. Entire communities are now graveyards of debris.

Another study found that rebuilding Gaza will result in total emissions higher than the annual emissions of more than 135 countries.

An inclusive, just approach to the climate challenge requires that we address the links between climate, peace, and security.

Nowhere is this clearer than among global refugee communities and their hosts, who are some of the most vulnerable to climate change.

During COP27, His Majesty King Abdullah II launched the global Climate-Refugee Nexus Initiative. Fifty-eight countries have signed on to date—and we invite others to join.

One in every three people living in Jordan is a refugee, and our infrastructure is feeling the strain. We face rising demand on stressed resources and services, including water, health, and education.

And while we in Jordan have made significant strides in clean energy, water conservation, and climate-smart agriculture, these efforts are not enough.

We need to rally communities around climate action and secure a better future for our youth and generations to come.

In my country, we are implementing climate policies while grappling with the impacts of conflict, yet we cannot solve these twinned crises alone.

As our Summit works toward a New Collective Quantified Goal, we must prioritize refugee-hosting countries, especially those in climate hotspots, and ensure that global climate financing mechanisms uphold accountability and transparency for all.

Just as urgently, we must rebuild trust in the international community itself, and acknowledge past failures. Our inability to collectively do what is right is turning us into passive observers… fully aware, yet unwilling to act.

As His Majesty King Abdullah II has said, no one is a bystander in the fight for life on Earth.

That means fighting against climate change, fighting for peace, and fighting to alleviate human suffering together.

Because every life is worth fighting for.

Thank you.”

The Jordanian delegation to COP29 included Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Environment Minister Muawieh Radaideh, Planning Minister Zeina Toukan, Director of the Office of the Crown Prince Zaid Baqain, and Jordan’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Omar Nahar.

[tsmom1219]

One big loophole threatens the global energy transition

Read the full story at Semafor. Asia is now responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions, and decarbonizing the continent is critical for the world to keep temperature increases below 1.5°C. But one major loophole isn’t just holding back progress — it could doom global net zero goals. Following the COP27 climate summit in 2022, G7 nations unveiled plans to help countries…

[01courtreporter]

video thumbnail

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Investors pile into Brazil’s first sustainable bond

Also in today’s newsletter, private capital struggles to rise to the global climate challenge

“Brazil is back,” then president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told a crowd at the COP27 climate summit this time last year, signalling a break with the environmental backsliding under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

Since then he and his officials have been repeating that message to anyone who will listen — including sustainable bond investors who, as I write below, gave it a pretty enthusiastic reception.

Also today, in the run-up to intense debates on this subject at COP28, we look at how far the private capital sector is — or is not — rising to the green finance challenge.

Continue reading.