Singapore will not claim from climate loss and damage fund despite facing rising sea levels: Grace Fu

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Last month, it announced a plan to reclaim around 800ha of land – the size of over 1,000 football fields – on its east coast, as part of coastal protection measures.

As to whether Singapore will instead contribute to the loss and damage fund, Ms Fu said the country sees its role more as one that galvanises financing for nations at risk.

“There are countries that have sounded out their willingness to contribute to the fund. We very much welcome that, from the perspective of helping our fellow island states,” she said.

“But there are countries also that have (other) resources, such as in Singapore, I think our resources will be really in activating finance, activating technology, and bringing solutions to cities. So each one of us, if we are able to find our own way to contribute to climate action, I think that’s to be welcomed.”

PHASE DOWN OR PHASE OUT?

Ms Fu also addressed a major flashpoint in the COP28 climate talks, where the choice of language over whether to “phase down” or “phase out” fossil fuels remains under furious debate.

“We will have to work through the languages to find possible landing zones. We are trying to now find languages that can actually meet the needs of most parties, and this is a very democratic process,” she said.

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Commentary: Why China’s clean energy boom matters for global climate action

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HOW DID CHINA BOOST CLEAN ENERGY SO FAST?

China’s huge domestic market and large-scale deployment of wind and solar contribute greatly to plummeting renewable costs. Steadily lowering costs means green energy becomes viable for developing countries.

In 2012, a large team from China Power Investment Corporation arrived in the high desert in Qinghai province and began building 15.7GW worth of solar across 345 sq km.

It was here that China first figured out how to make intermittent power reliable. Excess power was sent to a hydropower station 40km away and used to pump water uphill. At night, the water would flow back down through the turbines. Technologies developed here are now being used in other large-scale hybrid projects, such as hydro-solar, wind-solar and wind-solar-hydro projects.

In 2022, the government announced plans to install 500GW worth of solar, onshore and offshore wind projects in the Gobi Desert across Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Gansu provinces.

These are intended to not only supercharge China’s clean energy supply, but to tackle desert expansion. Solar panels stabilise the movement of sand and absorb sunlight, reducing evaporation of scarce water and giving plants a better chance at survival. This knowledge, too, came from the Qinghai solar farms, where plants began growing in the shade.

China’s focus on technology has given it combined solar and salt farms, floating solar power plants and energy storage ranging from batteries to compressed air to kinetic flywheels and hydrogen.

While the US and China cooperate at COP28, competition is not far away. China already dominates many clean energy technologies, but the US is trying to catch up through the massive green spend in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.

According to the International Energy Agency, half of all emissions cuts needed to achieve net-zero by 2050 will come from technologies currently at demonstration or prototype phase. These include cheap green hydrogen, next generation nuclear, next generation solar and wind, and functioning carbon capture and storage for remaining fossil fuel use.

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China’s clean energy boom offers climate action hope

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With an energy-hungry economy, an historic reliance on coal and vast manufacturing enterprises, China is the world’s single largest emitter, accounting for 27% of the world’s carbon dioxide and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions.

But China is also the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels and wind turbines. Domestically, it is installing green power at a rate the world has never seen.

This year alone, China built enough solar, wind, hydro and nuclear capacity to cover the entire electricity consumption of France. Next year, we may see something even more remarkable – the population giant’s first-ever drop in emissions from the power sector.

The COP28 climate talks began well, buoyed by November’s Sunnyland Statement between China and the United States, the second largest emitter. At previous climate talks, US-China cooperation has been lacking. But this time, they’re largely on the same page.

The statement outlined joint support for global tripling of renewable energy by 2030, tackling methane and plastic pollution, and a transition away from fossil fuels.

coal barge in middle of shanghai
Coal has fuelled China’s rapid rise. Photo: Shutterstock via The Conversation

The urgency of now

China has been looking for better coordination with the US on climate since US President Joe Biden took office. Climate is an area where these competing major powers can cooperate.

The COP28 talks in Dubai – meant to finish tomorrow (December 12) – offer a window for joint action. Next year, the US could elect a different president with very different views on climate. China’s well-regarded veteran special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, is about to retire.

In these talks, China – the world’s top oil importer – is looking for a compromise solution on the tense debate over fossil fuels. The world’s cartel of oil-producing countries, OPEC, has called for focusing on emissions reduction rather than fossil-fuel phase out in the declaration. Xie and his team are trying to find a middle ground to ensure a final deal.

