Climate 411

Forests have grabbed a prominent spot at COP27. Here are some highlights.

By Breanna Lujan / Published: November 10, 2022

Slogan at COP27. Source: Flickr

With COP27 now in full gear, we have plenty to be excited about when it comes to forest conservation. Last year’s climate convening in Glasgow put nature at the center of the climate agenda. We celebrated the declaration signed by more than 100 countries in Glasgow to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. The funding promises of almost $20 billion toward forest conservation were equally groundbreaking.

Despite those milestones, in the year since COP26 , the deforestation crisis has actually worsened . Deforestation in the Amazon, for example, increased by 48% over 2021. Yet there is hope.

Countries and companies are realizing the importance of conserving rainforests at scale. Commitments to end deforestation, along with promises to fund and compensate forest conservation, are growing. We’re also seeing more robust standards for emissions reductions credits from natural climate solutions, including forests.

This all bodes well, and COP27 is an opportunity to keep the momentum going on ending deforestation. So, what can we expect in Sharm El-Sheikh when it comes to conserving forests? Here’s a quick overview of the first three days’ action on forests, why they’re important, and what we expect to see over the rest of the conference. Read More »

Also posted in Brazil, Carbon Markets, Forest protection, Indigenous People, International, REDD+ / Comments are closed

Indigenous Peoples Need a Seat at the Climate Table. Here’s Why.

By Guest Author / Published: November 9, 2022

This post was authored by Santiago Garcia, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Partnerships Manager for Natural Climate Solutions at Environmental Defense Fund.

Santiago Garcia (right) with Tuntiak Katan (Vice Coordinator at COICA) in Ecuador. Source: Leslie Von Pless, EDF.

This week, representatives of 190 nations, including 90 heads of state, began gathering at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to discuss and negotiate solutions for our warming planet.

As important as these movers and shakers are, there’s another esteemed group of climate ambassadors who also deserve a seat at the international climate table: the Indigenous Peoples who’ve stewarded our tropical forests for generations. Read More »

Also posted in Brazil, Forest protection, Indigenous People, International / Comments are closed

COP 27: The 3 issues we’re watching as the world gathers in Sharm El-Sheikh

By Maggie Ferrato / Published: November 6, 2022

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 »

Also posted in Carbon Markets, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, News, Paris Agreement / Tagged | Comments are closed

The ambition-raising opportunity of reducing methane emissions

By Alice Alpert / Published: September 21, 2022

This blog was authored by Alice Alpert, Senior Climate Scientist at EDF.

Evening silhouette of oilfield pipeline. Source: Getty Images

Meaningful methane emission reductions are not only possible—such efforts can potentially have a massive impact on warming.

Readily available methods to reduce methane can deliver a whopping 0.25°C of avoided temperature rise by 2050. This year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that reductions of methane emissions would also lower peak warming and reduce the likelihood of overshooting the warming levels described in the Paris Agreement. In pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C, methane is reduced by around 33% in 2030 and 50% in 2050. But not all countries define methane targets or even include methane in their Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs).

The Global Stocktake process, also called the Paris Agreement’s ambition “ratchet,” allows countries to assess collective progress toward the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals on mitigation, adaptation, and finance. A successful stocktake will help countries implement their existing climate commitments and provide the impetus and information necessary for them to raise the ambition of their next NDCs. EDF is collaborating on an extensive project with C2ES to help shape the Global Stocktake process by highlighting opportunities to scale up climate ambition.

As work in the Global Stocktake continues toward its conclusion at next year’s COP28, it’s important for all NDCs to include methane-specific targets, and policies and strategies to achieve those targets. Read More »

Also posted in Climate Change Legislation, Energy, International, Policy, Science / Comments are closed

Markets, stocktake, and impacts: The three issues to watch at the UN climate talks in Bonn

By Maggie Ferrato / Published: June 3, 2022

This post was co-authored by Julia Ilhardt, High Meadows Fellow at Environmental Defense Fund

Opening Plenary of Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), 2019 climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany. UNclimatechange via Flickr.

Next week, climate negotiators will begin two weeks of meetings in Bonn, Germany to make progress on a full slate of issues—from carbon markets and finance to adaptation and loss and damage—before November’s global climate talks.

At these mid-year negotiating sessions, negotiators will continue to elaborate rules for international carbon markets, kick off dialogues on the global stocktake, and start work on critical processes to address the impacts of the climate crisis, among other things. They will build on the work completed at COP26 in Glasgow last year, and the results will give us an indication of what the upcoming COP27 negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt will look like.

1. Elaborate rules needed to “operationalize” international carbon markets

At COP26 in Glasgow—after six years of difficult, technical negotiations—countries delivered a strong Paris Agreement rulebook for international cooperation through carbon markets. These rules will give countries the tools they need for environmental integrity and ultimately clear a path to get private capital flowing to developing countries.

Read More »

Also posted in Carbon Markets, International, Paris Agreement / Comments are closed

Countries must heed IPCC reports as they review collective progress under the global stocktake

By Maggie Ferrato / Published: April 13, 2022

This post was authored by Maggie Ferrato, Senior Analyst for Environmental Defense Fund.

Forest family photo of World Leaders at COP26 in Glasgow, Scottland. Karwai Tang/ UK Government via Flickr.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest Working Group III report has made it clear that the world is not on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement—and emissions have continued to rise across all sectors—despite the technological and policy solutions that are increasingly available to decisionmakers.

It’s an important message that needs to be repeated with more urgency than ever. We already know we must do much more to reduce our emissions, including by transitioning more quickly from fossil fuels and rethinking how we grow our food. And in February, the IPCC’s Working Group II report highlighted the dramatic impacts the planet faces from a warming atmosphere, and how this decade is a critical window to adapt to our changing climate and limit the damage by dramatically cutting our emissions.

The IPCC reports taken together send a clear signal that countries must urgently set their ambitions much higher in the fight against climate change.

The good news is that the Paris Agreement was designed to ratchet up ambition over time. One of the mechanisms to make this happen, a process known as the “global stocktake,” is an opportunity to assess countries’ collective progress toward the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals on mitigation, adaptation and finance.

The IPCC reports provide an important backdrop for the UN’s global stocktake process. Here’s how countries can leverage the scientific research from the IPCC to conduct a stocktake that succeeds in increasing global ambition and action.

Read More »

Also posted in International, Paris Agreement / Comments are closed