Dear COP29,
COP29 President-Designate, H.E. Mukhtar Babayev, has published a formal letter to member states and the global community outlining the plan and expectations for the climate summit. Babayev emphasises enhancing ambition and action, urging collective efforts to achieve climate goals. Babayev’s formal letter outlines key priorities such as maintaining the 1.5C degree target, National Adaptation Plans, climate finance goals, and finalising Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
A major highlight is the establishment of the Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF) to support climate action in developing countries, particularly focusing on food and agriculture. Funded by contributions from fossil fuel producers, the CFAF aims to provide grant-based support to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters. The initial fundraising goal is US$1bn, with the fund coming into action once ten countries commit as shareholders.
COP29 will feature themed sessions addressing various aspects of climate action, including finance, energy, technology, human capital, and biodiversity. UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell has highlighted the significance of intergovernmental cooperation at COP29, calling it humanity’s best hope to avert the global climate crisis and enhance climate resilience.
New investigation scrutinises meat and dairy companies
A new report by the Changing Markets Foundation reveals how major meat and dairy companies use deceptive tactics to hinder climate action. The investigation, which scrutinised 22 global companies, highlights their efforts to downplay the climate impact of methane emissions and promote ineffective voluntary solutions. These tactics are reminiscent of those used by the tobacco and fossil fuel industries to mislead policymakers and the public.
The report exposes how meat and dairy corporations, through lobbying and political manipulation, have derailed environmental policies such as the European Green Deal and New Zealand’s agriculture emissions tax. These companies use fearmongering and false claims to encourage more lenient regulations, often benefiting from conflicts of interest among policymakers. The investigation criticises the industry’s weak net-zero targets, which often exclude the majority of their emissions. Only a few companies have specific methane targets, and their strategies rely on unproven technologies and taxpayer-funded solutions. Additionally, the industry promotes misleading methane metrics, such as Global Warming Potential (GWP), to understate their environmental impact. The report calls for stricter regulation of corporate practices and emphasises the need for transparency and accountability to effectively address the climate crisis.
Wealthy countries accused of overstating their climate help
In 2022, high-income countries claimed to have mobilised nearly $116 billion in climate finance to help lower-income nations mitigate and adapt to climate change effects, finally surpassing the $100 billion annual pledge they made for 2020. However, Oxfam’s new figures reveal a significant shortfall, with the true value of this finance estimated to be as low as $28 billion, due to a high proportion of these funds being provided as loans rather than grants.
The graph below shows the amount of climate finance reaching the ground in developing countries in 2021 and 2022 is much lower than that reported by wealthy nations.
Image source: Sustainable Views, Data Source: Oxfam
Almost 70% of the reported public climate finance was in the form of loans, often at profitable market rates, exacerbating the debt burdens of already indebted countries and undermining the effectiveness of climate action.
Wealthier nations should be criticised for overstating their financial contributions and replace loans with grants to ensure authentic support for climate adaptation and mitigation. Groups such as Oxfam call for a revised global climate finance goal at COP29, emphasising accountability, transparency, and significantly increased and better-targeted financial aid.
Biden Administration announces plans to phase out single-use plastics in federal operations by 2035
The Biden administration has announced plans to phase out single-use plastics from all federal operations by 2025 as part of its strategy to tackle plastic pollution. The strategy aims to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027.
The announcement comes ahead of the last round of negotiations toward a global treaty to end plastic pollution set to start in Busan, Korea, in November 2024. The US supports a goal in the treaty to end plastic pollution by 2040, but wants countries to set their own plans for addressing plastic pollution rather than have global targets and objectives set by the UN.
The White House has recently announced several domestic policies to tackle plastic pollution which will address fossil-fuel-intensive polymer production, recycling and removing plastic washed up in oceans.
Given that the US government is the world’s largest purchaser of goods and services, environmental groups have praised the move to phase out single-use plastics in favour of reusable or compostable products.
More renewables needed to meet 2030 UK power pledge
According to a forecast from Cornwall Insight, solar and wind power generation in Great Britain will fall below the target needed to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 without an additional £48bn funding.
The UK government has promised to deliver a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030, requiring them to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind capacity. Under current projections, solar and wind are on course to account for 44% of Great Britain’s electricity by 2030, well below the 67% required to remove fossil fuels from the power generation system.
Cornwall Insight warns that achieving this transformation represents a significant challenge due to funding constraints, supply chain problems, limited port capacity and the lack of links to the National Grid.
Much more needs to be done to turn decarbonisation into a reality; attracting investment is critical to delivering a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030.