China has long been criticized for its continuing coal-fired power plant expansion. It has the world’s largest coal power fleet, and approved another 106 gigawatts worth of new coal plants just last year – the equivalent of two a week. But the five major state-owned power companies are already burdened by heavy financial losses.

Why build dirty and clean? It’s a longstanding national policy: build sufficient baseload supply first while expanding renewable capacities. But at COP28, Xie said something new:

[China will] strive to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy in a gradual manner.

A country of engineers

In developed countries, much clean energy work is driven by energy economists, who use incentives to change behavior.

China is a country of engineers, who see these challenges as technical rather than economic.

In 2007, China released a national action plan on climate, calling for technological solutions to the climate problem. Private and state-owned companies responded strongly.

Fifteen years later, China is in the lead in every low-carbon category. Its total installed renewable capacity is staggering, accounting for a third of the world’s total, and it is leading in electric vehicle production and sales.

In the first three quarters of 2023, over 53% of China’s electricity came from low-carbon sources: hydro, wind, solar, bioenergy and nuclear.

ship building wind turbines in the sea
China has approached its record-breaking renewable roll-out methodically. Photo: Shutterstock via The Conversation

How did China boost clean energy so fast?

China’s huge domestic market and large-scale deployment of wind and solar contribute greatly to plummeting renewable costs. Steadily lowering costs means green energy becomes viable for developing countries.

In 2012, a large team from China Power Investment Corporation arrived in the high desert in Qinghai province and began building 15.7 GW worth of solar across 345 square kilometres.

It was here that China first figured out how to make intermittent power reliable. Excess power was sent to a hydropower station 40 kilometers away and used to pump water uphill. At night, the water would flow back down through the turbines.

Technologies developed here are now being used in other large-scale hybrid projects, such as hydro-solar, wind-solar and wind-solar-hydro projects.

china desert solar farm
Huge solar farms carpet the desert in Qinghai – and new work opens the door to revegetating in the shade of the panels. Photo: Shutterstock via The Conversation

In 2022, the government announced plans to install 500 GW worth of solar, onshore and offshore wind projects in the Gobi Desert across Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu provinces.

These are intended to not only supercharge China’s clean energy supply, but to tackle desert expansion. Solar panels stabilize the movement of sand and absorb sunlight, reducing the evaporation of scarce water and giving plants a better chance at survival. This knowledge, too, came from the Qinghai solar farms, where plants began growing in the shade.

map of china showing gobi and Taklamakan deserts
Plenty of room for solar: China’s two major deserts, the Gobi and Taklamakan, are home to more and more solar. TheDrive/Wikimedia, CC BY-ND

China’s focus on technology has given it combined solar and salt farms, floating solar power plants and energy storage ranging from batteries to compressed air to kinetic flywheels and hydrogen.

While the US and China cooperate at COP28, competition is not far away. China already dominates many clean energy technologies, but the US is trying to catch up through the massive green spend in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.

According to the International Energy Agency, half of all emissions cuts needed to achieve net zero by 2050 will come from technologies currently at the demonstration or prototype phase. These include cheap green hydrogen, next-generation nuclear, next-generation solar and wind, and functioning carbon capture and storage for remaining fossil fuel use.

What has China achieved at COP28?

China is backing global calls to triple renewable capacity by 2030 and has agreed to tackle methane emissions, a particularly potent greenhouse gas.

China is far behind in energy efficiency – it uses about 50% more per unit of GDP than in the US, and double that of Japan. It has not invested in energy efficiency as it has in other low-carbon areas.

This could change. US and China agreed in November to restart joint energy efficiency work on industry, buildings, transportation, and equipment, seen as harder areas to cut emissions.

At COP28, we will likely see states agree to double the rate of energy efficiency improvement from 2% to 4% a year by 2030. It remains to be seen whether China will join them.

Xu Yi-chong is Professor of Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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COP28: Should India and China receive or pay climate damage fund?

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People on the bank of the polluted Yamuna river as the city is engulfed in heavy smog in Delhi, India, 08 November 2023.EPA
Written by Navin Singh Khadka
BBC World Service’s environmental journalist

India comes in third and China is the major transmitter of house gases in the world.

Why is there debate over whether the two nations may contribute to a fund to address the harm caused by climate change when they both have sizable markets?

The issue persists even after COP28, the the UN ( UN) climate change conference held this year in Dubai, announced a deal between nations to start the fund’s operation and 18 countries pledged funding for it.

