Nature @ COP 27 Daily Brief – Nov. 10

10.11.22
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by Nature4Climate

The general reactions to Finance Day yesterday mirrored those of the World Leaders Summit: that the scale of the announcements and commitments made so far, both public and private, pale in comparison to the scale of the need, outlined in a range of new reports.

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COP 27 is finally here and in addition to an exciting events schedule and news coming out of the Nature Zone and Nature’s Newsroom, we are keeping our eyes and ears out for anything nature related inside the Blue Zone. Our Daily Nature Brief at COP27 will be coming out every morning from 7-18 November with an inside scoop into the most important climate conference of the year. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive the brief directly in your email.

The general reactions to Finance Day yesterday mirrored those of the World Leaders Summit: that the scale of the announcements and commitments made so far, both public and private, pale in comparison to the scale of the need, outlined in a range of new reports. In other words, there is still considerable work to be done to deliver a credible finance package outcome to help accelerate transitions to a 1.5 future. The proposal of the U.S. to mobilize private carbon market finance to support clean energy transitions in developing countries was met with mixed reactions. On the nature front, many of the new finance commitments were made at the FCLP summit on Monday, complemented by a range of announcements yesterday. In the Blue Zone, there have been a series of events on the different finance mechanisms and transformations needed to scale up nature-based action, although virtual access has been somewhat hampered by internet issues in the conference center. Most of these will be available on the Nature4Climate Youtube channel in due course.

Day 3 Round Up 

  • Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative. Ministers of the 10 West and Central African countries signed the expanded Africa Sustainable Commodities Declaration – moving from the original focus on palm oil to a set of principles that encompass all relevant commodities in the production landscape. The Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative (ASCI) puts producer countries in Africa at the forefront of defining the principles for the sustainable development of cocoa, rubber, palm oil, coffee and other commodities, in a way that protects livelihoods and protects natural resources, including forests.
  • Restore Africa. The Global EverGreening Alliance and Climate Impact Partners announced a partnership to deliver up to US$ 330 Million in community-led carbon removal programs across Africa: in Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. This effort is part of Restore Africa, building more resilient livelihoods, restoring productivity to degraded landscapes, and drawing down significant volumes of carbon from the atmosphere.
  • Tree Equity. Yesterday, American Forests announced a $10 million Tree Equity Catalyst Fund to help make cities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, in line with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 11. The Fund will complement the Inflation Reduction Act’s $1.5 billion investment in urban and community forestry—the largest such investment by enhancing the capacity of cities and frontline organizations to advance Tree Equity in urban communities across the United States.
  • US Poll. New poll commissioned by US Nature4Climate shows strong support for tapping into the potential of natural/working lands to address climate change. By a 86% to 14% margin, voters support laws & public funding to expand implementation of natural climate solutions.
  • WBCSD NBS Report. On Monday, WBCSD launched a new report on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) — alongside supporting technical papers on related topics — that present findings and recommendations for NbS strategies for Net Zero, Nature Positive and addressing Inequality, based on the role that NCS can play for the climate.
  • Brazilian Beef & Soy Report. New report by Chain Reaction Research finds that full traceability of Brazilian soy supply chains is possible and is already part of existing sector agreements; and full traceability of Brazilian cattle supply chains is challenging, but possible. Additionally, its financial analysis finds if the costs of supply chain due diligence are spread across the full supply chain, including the downstream segment, the impact on gross profit and operating profit would be in the ranges of 0.6-3.4% and 1.1-0.9%, respectively.
  • Freshwater Report. New research shows that water is much more important in mitigating climate change than previously believed. Better management of water is critical to tackling today’s food and energy crises, both of which are exacerbated by climate change. The report titled: “The essential drop to reach Net-Zero: Unpacking Freshwater’s Role in Climate Change Mitigation,” released today, is the first-ever summary of current research on the role of water in climate mitigation. A key message is the need to better understand global water shortages and scarcity in order to plan climate targets that do not backfire in future.
  • Save Cleantech Utilities. Egyptian Engazaat S.A.E, Swedish Azelio AB, and French Mascara NT announced an alliance to provide innovative utility solutions addressing the challenges of the Water-Energy-Food nexus. The alliance, SAVE Cleantech Utilities, will offer “Water-and Energy-as-A-Service-Model” for the first time in the industry enabling farmers in off-grid desert locations to focus their resources on the farming activities.
  • Scaling and Accelerating Adaptation In Food Systems in Africa. WWF shares a new report highlighting the US$60 billion shortfall in climate finance for adaptation in Africa is preventing action in food systems at speed and scale necessary to address climate change. The report details why agri-food subsidies must be redirected to support nature-positive food production practices and African national climate action and adaptation plans shouldn’t overlook diets and food loss and waste solutions.

