Categoría: Previous Issues Articles

On the way to the Bonn conference center, ECO found it challenging to pin down climate finance in the maze of the 2018 negotiations. Indeed, ECO heard that there is no less than 7 priorities that negotiators will have to deal with by the end of the year: modalities for the accounting of climate finance, Article 9.5, US$100 billion goal, loss and damage finance, GCF and GEF replenishments, Adaptation Fund and reorientation of financial flows (Article 2.1.c).

Finance is crucial, as substantial progress on this issue would help create an enabling environment to achieve robust outcomes by COP24. Given the complexity and importance of the issue, we are happy to suggest some ways to build trust and move ahead on climate finance on route towards COP24:

Keep your (100bn) promise. Developed countries should use all opportunities in 2018  to send the clear signal that the road towards the $100 billion commitment will be reached by 2020. In addition to the biennial assessment to be published by COP24, donor countries could enhance confidence by submitting well ahead of COP24 their strategies and approaches to show how they intend to scale up their financial support by 2020, with a specific focus on scaling up adaptation finance.
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Until 2020, the Kyoto Protocol is the world’s governments’ main political instrument to cut emissions and close the mitigation gap. At the moment we are already in its second commitment period (KP2), implemented through the Doha amendments, covering the period until 2020, and ensuring continuous legally binding climate action. But only 111 Parties have ratified it so far — and we need 33 more for it to enter into force.

Only if 144, i.e. 3/4 of the 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol ratify it in the coming months, will KP2 enter into force this year. If that happens we do not have to spend the pre-2020 stocktake at COP24 wondering why an agreement that was reached in 2012 has still not entered into force; and can instead focus on crucial questions of implementation. Which parties are on track to deliver on their pre-2020 commitments and which are not (whether they are under the KP2 or not)? What lessons can we learn? How can we avoid this gap in the future?

It would also make a difference for that pretty important Talanoa Dialogue Q&A we are going to have at COP24. It sure would be nice to be able to answer the first question: “Where are we?”
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2018 will be the year of the Talanoa dialogue. ECO is encouraged to see the design of the dialogue take shape and thinks the presidencies’ design is fit for purpose. But ECO also wants to emphasize a few important points.

Parties made good progress in finding a solution to the question of how to deal with pre-2020 by adding a pre-2020 stocktake to COP24 and COP25. However, they must be mindful of achieving appropriate balance between this proposed new pre-2020 stocktake and the political phase of the Talanoa dialogue process at COP24.

Increased NDC ambition and stronger pre-2020 action and support are needed to fulfill the Paris promise. Pre-2020 is important, especially in the context of “Where are we?” and to make the best of the short time available. But we also need the Talanoa Dialogue to provide relevant forward-looking information and political momentum towards preparing the NDCs that Parties will communicate by 2020 (per paragraphs 23 and 24 of 1/CP.21), in other words those for the 2026 to 2030 period. Those NDCs must be more ambitious/bold than what’s currently on the table, lest 1.5°C slips out of our hands.

ECO likes the idea to have both Fijian and Polish presidencies preside over the Talanoa process from start to finish – this is a great way of ensuring consistency and to allow the process to start early.
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You probably recognise questions from the Fijian COP Presidency’s note on the Talanoa Dialogue. But when plotting the world’s long-term pathway to 1.5°C, these questions also become particularly relevant for the discussions.

“Where do we want to go?” and, “how do we get there?”, are especially key when thinking about long-term strategies. Article 4.1 of the Paris Agreement tells us that we need to achieve a balance of sources and sinks by the second half of the century. So by working backwards from this 2050 horizon, countries can design a sustainable pathway for national development.

ECO has been encouraged to hear countries talking about long-term strategies in the negotiations these past two weeks.  They were mentioned within both the common timeframes and the APA global stocktake agenda. The latter of which’s outcomes also reflect the three above questions and lists long-term strategies as an ‘other source’ of input. But it’s not enough that parties are making positive statements on long-term strategies. The worth of such strategies depends on their ability to answer the three questions in the title in detail. These strategies need to be more than just ‘visions’ for the future. They must be meaningful, transparent and developed inclusively.
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Next year will be the third time COP takes place in Poland — this time in the city of Katowice. Remember the business-driven “Coal Summit” that coincided with COP19 and made international news from Beijing to Paris? It undermined Poland’s presidency and lead to Poland being labeled “Coaland.”

But the forthcoming Polish presidency is also a chance for the government to finally step up and help lead the transition and strengthen global climate action.

First, let’s make a few things clear for “Coaland”. COP is no space for coal organizations and coal lobbyists, as demonstrated by the backlash against the US’s pro-coal side event this week. Events promoting coal around paradoxical concepts such as “clean coal” or “zero waste coal” are, simply put, offensive and their aim is to distract attention from what’s most urgently needed across the globe, including in Poland: phase-out of fossil fuels. In Poland, more than 5800 people die prematurely every year due to air pollution from the country’s coal power plants, and the Polish government continues to play into the pocket of the coal sector. These facts are certainly known outside of just the COP bubble.

Moreover, the label “Coaland” represents only one face of Poland.
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Why are Brazilian negotiators fighting to resuscitate the CDM that already has one foot in the grave? With aim of plopping it into Article 6 and ICAO’s carbon offsetting scheme?