The Vulnerable 20 Group ( V20 ), which has 68 developing countries as members, reported in 2022 that 55 of its members ( the rest joined recently ) had lost$ 525 billion ( £414.2 billion ) as a result of climate change over the previous 20 years. This represented one-fifth of their money.

Although China and India are not among these nations, they contend that they too have underprivileged populations in need of like a fund’s monetary assistance.

According to a UN report from 2022, developing nations will require more than$ 300 billion annually to combat climate change by 2030. It continued,” Our capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate change is closely related to our need for damage and destruction financing.”

What is the damage and loss portfolio?

In order for poorer countries that have been affected by climate-related disasters, such as communities displaced by floods or rising sea levels, to recover and become rehabilitated, the fund aims to offer financial assistance.

Damage and destruction refer to a condition in which communities are unable to conform to or plan for atmospheric impacts because the damage has already been done, which is different from climate adaptation funds.

Protesters demand payouts by rich countries in loss and damage compensation on day five of the UNFCCC COP28 Climate Conference at Expo City Dubai on December 04, 2023 in Dubai, Dubai of the United Arab.

Getty Pictures

The damage and harm bank was formally established during next week’s COP27 in Egypt following years of conflict between developed and developing nations.

At COP28, the deal is scheduled to go into effect. According to the Natural Resources Defence Council, which has been monitoring financial commitments at COP28, fifteen developed nations and the host country of the UN, a developing country, have so far made money commitments totaling about$ 660 million.

Who ought to foot the bill?

The US, a developed nation and the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, and other developed countries say China and India may meet them in not only significantly reducing emissions for effective global climate activity, but also making contributions to the bank.

China and India, however, disagree, claiming that their great emissions are more recent than those of developed nations like the US and the UK.

They also assert that because they are also developing nations, as defined by the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, they actually qualify to receive the loss and damage fund to which they have been asked to lead.

County discussions about how to create the finance work have been contentious in the year since COP27, but in October 2023 they came to an agreement.

The comments, which have since been approved by COP28, “urge” developed nations to help the damage and damage bank and “encourage” others to do so voluntarily.

Additionally, the decision demonstrates that all developing nations are qualified to submit cash applications.

Attendees inside pollution pods, geodesic domes simulating air pollution levels from Beijing, London and New Delhi, on day two of the COP28 climate conference at Expo City in Dubai, Dubai of the United Arab, on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023

Getty Pictures

However, negotiators claim that the decision has never resolved the conflict between created nations and significant developing economies like China and India over who should receive the fund or pay for it.

A mediator from a Western nation who asked not to be named said,” The sources of funding still remain an important controversial issue that has been parked for now.”

Who ought to receive it?

In 2006, China surpassed the US as the world’s largest carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) emitter.

However, China and India both contend that established nations ‘ emissions of greenhouse gases started in the 1850s, the start of the professional era, and contributed to the climate crisis.

In the the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC), the two Asian giants also emphasize the idea of” common but differentiated responsibilities,” which essentially states that all nations have a duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but that each nation’s share of responsibility varies depending on their needs for development.

That same debate has also received support from numerous legal societies and climate activists.

According to Liane Schalatek, associate producer at Heinrich Boll Stiftung, a US-based international organization that closely monitors damage and destruction negotiations,” The large loss and problems we are seeing right now are the consequence of 30 years of largely foot-dragging by developed countries on reducing their emissions faster and providing climate finance to developing countries.”

She argued that it was morally inappropriate and dishonest to beg developing nations to contribute to the new account on an equal standing with developed nations.

But, developed nations contend that the classification of nations is out of date and needs to be changed.

In 1992, states were classified as developed and developing. Since then, according to reviewers, a lot has changed, especially in nations like China and India that are now significant economies and leading transmitters of greenhouse gases.

They claim that an example has now been set with the UAE, a developing nation on the UNFCCC list, having pledged$ 100 million for the account.

Waste sorting in Dharavi

Getty Pictures

An private negotiator from a European nation added,” We hope not only China and India but also other states, including Saudi Arabia, which are listed as developing nations in 1992, will see themselves more as contributors to the bank than consumers.”

A few tiny island states even repeated that message.

” Social responsibility.”

The Alliance of Small Island States ‘ cause damage and destruction finance negotiator, Michai Robertson, contends that big economies like China and India must fulfill a “moral responsibility to join with the fund.”

