As the UN pushed for progress on a new finance goal at Bonn conference, no progress was made on the issue of defining a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) , which is expected to define the contours of discussion at the next UN climate conference, COP29, at Baku, Azerbaijan.
Developing countries such as the Arab group, Cuba and African nations pushed to get conversation around the quantum (new dollar amount) of the NCQG ahead of the COP29, reported Carbon Copy. The Arab and African group proposed a new amount the rich countries should contribute—between $1.1 trillion and $1.3 trillion a year for the five years from 2025, Climate Home reported.
Simon Stiell, the head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said countries should make “serious progress” towards setting a new climate finance goal for after 2025. This goal is “one of the main decisions” expected from the COP29 UN climate summit taking place in November in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.
However, developed and developing countries have divergent views on how much money should be provided, who should provide it and how “climate finance” should be defined. Stiell also called for more ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) before these plans must be submitted in 2025.
G7 fails to deliver on fossil fuel promises, continue oil and gas expansion
The Group of Seven rich countries (G-7) failed to deliver new progress on climate during a summit in Italy, instead reiterating previous commitments, AP reported.
The leaders reiterated what was sad in April “to phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of 2030s”, but left wiggle room: countries can commit instead to phase out “in a timeline consistent with keeping a limit of 1.5C temperature rise within reach, in line with countries’ net-zero pathways”, according to the final statement.
“To stay below 1.5C, the G7’s plan to phase out coal is simply too little, too late and gas is neither cheap nor a bridge fuel to a safe climate,” said Greenpeace’s climate politics expert Tracy Carty. The group, responsible for nearly 30% of fossil fuel production, “left the door open for continued public investments in gas”, said Nicola Flamigni of the GSCC.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government voted against the European Green Deal. Activists charged that the presence of the CEO of Italian oil and gas giant ENI at a leaders’ roundtable on Africa, energy and climate showed how closely Rome’s political and fossil fuel interests are entangled.
The joint communique, marked a failure to build on the momentum from last year’s UN COP28 decision to transition away from fossil fuels, Price of Oil reported. New Oil Change International data says G7 countries represent 27% of global oil and gas production, and will be responsible for nearly 48% of CO2 pollution from planned oil and gas expansion (equivalent lifetime emissions of nearly 600 coal plants). They provide USD $25.7 billion taxpayer finance a year in international finance for fossil fuels, compared to USD $10.3 billion for clean energy, the outlet reported.
India offers $500 billion investment opportunities in clean energy, other sectors by 2030: Commerce ministry
India plans to offer investment opportunities worth over $500 billion, particularly in the clean energy value chain (renewables, green hydrogen and EV), by 2030, stated commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Clean Economy Investor Forum.
The 14-member IPEF bloc was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23, 2022, in Tokyo. Together, they account for 40% of the world’s economic output and 28% of trade, reported the ET.
The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy. India has joined all the pillars except the trade. Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam are members of the bloc.
China plans new carbon measurement standards to boost climate efforts
China announced plans to set up a new “carbon footprint management system”, which will go into effect in 2027, to “better measure the carbon content of its products”, Reuters reported. The newswire added that the new measurement sets standards for “measuring carbon emissions for about 100 key products throughout the Chinese economy” and it will be expanded to 200 products by 2030. In addition, the new measures “will apply to high-emitting products, such as coal and natural gas as well as export products like steel, aluminium, lithium batteries and electric vehicles”.
Climate scientist Claudia Sheinbaum to become Mexico’s first woman president
Claudia Sheinbaum, a former climate scientist and head of Mexico City’s government, was elected as the first woman president of Mexico, Axios reported. A member of the left-wing ruling party Morena, she has “proposed policies similar to those of her mentor, outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador”, the news website reported. Sheinbaum favours an energy transition driven by public investment in renewables and efforts by state companies such as the oil firm Pemex, rather than private investment, the article notes.
She has a PhD in energy engineering and was an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) author in 2007, when it earned a Nobel Peace Prize, NYT reported. Mexican media pointed out that Sheinbaum, who was a co-author of the industry chapter for the IPCC report in question, “has been recognised internationally for her work in physics and energy”.
Reuters highlighted her “state-centric economic policies, especially over natural resources such as oil and minerals”.
US: Vermont becomes first state to enact law requiring oil firms pay for damage from climate change
Vermont became the first US state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by climate change, reported the Associated Press. The move comes after the state suffered catastrophic flooding last summer and damage from other extreme weather. Under the legislation, the Vermont state treasurer would provide a report in January 2026 on the total cost to the state’s residents from the emission of greenhouse gases over 1995-2024.
Germany likely to miss 2030 climate goal, government advisors say
The German Expert Council on Climate Issues, which has independent authority to judge the country’s climate performance, said Germany “is unlikely” to meet its goal to cut 65% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 because sectors such as transport and construction “are struggling to meet their targets”, reports Reuters. This statement follows Germany’s recent adoption of a “more flexible” climate protection law in April, which eliminates sector-specific targets.
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