Climate 411

Climate Week NYC 2023: A Vital Opportunity to Bolster Climate Action and Improve Lives

September has arrived, and New York City has again become the epicenter of pivotal climate discussions. Climate Week in New York City — happening alongside the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, and the Climate Ambition Summit — provides vital opportunities to bolster cooperation, ambition, and implementation ahead of COP28.  

These gatherings come on the heels of an exceptionally scorching summer, with July 2023 earning the unfortunate distinction of being the hottest month ever recorded. Recent extreme events have cast a glaring spotlight on what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned; climate change is leading to irreversible impacts to nature and communities.    Read More »

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3 considerations for climate negotiators as they close out the first Global Stocktake

This post was co-authored by Julia Ilhardt, High Meadows Fellow for Global Climate Cooperation at Environmental Defense Fund. 

Flags of the world. Getty.

The first Global Stocktake – a process designed to assess collective progress toward the Paris Agreement’s goals on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance – is rapidly nearing its official conclusion at COP28.

With nearly a full year of discussions completed, the process is shifting from a technical exercise to a political one. The outcome must spur ambition in the upcoming round of national climate plans, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), due to the UN climate agency in 2025.

A successful outcome of the first Global Stocktake will point countries to opportunities for climate action that will put the world on track to meet the Paris goals.

What has the Global Stocktake told us so far?
The vast amount of technical information and literature submitted for consideration since the start of the Global Stocktake underscores what we already know. Despite progress in recent years, we’re not on track to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. On mitigation, for example, countries must step up the ambition of their NDCs and implement the commitments they’ve already made.

The literature also reminds us, however, that we have a wide range of tools available to tackle the climate crisis. In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that we could reduce emissions by at least half by 2030 with solutions that cost no more than $100 per ton of CO2e. And half of these solutions actually cost less than $20 per ton of CO2e.

Opportunities for action are available across all sectors and greenhouse gases. As countries begin work on their updated climate plans, they must make use of these tools and learn from each other’s experiences.

The next round of NDCs is due to the UNFCCC in two short years, and we now have fewer than seven years left in this critical decade. The Global Stocktake should provide a springboard for action.

The political phase of the Global Stocktake is about generating outputs that help them do just that. Though negotiators have yet to decide on the final form the outputs will take, the products will summarize opportunities, challenges, lessons learned, and good practices for implementing climate solutions.

To ensure a successful first Global Stocktake, here are three things negotiators should keep in mind as the process enters its final phase:

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Bonn climate talks: The Global Stocktake, oceans, food and nature are issues to watch

EDF’s delegation to the climate talks taking place in Bonn, Germany from June 5 to June 15 give us some insights into the issues they’re following. 

Flags on clear sky. Getty.

Next week, climate negotiators will convene in Bonn, Germany for a two-week negotiation session that will serve as an important marker on the road to the COP28 climate talks in Dubai this November. The outcome of the talks, known as SB58, will set the stage for the negotiations at COP28, giving us an indication of what needs to happen in the months leading up to those pivotal talks.

Every year the climate negotiations become more urgent as we draw closer to the timelines for meeting the Paris Agreement goals. The task is even more challenging when considering the other crises the world faces, like economic disruption, energy insecurity and food scarcity. We need effective solutions that can solve for these multiple challenges simultaneously. The talks in Bonn are an important opportunity to gauge progress and push forward key action points that address these various challenges, in the lead up to COP28, and beyond.

EDF’s delegation to the Bonn climate talks are closely monitoring various important issues inside and around the negotiations. These include the Global Stocktake process, food, fisheries and ocean issues, and efforts to expand high-integrity carbon market cooperation.

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Progress & Next Steps on Article 6: Looking ahead to COP28

This blog was co-authored by Maggie Ferrato, Manager, Global Climate Cooperation and Pedro Martins Barata, Associate Vice President, Carbon Markets & Private Sector Decarbonization.
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COP 27: The 3 issues we’re watching as the world gathers in Sharm El-Sheikh

Co-authored by Angela Churie Kallhauge, Executive Vice President, Impact; Maggie Ferrato, Manager, Global Climate; and Julia Ilhardt, High Meadows Fellow 

The COP27 logo seen on a flag in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Source: Alamy

It’s been a year since countries and companies announced new climate pledges in Glasgow. 

Since then, war and economic disruption, on top of a still-raging pandemic and increasingly destructive natural disasters, have complicated those commitments – and arguably made them even more urgent. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change underscores that we have very little time left to meet even the upper limit of the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals. 

COP27 is expected to be a “working COP,” meaning we’re likely to see incremental progress on key issues rather than major announcements. But that doesn’t make it any less important. This COP is a chance for countries to take meaningful steps toward tackling the climate crisis.  

Here are the three issues to watch in Egypt both in the negotiations and on the sidelines to ensure we implement our existing commitments while raising our ambition.   Read More »

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Carbon Markets Can Drive Revenue, Ambition for Tropical Forest Countries, New Studies Show

This post was co-authored by Pedro Martins Barata, Senior Climate Director, and Julia Paltseva, Senior Analyst, Natural Climate Solutions.

Aerial view down onto vibrant green forest canopy with leafy foliage. Source: Getty Images

Global climate mitigation requires rapid action to protect ecosystems, particularly Earth’s tropical forests. Once ecosystems are lost, wide-scale restoration takes time. Recognizing the importance and urgency of taking action to protect intact forests, more than 100 global leaders, representing nations that account for 85% of global forests, pledged at COP26 to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030.

We know that tropical forest jurisdictions which have implemented results-based payment programs on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation have been successful at reducing deforestation while bringing co-benefits and buy-in from Indigenous and local forest communities. These programs need to be scaled up to meet the urgency of the climate crisis. Carbon markets are one promising means to do so.

Now two new studies suggest that tropical forest jurisdictions that engage in emissions trading for conserving their forests at large scales could generate significant revenues, and promote more ambitious, but attainable, climate goals.

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