Category: Previous Issues Articles

Yesterday ECO answered some developed countries’ questions on why a new finance facility on loss & damage (L&D) was needed, how L&D should be defined, and why new and additional finance is needed to address L&D. Countries loved it so much that they asked ECO a few more questions. So, by popular demand, ECO is back for another round!

Why should there be additional finance?

Vulnerable and frontline communities in developing countries have been inundated with extreme heat waves, rampant forest fires, devastating droughts, catastrophic floods, increasingly destructive hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones, and sea level rise. These climate-drive loss and damage impacts are stealing people’s lives and livelihood, and they go beyond what people and ecosystems can adapt to. Impacted communities cannot be expected to address climate change on their own, especially not without resources, support, and implementation structures in place.

Developed country rebuttal: Why should we split L&D finance from adaptation finance?

ECO says: For many countries, it is necessary that there be both financing to adapt to climate impacts and to address losses and damages resulting from climate impacts that cannot be adapted to. Most financing for adaptation is not able to support the needs of developing countries to address loss and damage.
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We all know the reason for our annual COP convergence: avoiding catastrophic climate change. The IPCC told the world that we have the next 10 years to close the emissions gap, but the message from National Inuit Youth Council President, Crystal Martin-Lapenskie, is “Inuit living in the Arctic don’t have 10 years. We are experiencing catastrophic climate change right now.” Inuit knowledge was echoed in the findings of the IPCC Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) released in September and shared yesterday on the floor at COP25. The report is an example of Indigenous knowledge and Western science saying the same thing: the cryosphere is changing, rapidly and profoundly. Warming oceans and air mean reduced ice coverage, rising sea levels, flooding in low lying areas, and the erosion of our shorelines resulting in relocations of infrastructure and people. For Inuit living in the Arctic, ice and glacial loss is not just a matter of physical changes in the environment, but a threat to Indigenous lives and livelihoods.

Inuit from throughout Chukotka, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland as well as others have been bringing this message of urgency to the COP for decades. Benjamin Qetun’aq Charles, Inuit Yup’ik, Inuit Nunaat (homelands), talks about how Indigenous knowledge systems are evolving due in part to exponentially changing ecosystems.
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On 2 December, category 4 typhoon Kammuri made landfall in the Bicol region of the Philippines. Several hours prior, Paula Guevara, a resident in the region, recalls a literal calm before the storm. Then she heard a whistling sound she had only previously heard during typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Her household then lost power. And then came the strong winds and heavy rainfall that lasted through the night.

After a stormy night, her house remained standing, except for the avocado tree in front of her house. This tree had survived previous super-typhoons, but its luck ran out with the fury of Kammuri.

The tree is a literal embodiment of loss and damage that vulnerable communities are facing in the climate emergency. If drastic greenhouse gas emissions cuts do not happen immediately, adaptation and resilience-building measures will not be enough to address climate change impacts in the future.

While Paula’s family was fortunately unscathed, others were not so lucky. As of writing this, 13 people lost their lives, nearly 400 thousand Filipinos were displaced, and more than PHP800 million (US$16 million) of agricultural assets were damaged by Kammuri. 

We refuse to accept that we keep paying the price of carbon. Polluters must pay with their ill-gotten wealth, not innocent people with their lives.
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Imagine if in the Olympics you could get away with starting the race half way down the track. That is what Australia plans to do with its NDC — to carryover a controversial “overachievement” from its modest Kyoto Protocol commitments to extinguish half the effort required to meet its very deficient 2030 target. Australia has admitted it has 367 million tonnes of units. Though you won’t see this mentioned in Australia’s NDC, and ECO wonders if it ever will be, given Australia’s reluctance to update its climate efforts next year. 

With bushfires burning across Australia, rising national emissions, rising coal and gas exports (recall Australia is the third largest exporter of fossil fuels), and failed climate policies — now is the time for Australia’s new Ambassador for the Environment to step up and do the right thing. Cancel these credits that even your Kiwi neighbours admit are not in the spirit of the Paris Agreement. And if any countries have text up their sleeve to stop the use of carryover units from Kyoto, ECO hopes they table it at COP25. 

EU, is this one for you? Leadership extends to ensuring the integrity of the Agreement, in addition to increasing domestic ambition. Here’s an opportunity for true leadership.

Welcome back! ECO’s conversation with an OMGE automatic cancellation skeptic was just too [lengthy][complex][exciting] for one day. Mandatory partial cancellation ensures that Article 6 goes beyond zero-sum offsetting (a principle and requirement under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. Mandatory partial cancellation is a process where buyers (like a country or an airline for compliance under the ICAO CORSIA) buy some mitigation outcomes and a certain percentage of that purchase has to be set aside for the benefit of the atmosphere. What’s left would be used by the buyer to help achieve the target.

So here we go… 

ECO: Hi there OMGE automatic cancellation skeptic. How did that discussion on baselines and additionality go? Let’s continue discussing OMGE automatic cancellation. Shall we?

OMGE automatic cancellation skeptic: Yes, I would love to continue our discussion. I’m starting to understand your perspective. But, with this automatic cancellation thing:  it just complicates things.