The entire council ( including developed and developing countries ) acknowledges that we need beyond developed states as well and other parties to get involved by using the words “encourage other party parties for providing bank” in the proposal.

However, this is not the first instance in which a culture bank has required considerable time to establish.

The discussion surrounding the loss and damage climate finance is compared by a plan and advocacy agent I spoke with to an earlier climate finance pledge that has still not been carried out.

Given the ten-year trust gap that is at the center of UN climate negotiations, it is not surprising that many developing nations view this as little more than a postponing technique, according to Ross Fitzpatrick of Christian Aid, an organization dedicated to alleviating poverty.

The failure of wealthy countries to fulfill their prior commitment to provide$ 100 billion in annual climate finance starting in 2020 is the best example of the trust deficit.

This$ 100 billion commitment to climate finance was made by developed nations at the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen, separate from the loss and damage climate account.

According to Aarti Khosla, the director of Climate Trends, a Delhi-based organization that studies loss and damage discussions and other weather issues, as long as that commitment is not carried out, big developing nations will always have an argument against making any commitment to the Los and Damage Climate Fund.

The definition of” common but differentiated responsibilities” also changes, according to her, “because the convention’s principles ( the 1992 UN climate convention ) call for evolving obligations.”

But without the developed world keeping its earlier claim, it is difficult for China and India to contribute to the account.

Currently, BBC News India is available on YouTube. To listen and view our films, explanations, and features, click here.

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Why are leaders still flying to climate summits by private jet?

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At the most recent UN climate summit in Dubai, COP28, more than 70 000 members from nearly 200 nations include Raji Sunak, David Cameron, and King Charles. However, they are just a few of the thousands who will have flown that on their own. The British monarch, foreign secretary, and prime minister actually took three different planes to their destinations.

Around 315 private jet flights were made at COP27 in Egypt last season. This is a remarkable data, especially given that fewer earth leaders attended the COP because some were preoccupied with Bali’s G20 summit.

To calculate the carbon footprints of traveling to this year’s meeting, COP28 in Dubai, for various modes of transportation, including private jets, we assembled a group of scientific experts. In the end, we want to give participants the tools they need to choose climate-conscious go.

In order to discourage participants from using private jet unless absolutely necessary for safety, we furthermore compared the carbon footprints of the previous three Officers to help determine where the conferences might be held.

Although we do n’t yet have complete data, the use of private jets last year—and probably this year as well—indicates that this is becoming the new norm and has progressed beyond just the most important world leaders.

carbon footprints of various modes of transportation

According to pollution from burning jet energy and because mist routes help produce high-altitude clouds that trap more heat in the atmosphere, flying is already one of the most carbon-intensive modes of transportation. Additionally, decarbonization is particularly challenging because we cannot just use electric planes in their place.

Private jets are the worst of all in terms of pollution. &nbsp, Photo: Shutterstock / Dushlik

Personal jet travel is the most damaging function of all because it uses a lot of fuel while transporting some people. According to French scholar Thomas Piketty, if we are to combat climate change, we must address them because they serve as an illustration of school inequality.

Their usage by well-known individuals blatantly undermines the purpose of a climate conference and exemplifies the lack of commitment to sustainable practices as well as the disconnect between economic concerns and individual behavior.

This runs the risk of forming and influencing public opinion. According to earlier studies, people are less likely to get climate action seriously if they believe their leaders are failing to contribute.

Prior to the formal peer review, we looked at the use of private jets for the COP27 in Egypt ( our findings are available as a preprint ). The majority of private flights were short-haul, frequently lasting only an hour between the capital city of Cairo and the seminar location in Sharm El-Sheikh. As takeoff and landing consume more energy than cruising, planes are even less effective over shorter distances.

Therefore, avoiding small airlines and private aircraft is essential. In light of this, we looked into a variety of vacation choices for individuals from the UK, where we are based, to travel to COP28 in Dubai.

Even after taking into account a flight from Istanbul because you ca n’t travel the entire distance to Dubai by train or coach, private jet travel pollutes the area 11 times more than commercial aircraft, 35 times worse than train, and 52 times the amount of coach travel. For those traveling from the UK, this year’s pollutants may be higher due to the longer trip to Dubai than Egypt.

