Category: Previous Issues Articles

The first round of the 100% Renewable Raceends with no champion and vague promises

What a day! ECO had the privilege of attending the first Renewable Energy Tracker Race. It featured 60 national teams, cheered on by over 70,000 spectators chanting “Just! Fast! Fair! Renewables for All!” Teams competed in a relay, propelled by their energy mixes and respective capabilities. Advanced or emerging and developing economies (EMDEs) had differentiated challenges and specific rules respectively to ensure that the race would be equitable – what an exciting competition!

As the race kicked off, it became quickly evident that the winner would be an unexpected one. No country reached the finish line on time, but Chile, Brazil and China secured the first three places. In the middle of the pack, four EMDEs (Vietnam, Colombia, Jordan and India) overtook many rich nations, which were seen panting and struggling, held back by their lack of ambition, efforts and investments. Some were also spotted losing time burning wood logs to fuel their engine – a wrong tactical move that gave wind and solar-propelled teams a significant advantage!

As the race neared the end, the crowd’s boos got louder: South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Italy – among the rich and high emitter teams – had barely moved beyond the starting line.
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In search of Fossil Free Food

This COP promised big steps for food and climate, so ECO wonders where food systems transformation is in the GST. Did it get lost on the way? ECO really wanted fossil free food, but the COP only served this, right from the can! (or was it an oil barrel?)

Net Zero Heroes Provide Pathways to Doubling Energy Efficiency

ECO is excited to drop some knowledge to help Parties better understand a critical way to increase energy efficiency. Increasing efficiency of the appliances’ sector, which is responsible for nearly 40 per cent of all energy-related emissions, will contribute significantly towards achieving the global target of doubling energy-efficiency by 2030 put forth in this COP.

The recent report by international non-profit CLASP, Net Zero Heroes, provides pathways to rapidly achieve this target.  It highlights 10 specific appliances for action: LED lighting, air conditioners, comfort fans, refrigerator-freezers, electric motors, electric cooking equipment, televisions and solar water pumps, and heat pump space heating and water heaters.   These actions have the potential to cut 9.2 Gt of CO2 emissions by 2050. By prioritising them, governments can realise vital adaptation and resilience benefits and improve the lives of millions.

Emissions from appliances are projected to overshoot the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) net zero mitigation target by at least 9 Gt of CO2 emissions in 2050. Simultaneously, appliances are not on track to benefit the billions of people who need them.

Energy efficiency provides a low-cost, straightforward solution for both challenges. By taking advantage of time-tested, easy-to-implement policy levers such as minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and energy labeling, governments can rapidly supercharge appliance energy efficiency.
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Attention EU: Loss and Damage is Part of the NCQG

The EU might have escaped winning Fossil of The Day by championing progressive leadership, but that has all changed due to their ongoing opposition to including Loss and Damage in the negotiations of the New Collective Quantified Goal. It appears to be a clear signal that they don’t want to secure long-term finance for those affected by climate change.  

Any further celebrations after they adopted the Loss and Damage fund on the first day will be cancelled if the fund is not continuously filled. 

Attention EU! Did you miss the memo? COP28 is the conference where the fossil fuel era ends, once and for all. To align with the 1.5°C liveable target, we must deliver an energy package that is fast, fair, feminist, forever, and FUNDED. Yes, that’s right EU, countries need financing for the energy transition, and in case you didn’t realise the energy package includes technical and financial support, essential to accelerate the transition. This is crucial; the lack of support from the EU and other rich nations is halting the progress of these negotiations. 

Maybe we should organise a bilateral with the EU and other rich nations to go through the definition of equity, and while we’re at it, we can also define ‘Just Transition’, ‘unabated’, and ‘ambitious’ for them. 
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Climate Talks Or Fossil Fuel Trade Jamboree? How To Get It Right Next Time

As week 2 of this COP jamboree is ramping up, one thing is clear – it’s time to think about how to make host countries and COP presidencies (and no, they are not always the same) do what the Paris Agreement obliges them to do: to fully respect human rights and to ensure open and transparent civic space. 

While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been around for 75 years, some Presidencies seemingly needed a reminder: in June, the UNFCCC reiterated that its meetings should be convened at a place where human rights and fundamental freedom are promoted and protected. One very basic rule is to make the host country agreement (HCA) for COPs publicly available. ECO has looked and looked for the one for COP28, from the corners of B6 to the basement of B1: it is nowhere to be found. The UNFCCC tells ECO that it can be requested from the UN Treaty system, but not how that can be done. It’s like trying to find B7 without a yellow brick road.  

