Happy Tuesday. COP28’s reference to the phaseout of fossil fuels has sparked controversy and fiery debates.
In today’s edition:
⚡️ Almost 130 countries agree to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency
🚜 Over $3bn in climate finance has been pledged for food and agriculture since COP28 began
🌳 Cities estimated to account for 57% of the global population and could rise to 68% by 2050
🔋 Energy (1-Min Read)
COP28 drops fossil fuel phaseout, sparks controversy
What happened: A draft agreement from the UN’s COP28 climate summit has dropped references to the phaseout of fossil fuels
Details: The document, which will have to be agreed on by almost 200 countries at the summit in Dubai, sets out eight actions that countries “could” take to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. This includes reducing “consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner … by, before, or around 2050”
Controversy: The U.S. State Department called for the draft agreement language to be strengthened, while the European Union and islands nations said the new text was disappointing. However, If agreed, the text would still mark the first plan set out by a COP summit to shift away from all fossil fuels. Previously, only the phasedown of unabated coal was referenced.
Other energy highlights:
Almost 130 countries, including the US, the EU and Canada, agreed last week to triple renewable energy capacity and double their energy efficiency,
50 fossil fuel companies — representing about a third of global oil and gas production — pledged to stop routine flaring of excess gas and eliminate almost all leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, by 2030.
(Full story here).
🚜 AgriTech (1-Min Read)
Forking out billions to feed the planet and fight climate change
What happened: Over $3bn in climate finance has been pledged for food and agriculture since the start of COP28. Governments, philanthropies, and private money are also investing to tackle methane in agriculture, end deforestation linked to farming, and develop climate-smart innovation.
Details: From farm to fork, food makes up about a third of greenhouse gas emissions while also being evermore threatened by rising temperatures and erratic weather. Some of the key investments to ensure the food system limits and better copes with climate change include:
Greener Cows: More money is backing technologies to reduce the methane that cows burp. The Bezos Earth Fund is investing in wearable sensors which measure how much cows emit. Meanwhile, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is putting $200mn into a programme for breeding low-methane animals.
Smallholder Strength: Small-scale farms produce a third of our food yet get a sliver of climate funding. Smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia secured $200mn to boost the adoption of practices that will help them adapt to climate change.
Microbe Magic: There’s a push for more climate-smart agri-tech involving microbes that boost carbon sequestration in soil. A US-UAE initiative called Aim for Climate has been publicising the need for funding, resulting in a $14bn increase in investment within the space since May.
The bigger picture: This year’s COP has been hailed for bringing attention to the issue of food systems, with some 140 nations signing a declaration to include food and agriculture in their climate plan. However, these signatories must produce real strategies to achieve their pledges, with over 200 companies calling for time-bound global targets by COP29.
(Full story here).
🐘 Nature (1-Min Read)
UK Biodiversity Net Gain – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) has unveiled plans to develop a target-setting process for cities to champion nature in a bid to respond to the climate crisis.
Details: The program is designed to help municipalities manage land and water, protect biodiversity and bolster climate resilience, and is set to unfold over the next 18 months until spring 2025, when initial guidance for cities will become available. It will also facilitate collaboration between cities, research institutions and advisory organisations.
Why it matters:
Growing portion of the globe: Cities are estimated to account for 57% of the global population, which could rise to 68% by 2050, according to the World Bank. Any nature-positive future will require massive efforts from urban regions.
Resilience: According to the CDP, approximately 2,346 climate-related infrastructure projects, valued at $146bn, are underway across 636 cities in 86 countries. These projects are seeking $65bn in investments to reach fruition. It will be critical they consider nature-related risks and opportunities in their construction.
Adaptation: Four-fifths of cities already facing climate-related physical hazards in 2023, with extreme heat being the most common, according to CDP. Nature-based solutions and biomimicry can offer innovation to help curb these hazards.
(Full story here)
💭 Little Bytes (1-Min Read)
💬 Quote: “The time has come for all parties to constructively engage and to come to me with that language [on the future of fossil fuels].” Sultan al-Jaber, COP28 president and head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
📊 Stat: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon was down 64% in November — Reuters
📺️ Watch: The AI that can spot wildfires as soon as they start
🛗 Snippets for your lift conversations (1-Min Read)
Simple gestures could be all it takes to alter the colour of your clothes in the future, according to a research team that has developed a colour-changing textile embedded with a tiny camera and making use of artificial intelligence. The technology could help reduce waste by giving people more colour choices for an item of clothing, says the Hong Kong-based Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence in Design (AiDLab). (Full story here).
The world’s leading independent carbon crediting standards have announced a collaboration to increase the impact of activities under their standards. (Full story here).
Several big banks and corporations publicly backed the Energy Transition Accelerator, a US-led scheme to fund developing nations’ move away from polluting energy sources (Full story here).
Eight of the world’s top commodities traders have pledged to stop buying soy from farms that ruin South American grasslands, adding to previous commitments to shun growers that clear forests. (Full story here).
Emissions-cutting pledges made by about 130 countries and 50 fossil fuel companies at the start of the UN climate summit will still leave the world far off track in limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. (Full story here).
🎣 Gone Phishing (1-Minute Read)
Three of these stories are true, one we’ve made up. Guess which:
Lost tomato found aboard International Space Station
Rare, white alligator born in Florida
Startup accused of selling health drink made from endangered fish
Elusive orchid species blooms in Central Park, NYC