ECO: It is actually very straightforward. We have already been setting credits aside under the CDM for share of proceeds. The logic is comparable. So, we have the necessary experience on how to set this up. In Katowice, countries were in a position to agree on voluntary cancellation for Article 6.4, so this isn’t something new.
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ECO is excited to see so many Annex I Parties participating in the multilateral assessment of their biennial reports. ECO congratulates Parties for participating and thinks the multilateral assessment can be a great place to share experiences and lessons learned with other Parties in a constructive environment. We look forward to hearing your presentations and answers during the Q&A sessions. 

Since ECO can’t ask questions during these workshops, we figured we’d ask them here:

• To all Parties
  
  
  • Can you provide an update about actions taken to strengthen policy-making processes – in particular in relation to public access to information and public participation – so as to improve climate responses and promote policy coherence in the context of progress made towards meeting your commitments under the UNFCCC?
    
    
• Belgium
  
  
  • Like all other countries, Belgium should finalize its Long Term Strategy by the end of next year. Could you explain what the current status of the strategy is, keeping in mind that four governments (and other stakeholders) need to contribute to it?
    
    
  • To what extent do the policy measures proposed in your draft and (now almost final) National Energy and Climate Plan correspond to the goal to reduce emissions by 35% in 2030? Does the plan include specific data on the climate effects of the different proposed measures and a detailed overview of investments needs?

Meeting the 1.5°C target means all Parties must transition away from dirty fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy as fast as possible, in line with the IPCC science and deadlines. This shift from dirty to clean power isn’t the whole story though: the necessary energy transition must also be centered in justice and equity, where the rights of Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, workers and unions, youth, women and gender constituents, local communities, and other structurally oppressed groups, are protected and strengthened in a new inclusive and resilient energy economy. 

The reason is simple. We can’t afford to keep power, both literally and figuratively, centralized – perpetuating systems of exploitation upon which our current fossil fuel economy is built. We need to make sure that government actions factor in and respect the human, social, economic, and environmental rights at stake. 

The problem is that the topic of just and equitable transition hasn’t been afforded a natural home in the negotiations. Yes, it appears under Response Measures, and the Forum looks like it is close to adopting a 6-year work plan to help foster capacity-building and exchange of best practices between Parties. However, just and equitable transition is still not central to ambition goals, NDCs, finance and other commitments.
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When your negotiator says ‘Why do we need Loss & Damage Finance’? Who you gonna call? ‘ECO!’

ECO welcomes the new direction from Parties to hone in on the nuts and bolts of the discussion on finance to address Loss & Damage (L&D). What’s clear is that vulnerable, developing countries need assistance to address L&D, so developed countries must urgently ramp-up action and support. Discussions about some of the central issues like improving the effectiveness of existing institutions or assisting vulnerable countries in better planning are all key, but will be largely insufficient without raising new and additional finance to confront the climate crisis. What ECO observed during yesterday’s discussions made it clear that not all countries are on the same page when it comes to L&D finance. Never fear, ECO is here to answer some burning questions to help negotiators find the light at the end of the COP25 ambition tunnel:

First things first. Why do we need additional financing?

At only 1°C of global warming, climate change fuelled events such as extreme heat waves, rampant forest fires, devastating droughts, ecosystems losses, catastrophic floods, and increasingly destructive hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones, are stealing people’s lives and livelihoods. All are examples of climate driven loss and damage impacts that go beyond what people and ecosystems can adapt to.
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“C’mon!!! Do we really need 5 ye

ECO was becoming increasingly impatient sitting at the common time frames session on Wednesday. For the past years, countries have been contemplating different time frame options. These discussions have demonstrated the clear benefits of a five year common time frame.

During the open informal consultation on Wednesday, nearly every Party said they welcomed a decision on common time frames as soon as possible, with many seeking a decision now. Only the EU suggested that the decision could wait until 2022 or 2023. ECO is disappointed to hear the EU wants to continue the discussion and wonders for what sake. Is this because the EU can’t reach internal agreement on a position? Well, what more do you need? At some point, the EU needs to agree on a position, and there’s no reason for it not to be a five year common time frame — as many of its members already back.  

ECO urges Parties to take a decision on this issue at COP25 and not prolong this any further. But with only two sessions scheduled for the COP, Parties haven’t even given themselves a chance to discuss how to make a decision, never mind make that decision!
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Congratulations! You actually decided to read the first sentence of this ECO article, after seeing such an “eye-glazing” Article 6 concept. 

To make sure that Article 6 goes beyond zero sum offsetting, ECO believes that the only real way to achieve this principle (and requirement under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement) is through “automatic cancellation.” What you may ask? It’s a process where buyers (like a country or an airline for compliance under the ICAO CORSIA) buy some mitigation outcomes and a certain percentage of that purchase has to be set aside for the benefit of the atmosphere. What’s left would then be used by the buyer to help achieve the target. But not everyone agrees on this approach. What follows is the first half of a conversation that ECO had with an “OMGE automatic cancellation skeptic.”

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ECO: So, I hear you don’t like OMGE being achieved through automatic cancellation. Why don’t you want it? 

OMGE automatic cancellation skeptic: “Well, first off, I think that OMGE through automatic cancellation is a tax on mitigation.”

ECO: No, that’s rather misleading: it’s really a subsidy to developing countries to develop projects that generate mitigation outcomes. Sure, the buyer pays a little bit more for the ITMO, but research shows that if the cancellation rate is 50% or below (and ideally 50% from ECO’s perspective), the sellers, who are likely to be developing countries, will be better off, and so will the planet.
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