We all know by now that there can be no climate justice without human rights, and we simply can’t have COP Presidencies going around violating basic human rights.
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“Blockbuster Delays: Saudi Arabia’s 50-Year Cinematic Saga of Obstruction”

ECO, like a seasoned librarian with shelves of climate tales, remembers everything since its debut in 1972 and the star-studded premiere of the UNFCCC at the 1992 Rio conference. In this long-running saga, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has often been cast as the offender, notorious for weaving webs of misinformation, blocking the path to climate progress, and championing the unrestricted use of fossil fuels, especially oil. Holding 20% of the world’s oil reserves, KSA’s role was akin to a dragon hoarding its treasure, with their use threatening our collective carbon budget for the 1.5°C target.

Fast forward to 2019, at COP in Madrid, the scene was set for a climactic moment with the IPCC’s groundbreaking 1.5°C report. However, KSA, ever the skeptic, dismissed this critical scientific script as merely a “gentleman’s agreement,” undermining its foundation in climate negotiations. With a history of amplifying CO2 emissions from 10 to 18 tons per capita between 1998 and 2022, KSA’s stance has been a continual challenge to the chorus of scientific consensus – a narrative ECO has diligently documented over the decades. 

Today, KSA is opposing any language on phasing out or phasing down of fossil fuels, and is not among the now 123 countries to support tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 worldwide.
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Hold Your Breath for Article 6!

Here is a fun exercise for everyone to try out today: try to breathe extremely fast for 1 minute, as if you had to absorb all the oxygen you need for the next 5 minutes, and then stop breathing completely for the remaining 5 minutes. GO!

Did it work? Probably not… ECO calls it the “gram-minute” breathing technique, an innovative measure of oxygen intake. It’s inspired by the “tonne-year” accounting method which some Parties are trying to bring back under Article 6, and which attempts to measure the benefits of short-term carbon storage. The claim is that storing 300tCO2 for 1 year would be considered equivalent to storing 1tCO2e for 300 years. If ECO’s breathing technique is making you suffocate, you can relate to how the planet feels about tonne-year accounting.

“This is silly,” you say? ECO agrees. Or rather, it’s unscientific. There have been multiple reports about the shortcomings of tonne-year accounting as well as detailed submissions to the 6.4 Supervisory Body, which led the SB to set “tonne-year” aside. Some countries are now calling for its return – ECO thinks it should stay where the SB left it.

(Do not try this at home! Attempts to perform the gram-minute breathing exercise are at your own risk. 
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Make it Better, Do it Faster!

ECO has exciting news for you.  We know everyone has been waiting impatiently for the results of this year’s Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), an instrument to enable transparency in national and international climate policy, and it‘s finally here! In its 19th edition, the CCPI assesses the climate mitigation performance of 63 countries and the EU, covering more than 90% of global GHG emissions. More than 450 climate experts have assessed these countries’ climate policies.  ECO is shocked to report that after all this time none of the countries are doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change! The ‘top three’ ranks continue to remain empty this year.

It is no coincidence that the majority of low performing countries are heavily reliant on fossil fuels, both for production and use. Saudi Arabia (67th and last place) – we are particularly looking at you! And Canada (62nd), Japan (58th), the US (57th), and Australia (50th) — don’t think we are forgetting you. Here is an exclusive ECO tip: if you want to move up the ranking, it’s time to phase out fossil fuels! Fossil fuels are bad for the climate and your CCPI ranking.

A crucial and concrete step at this COP28 would be for the GST decision to call for a fast, full, fair, and funded phase out of all fossil fuels. 
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Listen to Kenya’s President: Huge Increase in Debt Repayments

 “As a result of rising interest rates, Africa’s debt repayments will surge to US $62 billion this year, up 35 percent from 2022.” This brow-lifting remark by Kenyan President William Ruto at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi drew attention to the glaringly obvious inhibitions on countries’ ability to adapt to climate change due to financial burdens. 

“If you don’t solve the debt issue, you can’t solve the climate issue,” Ruto continued.  

Similar concerns were expressed at COP28 during the High-Level Ministerial Dialogue and stated by negotiators of developing countries in the Standing Committee for Finance, Long-term Finance, and New Collective Quantified Goals (NCQG).  

In a recent OECD report, ECO found that loans represented over two thirds of public climate finance in 2021 while grants accounted for less than 30 percent ($20.1 billion). According to the Oxfam Shadow Report, 31 percent of climate finance was provided as concessional loans and as much as 42 percent was non-concessional loans in 2019-2020. Like a housing loan, climate loans are meant to be repaid with interest rates. Counting the full face value of loans as climate finance thus grossly overinflates contributions to the promised $100 billion, a precedent ECO finds misleading.

The significant increases in interest rates in global capital markets imply higher repayments and further increases in public debt. 
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