Transport from London to COP28 carbon intensity ( grams of CO2equivalent ):

Bar chart
The amount of aircraft pollution depends on the distance from London to Dubai. The emissions of cars, trains, and coaches are calculated based on trips from London to Istanbul and a subsequent trip. A Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign is used for private jet emissions ( most frequent in COP27 data ), an Airbus A380-300 for commercial flight emissions, and a Vauxhall Corsa for car trips. Roberts and colleagues ( 2023 ), CCBY-SA

The UNFCCC, the UN system that chooses where Criminal meetings will take place, may bear some of the blame for flight emissions. Conflict zones surround Dubai, making flying that necessary because they obstruct area pathways from Europe, Asia, and Africa.

While the majority of delegates will want to travel sustainably, their choices will depend on the availability of other modes of transportation, such as healthy land routes, and, for those traveling farther away, at the very least, the ability to fly directly to reduce their carbon emissions.

In this regard, Dubai is a wise choice because it has many direct flights and there is less need for following or internal flights due to its proximity to major airline hubs.

Our study emphasizes the necessity of properly weighing the effects of traveling to COP meetings on the carbon footprint. In the end, decision-makers may need to choose the spots of climate change conferences that will help reduce the carbon footprint of the attendees.

But, personal aircraft are still not advised. They have a much larger carbon footprint than other modes of transportation, worsen current weather agreements inequalities, and mislead the earth.

Professor Priti Parikh is Professor of Infrastructure Engineering and International Development at UCL, Carole Roberts is Researcher at Carbon Footprint of Transport, Mark Maslin teaches Natural Sciences there, and Prof.

Under a Creative Commons license, this post has been republished from The Conversation. read the article in its entirety.

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COP28: Singapore reaffirms commitment to domestic climate action, global collaboration

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SINGAPORE: The 2015 Paris Agreement provided the framework for all the world’s nations, including Singapore, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

The world, however, is on track to heat up between 2.1 degrees Celsius and 2.9 degrees Celsius by 2100, according to the 2022 report by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

The UN also warned earlier this week that plans to expand oil, gas and coal production by major fossil fuel countries would push the world far beyond the Paris deal’s global warming limit.

Speaking at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai on Saturday (Dec 2), Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean referenced the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events of late, including heatwaves in Asia as “clear warning signs”.

COP28 will see the conclusion of the first Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement and the annual climate meeting is a “timely opportunity for the world to keep the target of 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach”, said Mr Teo. 

As the window of opportunity to tackle climate change is “small and closing quickly”, he stressed this was an opportunity to “course-correct” and “take decisive action” to keep the aim set in Paris in sight.

To this end, Singapore “reaffirms its commitment to domestic climate action, regional partnerships and global collaboration”, Mr Teo said.

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Renewed US-China ties bode well for climate action

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The relationship between the US and China is the most important in the world, and it has been unstable and sometimes under extreme stress in recent years. But a recent meeting between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in California may bring new momentum for global climate action.

Climate change is a priority area of cooperation for the two countries, and a key document was released just ahead of the presidents’ meeting. The Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis reaffirms the two countries’ support for climate action and further institutionalizes their cooperation.

The leaders of both countries understand that solving the climate crisis requires global collective action – especially from the world’s two largest polluters, who between them account for 44% of the world’s carbon emissions. Even during a time of crisis in their bilateral relations, the US and China still tried to maintain regular exchanges on climate change thanks to strong personal ties between their climate envoys.

With Israel-Gaza and the long-lasting Ukraine-Russia war both creating problems for US foreign policy, Biden wants to rebuild the relationship with China. At the same time, China eagerly wants to reduce tensions in order to remove trade and investment restrictions imposed by the US. Climate change is a way for the two countries to rebuild trust.

Climate envoys Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry at the 2021 climate conference in Glasgow. Image: Alamy via The Conversation / Jane Barlow

Strengthening climate cooperation

The Sunnylands statement notes a working group will be set up to accelerate climate actions. This group was initially planned in 2021 but stalled after senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in the summer of 2022.

Its establishment will provide additional guarantees to continue cooperation on climate change amid possible political turbulence in both countries, especially around next year’s presidential election in the US.

The statement also supports cooperation between cities, provinces and states in China and the US. Several Chinese provinces have already learned from California’s experiences to set up emissions trading programs of their own, while California has signed agreements with various cities and provinces – including Guangdong province on industrial decarbonization, and Jiangsu province on offshore wind.

Agreements like these can ensure climate action continues when cooperation at the national level is interrupted, perhaps due to future political changes. Plans to reduce non-CO₂ greenhouse gas emissions also represent important progress. Most important of these is methane, which has strong greenhouse effects.