ECO has been informed that a new report (http://www.idesam.org.br/mdl/#.WgwEgYfrvDc) by six Brazilian and international NGOs finds that Brazil’s scandal-plagued national power company, Eletrobrás, and its affiliates could make hundreds of millions of dollars on currently worthless CDM projects for Amazon dams if the Paris Agreement and ICAO incorporate the CDM.

Eletrobrás told the CDM Executive Board that financing from carbon credits was necessary to build the dams. Markets have collapsed and there isn’t any finance, yet the company has built and is operating the dams anyway; it is clear that a CDM revenue stream wasn’t necessary to build the dams and that they would have been built regardless. Selling these fake emissions reductions as offsets will make things even worse, to say nothing of the methane emissions generated and the many other environmental and social impacts caused by the dams, which are subject to much criticism by civil society.

Furthermore, ECO heard that Eletrobrás and the dams are under investigation in the “Operation Car Wash” corruption investigation that has already imprisoned dozens of politicians and top executives of state oil company Petrobrás and other major companies for bid rigging and kickbacks.
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ECO is totally shocked! Despite the strong criticisms over Japan’s tremendous overseas coal investments, it seems Japan still cannot hear the chorus of voices. Or maybe it is just ignoring them since we continue to hear very discouraging news that more new coal investments are under development.

Just before this COP, Japanese trading company Marubeni and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) signed a concession contract with the Vietnamese government to build the Nghi Son 2, a 1200MW supercritical coal-fired power plant. This is a 25-year power purchase agreement with Vietnam’s state-owned Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). The financial agreement to fund this power plant has not yet been finalized, but it is highly concerning that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) as well as other Japanese commercial banks have agreed to provide the loan to finance this.

On Tuesday, JBIC announced it had disbursed the first loan for the controversial Cirebon 2 coal project, which Marubeni and JERA have invested in. This happened even though the validity of the new environment permit was still in question. JBIC ignored local residents’ strong plea not to provide a loan for Cirebon 2, thereby preventing further damage to their livelihoods. This situation put local residents in a very difficult situation.
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ECO always gets excited about a tropical COP! Having missed out on a trip to Fiji and with the prospect of being in a wintery Poland in 2018, ECO is itching to pack sun-cream and insect repellent for the next Latin American-hosted COP in 2019.

Brazil made its generous offer to host COP25 on the same day as it won the Fossil of the Day Award for a bill sent to Congress by President Temer that would subsidize new oil development in Brazil by roughly US$300 billion.

This juxtaposition raises pertinent questions for any country harboring ambitions for a COP Presidency. So far COPs are given to just about any country that volunteers, often regardless of their climate track record.

ECO would like to set a challenge: from now on any country wishing to host COP, must have an NDC compatible with the 1.5 goal. On the road to 2020, each COP presidency must lead by example and encourage all countries to bring their NDCs into line with the 1.5°C goal and increase levels of support to developing countries to help get them there.

Most countries are currently found wanting. South America is set to host COP25, but Climate Action Tracker says that the NDCs of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Peru, among others, are currently incompatible with 1.5°C.
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ECO is somewhat tired of repeatedly reminding ministers and negotiators of the work ahead before next year`s COP. But ECO warns governments that there is no excuse for laziness. You signed and ratified Paris. Well done. But history walks on. ECO is convinced it is high time to put the money where your mouth was two years ago.

ECO recently learned that renewable energy investments have stagnated worldwide with some countries continuing to decrease their investments, notably in Europe and Japan. Although energy efficiency investments in all sectors grew slightly. Both renewables and energy efficiency combined received less than half of all financing that went for fossil fuels mining and infrastructure in 2016 and most likely in 2017, too. What is wrong with the governments? Can`t they deal with the fossil fuel industry? Aren’t they capable of implementing effective regulations and providing more incentives for the truly clean solutions which by the way, become more cost-effective by the day? These trends need to reverse drastically in next years to maintain a chance to stay on a Paris-compliant pathway. And that is the responsibility of your governments.

ECO thinks the recent UN Environment gap report provides an excellent monument of cost-effective options including renewables, energy efficiency standards (note that about 70% of all energy use globally is not covered by any regulation according to the IEA), halting deforestation and restoring degraded lands.
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It’s Money, Money, Money For Arab Group And India

Cabbage, clam, milk, dosh, dough, shillings, frogskins, notes, duckets, loot, bones, bar, coin, folding stuff, honk, lolly, moola. Any way you say it, it is always about the money!

This is also true for the Paris Agreement. It clearly states that all funds should be spent and invested in the right technologies, projects, and places that will both solve climate change and foster sustainable development. Aligning all financial flows with the Paris goals is absolutely essential to address climate change.

Island nations have proposed that the GEF and the GCF ask their trustee, the World Bank, to report what it is doing to ensure that their money is being invested in good, rather than harmful projects. Public money. Our taxes.
Unfortunately, the Arab Group and India are not fans. Surprisingly, they seem to prefer that the World Bank continues funding fossil fuels, fueling destruction of the same people the climate funds are supposed to help.

The Island States in the Caribbean were devastated when two category 5++ hurricanes – Irma and Maria – struck. In Dominica, the damages in economic terms are upwards of 100% of GDP.

Today AOSIS lost this battle.
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