US Midterms

Many eyes have been focused on the results of the US midterm elections, which could have major ramifications for the nation’s domestic and international engagement on climate change. Political pundits expected a strong showing from the Republican party but were surprised by a stronger showing from the more climate-friendly Democratic party than was expected. The final results of several midterm election races for seats in the House of Representatives and Senate are still too close to call. Some races may have to be ‘re-run’ in special elections held in December, which also occurred in the 2020 elections, to decide the balance of power in the Senate. A few clear takeaways though were strong showings for Democrats in Governor and State Congressional races across critical swing states. This bodes well for US climate action as state-level governments are critical for President Biden’s administration to implement the nation’s largest climate bill ever, the Inflation Reduction Act.

Green Gigaton Report  

The world is not on track to achieve forest goals of ending and reversing deforestation by 2030, critical for a credible pathway to the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goal, according to a new report by the UN-REDD Programme, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the Green Gigaton Challenge (GGC). It finds that for the 2030 goals to remain within reach, a one gigaton milestone of emissions reductions from forests must be achieved not later than 2025, and yearly after that.

The report, Making good on the Glasgow Climate Pact: a call to action to achieve one gigaton of emissions reductions from forests by 2025, finds that current public and private commitments to pay for emissions reductions are only at 24% of the gigaton milestone goal.  Only around half of these commitments have been realized through signed emissions reduction purchase agreements and none of the funding for these commitments has yet been disbursed.

“There is no Paris Agreement and no SDGs without forests. As UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report reminded us once again, the window is closing and we urgently need to scale up action and finance for forest-based mitigation to achieve the 2025 one gigaton milestone and avert catastrophic climate change. If we succeed, and the new Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership is a promising sign of ambition, then vital targets for climate and nature remain within reach,” said Susan Gardner, Director, Ecosystems Division, UNEP on behalf of the GGC.

The report outlines that an unmistakable signal in the form of a carbon price of USD 30-50 per ton of CO2e for forest emissions reductions is needed to provide the incentives, means and predictability required for countries to invest in the protection of their forests. Such a price would combine a donor-funded floor price with private sector demand for high-integrity emission reductions above that price.

Bridgetown Agenda

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has a proposal to reform the international financial system to better serve crisis-affected lower-income countries. Mottley’s Bridgetown Agenda has beenbacked by French President Macron, who called for an expert group to drive rapid, new climate finance for vulnerable countries. France, Colombia and Barbados are all now calling for the IMF, World Bank and OECD to review their debt repayment rules for countries hit by impacts. Keep your eyes on this space.

NatureTech Event 

3pm-4pm, 14th November, Nature Zone (Blue Zone, COP27)

Nature Tech can help to address the interrelated challenges of climate change and nature loss, supporting global climate, nature and sustainability goals. Given the point we are at in both these crises, we need all the innovation, speed and scalability of technology that we can throw at it, working alongside science and with the appropriate guardrails in place.

This dynamic and interactive in-person event will discuss the financing of Nature Tech, the potential market for it, and the safeguards the sector could adopt. A new market analysis will be launched at the event, looking at the scale, impact, and opportunities that some of the solutions available to date can offer.

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