The US has been pushing China to address methane since 2021 – and just a week before the Biden-Xi meeting, China announced its first methane action plan. The Sunnylands statement sent a signal to the rest of the world that the planet’s two largest emitters intend to make more efforts to reduce these emissions.

Implications for COP28

The statement also reaffirms the two superpowers’ support for the UN’s official climate processes, including the Paris agreement – the success of which depends on the ambition of each country’s pledge to reduce emissions. Crucially, the two biggest emitters have reaffirmed their determination to be more ambitious when the pledges are next updated in 2025.

The current UN climate conference, COP28 in Dubai, will also conclude the first global “stocktake”, which is likely to find there has not been enough progress towards the goal of limiting warming at 1.5°C. That’s why many countries and other stakeholders – even including big businesses – have called for a global agreement to phase out fossil fuels to be made at the conference.

The success of this initiative is likely to depend on the political will of China, which – despite already burning the most coal in the world – has continuously expanded its coal-fired power plants.

While the Sunnylands statement has no explicit mention of ending fossil fuels, it says both countries intend to “sufficiently accelerate renewable energy deployment in their respective economies […] so as to accelerate the substitution for coal, oil and gas generation.”

As China is also a global leader in clean technologies with the largest solar and wind capacity in the world, further cooperation between the two countries on renewables is good news.

China has about half of the world’s solar panels. Picture: Shutterstock via The Conversation / Jenson

The two countries also agree that the global stocktake should “send signals with respect to the energy transition”. This implies they may be willing to discuss the phaseout of fossil fuels at COP28, and potentially support an agreement.

Finally, being respectively the largest developing and developed countries in the world, China and the US have also shown commitment to building consensus in contentious negotiations on climate finance – money paid to poorer countries to help them adapt to climate change or cut their own emissions.

On the first day of the conference the establishment of a so-called loss and damage fund was announced, to help more vulnerable countries cope with the consequences of climate change. This is a good start. This is a good start.

However, existing pledges remain insufficient, and funds will still need to be equitably distributed to developing countries impacted by climate change. Cooperation between the two superpowers will be instrumental in building effective and just institutions to deliver that money.

As China and the US have restarted their climate cooperation with strong commitments, the world can raise their expectations for COP28. Global policymakers must seize their last remaining opportunities – and this is a promising start.

Yixian Sun is Associate Professor in International Development, University of Bath

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Wetlands hold answers to climate mitigation, adaptation  

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Along Asian coastlines, there are many areas where rural communities are experiencing alarming rates of sea-level rise due to the loss of their mangrove cover. Europe also has lost half of its wetlands, much of it through drainage.

Last year, the Andalusian parliament legalized the widespread abstraction of underground water by strawberry farmers, which is drying up the Doñana wetland and leading to the desertification of Spain.

Degradation of Sahelian wetlands in north-central Africa has caused resource scarcity, undermining human well-being and compelling people to migrate.

In Indonesia, peat swamps are rapidly being logged, burned, and converted for agriculture, causing massive forest fires affecting the respiratory health of millions of people.

Meanwhile, as you read this, the world’s largest tropical wetland ecosystem, the Pantanal of Brazil, is being scorched by wildfires.

What, you may ask, does this have to do with an annual UN climate conference, COP28, which is focused on emissions reduction and coping with the impacts of a globally heating world?

Well, everything.

Mitigation

Mitigation refers to reducing the amount of greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere to slow the rate of climate change. The most important action needed in this aspect is rapid and ambitious emission reduction. 

The UN Environment Program’s Emissions Gap Report tracks the gap between where global emissions are heading with current country commitments and where they ought to be to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The 2023 report shows that progress has been made since 2015 but much deeper emissions cuts need to be made this decade to limit global warming. 

Research has shown that nature-based solutions can provide more than one-third of the cost-effective climate mitigation needed to stabilize warming to below 2 degrees by 2030. Alongside aggressive-fossil fuel emissions reductions, nature-based solutions offer a powerful set of options for nations to deliver on the Paris Climate Agreement.

Wetland ecosystems like mangroves, marshes, peatlands and seagrass beds absorb and store carbon. They are essential parts of Earth’s natural carbon cycle and crucial to mitigating climate change.

Last year’s State of the World’s Mangroves report estimated that mangroves sequester carbon at up to four times the rate of terrestrial forests. 

Peatlands are some of the most misunderstood habitats on our planet. Viewed for decades as wastelands, peatlands – though only covering about 3% of our planet’s land – store about twice the amount of carbon as all the world’s forests combined. 

