There’s been a lot of big wins from COP28 this year. As the global climate negotiations draw to a close, we take a look at the policies and pledges to come from the conference so far:
Climate Finance
– Over $57 billion was mobilised across the climate agenda in the first 4 days of COP28.
– A $30 billion fund for climate solutions aims to attract $250 billion of investment by the end of the decade.
– Pledges by developed nations towards a Loss and Damage fund was the headline development on the first day of COP28. An agreement to establish the Fund was reached at COP27 last year but since then progress has been slow and there have been disagreements about how it should be funded and managed. The largest initial pledges were a commitment by the EU to provide US$245 million (with US$109 million coming from Germany alone) and the UAE to provide US$100 million. Others included US$51 million from the UK, U$17.5 from the US, and US$10 million from Japan.
– The UK, France, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and African Development Bank (AfDB) made new commitments to expand Climate-Resilient Debt Clauses (CRDCs) in their lending. In total 73 countries joined a call to action to donors to expand the use of these clauses by 2025. These commitments support countries to deal with climate shocks by ensuring they have fiscal space to invest in climate action. This marks significant progress to reform the global climate finance architecture by making climate finance available, accessible, and affordable.
Renewable Energy
– More than 100 countries have agreed to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 and double the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements. They have also pledged to put the principle of energy efficiency as the “first fuel” at the core of policymaking, planning, and major investment decisions.
Nature, Land and Ocean
– Nature, Land Use and Ocean Day unlocked new financing for forests, mangroves and ocean conservation. Commitments to restoring nature and achieving a 100% sustainable ocean economy were signed, and more than 150 businesses and financial institutions announced plans to set science-based climate and nature based targets, invest in nature-based solutions and disclose their nature-related impacts and dependencies.
– ‘A Playbook for Nature-Positive Infrastructure Development’, in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) was launched to spotlight the construction sector’s role in conserving and restoring natural ecosystems. The playbook draws from some of the world’s most important infrastructure projects, to offer practitioners a wide range of nature-based solutions that put nature at the heart of infrastructure design.
Built Environment
– A tool to track and measure methane emissions from waste was launched and is set to go live in 20 global megacities.
– The Buildings Breakthrough was launched with the support of 27 countries, to make ‘near-zero and resilient buildings’ the new normal by 2030, addressing the fact that the building sector alone accounts for nearly 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, 50% of extracted materials and one third of global waste.
– The Cement and Concrete Breakthrough was launched by Canada and the UAE, along with inaugural endorsing countries including the UK, Ireland, Japan and Germany. The initiative strives to make clean cement the preferred choice in global markets, with near-zero emission cement production established and growing in every region by 2030.
Food and Agriculture
– This is the first time it has been recognised at COP that what people grow and eat is a key factor in global warming. A fund aiming to promote food security while combatting climate change has mobilised $2.5bn, as part of a declaration on sustainable agriculture, resilient food systems and climate action.
– The new Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action is a first of its kind commitment to adapt and transform food systems as part of climate action. 134 countries, including the UK, have committed to the declaration, which includes intention to strengthen national adaptation plans, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and national biodiversity strategies to integrate agriculture and food systems.
– Some of the world’s largest companies are teaming up to significantly scale regenerative agriculture practices by 2030. As part of the COP28 Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes, businesses including Danone, PepsiCo and Nestlé have agreed to advance regenerative agriculture practices on more 160 million hectares of land (triple the size of France). The effort is expected to involve approximately 3.6 million farmers. Participants so far have invested $2 billion into regenerative projects, with another $2.2 billion committed. Businesses have agreed to report and monitor the impact of their regenerative projects on a number of metrics such as soil health, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, water and farmer livelihoods.
– Bel Group, Danone, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Lactalis USA and Nestlé agreed to publicly disclose the methane emissions associated with dairy supply chains, part of a new alliance to tackle the potent greenhouse gas. The companies, along with the Environmental Defense Fund, launched the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, which aims to create a new model for transparency and provide support for farmers. The businesses pledged to release an action plan by the end of 2024 to outline their plan to reduce methane emissions.
– The UK government brought in long-awaited legislation to ensure illegal deforestation isn’t part of supply chains in supermarkets, which will apply to palm oil, cocoa, beef, leather and soy.
Waste and Resources
– More than 30 new country members joined the Freshwater Challenge, which commits members to work to protect and restore 30% of the Earth’s degraded freshwater ecosystems by 2030. The UAE pledged USD $150 million in funding for innovation to address water scarcity, and eight Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) announced that they will double the number of people benefitting annually from their technical and financial support on water within 3 years.
– CEOs from Volvo Group and Norsk Hydro announced a new partnership to co-develop a roadmap towards supplying near zero-aluminium in 2030.