While mitigating climate change is essential, adapting to it is an equally urgent matter, and wetlands have some solutions. 

Adaptation

The effects of climate change are already being felt. The five warmest years on record in Europe have all occurred since 2014, leading to multiple heatwaves. Floods and landslides from extreme rain took hundreds of lives across Asia this year.

We can only expect the frequency and intensity of disasters caused by climate change to increase especially as new UNEP analysis shows insufficient progress made by countries. And unfortunately, the hardest hit are those who contributed least to its cause. 

Wetlands can curb some of these effects. The sturdy roots of mangrove forests and leaves of seagrass meadows protect shorelines from storm surges and sea level rise by preventing erosion and softening the force of waves. Peatlands act as sponges, slowly holding and releasing water, reducing the intensity of both floods and droughts. 

Conversely, the loss and degradation of wetlands exacerbates the climate crisis by releasing greenhouse gases and leaving ecosystems, and the people dependent on them, more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The draining of peatlands alone releases the equivalent of about 4% of all annual emissions caused by human activity.

To enable global warming to remain below 1.5 degrees, at least half of drained peatlands should be restored by 2030, and further peatland loss should be prevented. 

Despite ample evidence in support of nature-based solutions, the amount of public international funding flowing to them for adaptation accounted for less than 1.5% of total climate finance flows in 2018, and public multilateral and bilateral adaptation finance flows to developing countries declined by 15% in 2021.

But the news is not all bad. Recent analysis shows a growing inclusion of coastal and marine ecosystems in climate strategies. For instance, Belize plans to protect and restore mangrove and seagrass ecosystems to enhance their carbon sequestration capacity, while Liberia has committed to fully integrating mangrove emissions and absorption into the national greenhouse gas-inventory by 2030. 

Healthy wetlands are a powerful solution to the climate crisis. What we need now is urgent action. Governments, business, and civil society must collaborate to scale up the safeguarding and restoration of wetland ecosystems, as well as tackle the drivers that destroy wetlands.

Commitments and efforts under the Convention on Wetlands can be leveraged to deliver climate action but finance needs to be made available to support wetland projects. With the conclusion of the first Global Stocktake, COP28 should be the time countries rapidly include ambitious wetland actions in their Nationally Determined Contributions. 

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Achieving climate equity for the Commonwealth

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In: Asia

The Commonwealth of Nations has demonstrated a long-standing dedication to tackling climate change and assisting member countries in mitigating its adverse effects.

The unified political determination to safeguard the planet for succeeding generations has been precise and robust, dating back to the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment in 1989. During this pivotal moment, Commonwealth leaders pledged to take concerted action, both independently and collectively, through a program focused on environmental initiatives and addressing the challenges of climate change. 

Climate action plays a vital role in the resilience and prosperity of small island developing states (SIDS), particularly within the Commonwealth. SIDS, despite their diversity, face significant vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, posing existential threats to their economies and ecosystems.

The Commonwealth actively supports SIDS in advocating for increased climate action, recognizing the unique challenges they confront in the face of climate change. The commitment of the Commonwealth heads of government to various goals, including climate action, underscores the interconnectedness of health, education, gender equality, and climate resilience for SIDS. 

Access to electricity is essential for economic progress and poverty reduction. However, many less developed nations in the Commonwealth face limited power availability, which hampers such social services as health and education. Additionally, it is crucial to decarbonize the energy sector and ensure climate equity to promote sustainable development objectives. 

Energy access disparities are prominent in the Global South, where both power access and the proportion of renewable energy lag behind the global average. African Commonwealth nations, in particular, require significant electricity availability development despite being leading renewable energy producers.

Bridging these disparities is essential to fulfill the objectives of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), which aims to achieve universal access to affordable and reliable energy services.

The Commonwealth Sustainable Energy Transition (CSET) Agenda is a collaborative platform for concerted efforts among member countries to expedite the shift toward low-carbon energy systems and attain SDG 7. This initiative is grounded in three fundamental pillars: inclusive transitions, technology and innovation, and enabling frameworks.

It champions actions led by members to accelerate inclusive and equitable energy transitions, ultimately realizing the objectives of SDG 7. The CSET Agenda has introduced three new member-led action groups focusing on energy literacy, geothermal energy, and a crosscutting youth action group. 

Transitioning to a low-carbon economy is vital for achieving decarbonization targets and addressing climate change. However, this transformation poses challenges due to the historical reliance on hydrocarbon energy sources.

Moreover, the shift toward decarbonization may lead to stranded hydrocarbon assets, affecting not only their owners, but suppliers, staff, entire communities and regions. A comprehensive and inclusive policy framework is necessary to guide member nations in aligning their efforts with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the COP21 Paris Agreement.

While policy frameworks and climate targets are essential, they must be accompanied by binding rules and regulations. Legislation can enforce energy-efficiency standards, promote the adoption of renewable energy, and phase out carbon-intensive practices. As already done in the UK and Canada, prohibiting internal-combustion engines or coal-fired electricity generation can expedite the energy transition and propel positive climate action.

Climate injustice is a significant concern within the Global South, where poorer nations often contribute more to combating climate change than wealthier countries. Evaluating national emissions capabilities and historical emissions reveals stark disparities, emphasising the need for fair burden-sharing.

Wealthier nations have an opportunity to address climate injustice by supporting renewable energy projects in Commonwealth countries, thereby reducing energy poverty.

To this end, the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) facilitates unlocking climate finance for small and vulnerable member states. This initiative assists countries in bidding for and gaining increased access to climate finance by supporting the development of grant proposals and project pipelines.

The process also involves building human and institutional capacity, providing technical advisory services, and fostering cross-Commonwealth cooperation. Commonwealth national climate finance advisers, deployed and embedded in relevant government ministry departments, play a key role in facilitating sharing of experiences and expertise among member states. 

Africa Caribbean Pacific
Mauritius Antigua & Barbuda Fiji
Eswatini Belize Solomon Islands
Namibia Grenada* Tonga
Seychelles* St Lucia Vanuatu
Zambia Barbados, Jamaica & Guyana*  
Regional Technical Assistance – Commonwealth Regional Climate Finance Adviser, Indo Pacific Incoming – Regional Technical Assistance Regional Technical Assistance – Commonwealth Regional Climate Finance Adviser, Africa
* Countries that have previously been supported by a Commonwealth national climate finance adviser.
CCFAH Beneficiary Countries | Source: The Commonwealth and Climate Change Report

Examining how energy is generated, delivered, and utilized is essential to achieving decarbonization goals and fostering socioeconomic growth. Accelerating the energy transition requires strong political will, technological advancements, and cost reductions. Finally, ensuring inclusive processes during this transition is crucial for achieving sustainable and people-centered social development.

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IFRC wraps up Hanoi meeting with calls for better disaster preparedness in Asia Pacific

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In: Asia

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

The Israel-Hamas conflict, into its seventh week, has displaced more than 1.7 million people in the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF.  

Multiple aid organisations, including the IFRC, have renewed calls for an extended humanitarian ceasefire and pleaded for desperately needed aid to be allowed unimpeded into the devastated enclave.

“(We) express deep concern about the protracted crisis in the Middle East and express solidarity with Palestinian Red Crescent Society and Magen David Adom,” said Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz, chairwoman of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society, in a statement at the conclusion of the conference. Magen David Adom is Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service.

Dr Hossam Elsharkawi, IFRC’s regional director for Middle East and North Africa, also read to delegates the organisation’s recommendations regarding developments in Gaza.

“Endorsing the truce is insufficient. We must actively call for a permanent ceasefire,” he said.

“It is crucial to issue a statement condemning the violations and denouncing atrocities, specifically the deliberate targeting of civilians, medical personnel and hospitals,” he said.

Other recommendations include advocating for additional access points to Gaza, avoiding forcing people to leave their homes in population transfer scenarios, and providing support to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The aid network said that civilians are paying the “highest price” in the hostilities, and has called on all parties to allow humanitarian organisations to safely access and support those impacted by the crisis.   

Delegates said the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine take away huge amounts of attention and resources from programmes on climate action.

“The biggest challenge is that we have more and more diversified types of humanitarian crises,” said Mr Ma Wenbo, a representative from the Red Cross Society of China.

“We have natural disasters, and we also have man-made ones like war, armed conflicts, etc., which is stretching our resources.”

CLIMATE RISKS

Even as these conflicts divert public attention, the IFRC highlighted the need for the region to guard against growing climate risks.

Delegates at the conference agreed on a call for action for Asia Pacific, which is the world’s most disaster-prone area.

Nearly 45 per cent of the world’s natural disasters occur in Asia and the Pacific, and more than 75 per cent of those affected live within the region, according to the UN.

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