Category: Previous Issues Articles

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.
... Read more ...

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.
... Read more ...

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. 
... Read more ...

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. 
... Read more ...

 “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. 
... Read more ...

First Runner Up – Russia

Russia seems to be lost… or at least confused about why we’re all in Dubai, as they keep striking fossil fuel deals instead of making meaningful climate pledges. Whilst the world focuses on climate negotiations, Putin showed his face in the UAE for all the wrong reasons; to discuss new oil agreements with UAE and Saudi Arabia. Conveniently for him, we are not in one of the 100 countries which recognise the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.  

Russia is renowned for its skilled chess players, but, let’s face it, Putin is no Anatoly Karpov. In a country where nearly half the federal budget comes from revenues generated by fossil fuels, with 40% allocated to finance the war in Ukraine and other armed conflicts worldwide, he’s using fossil fuels as a key piece in the geopolitical match, militarising their supply with dire consequences for the climate. Russia’s opposition to phase-out language at COP28 is driven by a selfish drive for profit at the expense of people and climate. Their scrutiny of the Tripling Renewable Energy target further undermines the negotiations. This is not how you execute a Queen’s Gambit.  

Therefore, Russia has been awarded Fossil of the Day for putting more effort into exporting fossil fuels than supporting climate solutions.
... Read more ...

Early this week, your devoted chronicler spoke of the virtue of patience, a virtue that has been the constant companion of those awaiting the fruition of the Global Goal on Adaptation. But alas, even the saintliest of souls find their patience tested when faced with the slow machinations of this boring political dance. Now, let us not be mistaken, the crafting of a comprehensive GGA framework is no frivolous matter.  

Until now, the urgency of adaptation action and finance has fallen off the radar. Just like the snail pace of negotiations, adaptation planning, implementation, and finance has stalled. Yet, the question remains: where is adaptation hiding at COP and why must such a crucial matter be shrouded in complexity and delay?

ECO challenges you to ponder this – is adaptation’s complexity truly insurmountable, or is it a convenient excuse for those who wish to delay progress? ECO has been anticipating a result after two years of discussions & workshops on GGA and if COP28 doesn’t deliver on adaptation, it will be a significant global failure.

During Wednesday’s tense sessions punctuated by points of order, ECO watched in horror as the adaptation negotiations collapsed in front of our eyes. The spirit of collaboration, discovered by Parties as late as the 7th workshop, vanished into thin air.
... Read more ...

We are entering the final phase of this COP – and are mind-blown. Not by the swift and impeccable logistics in the Dubai COP venue, but by the slow progress made on multiple negotiation tracks and the amount of work still ahead if COP28 is to result in a successful outcome.

Let us look at the Mitigation Work Programme (WMP) for example. After one week of negotiations, Parties have merely produced a text, without any real substance on mitigation. ECO wants to remind everyone why this is a problem: The MWP is the space in the negotiations where Parties agree on actionable steps to “urgently scale up mitigation ambition” in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Looking at the extent of the climate crisis around us and the gloomy scientific outlooks on where we are heading, moving at a snails pace on such a critical issue should be out of the question.

As said, the current text is very slim and mainly repeats existing language. It leaves A LOT to be desired still: Parties need to make sure they deliver on the 1.5°C target which means collectively reducing global emissions by 43% by 2030 and 60% by 2035, while recognising the principles of the highest possible ambition, equity and best and latest available science.
... Read more ...

Parties at COP28 are challenged to follow the leadership of their counterparts at COP5 of the Minamata Convention on Mercury who recently made a landmark decision.

On November 3, just over a month ago, 147 Parties agreed to phase out all fluorescent lamps by 2027; effectively paving the way for a seamless transition to mercury-free and energy-efficient LED lamps.

This decision will, cumulatively by 2050:  

• Avoid 2.7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions,
• Save USD 1.13 trillion on electricity bills, and   
• Eliminate 158 tonnes of mercury pollution, both from the light bulbs themselves and from avoided mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Overwhelming evidence generated by research conducted in up to 60 countries by the Clean Lighting Coalition highlighted the incontestable health, economic, environment, climate, and technology benefits of transitioning to LED lamps.

It was also a matter of environmental justice. As countries in the Global North legislate the phase out of fluorescents without halting their manufacture, countries in the Global South become targets for the dumping of these toxic products.

In the face of such compelling evidence, any attempt to present counter arguments supporting the continuation of fluorescents, due to pressure from manufacturers, became untenable.

Remarkably, it took less than three years to adopt this landmark decision from the time the amendment to the Minamata Convention to eliminate fluorescents was introduced. 
... Read more ...

 (to be sung in the tune of Beyonce’s Single Ladies)

All the delegates
All the delegates
All the delegates
All the delegates
All the delegates
All the delegates
Now put your plates up!

Up in B1, tryin’ a-save the world
I’m doing my own little thing
Decided to dip, and now you wanna trip
‘Cause somebody screwed the GST

It’s weak, you see, your NDC
You didn’t pay any attention
Just cried my tears, for thirty one years
From reading the IPCC

‘Cause if you liked it then you should have put some text on it
If you liked it, then you shoulda put your badge on it
Don’t be mad once you see they screwed the GST
If you liked it, then you shoulda put some text on it
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, o-ohh

Got water up to my hips, then cracked lips
All crazy weather in between
While you’re acting up, drinking your cup
Don’t threaten me with Rule 16
We’re failing our mission, did I mention
The global goal on adaptation?
‘Cause you had your turn, and now you gonna learn
To spell the damn NCQG

Cause if you liked it then you should have put some text on it
If you liked it, then you shoulda put your badge on it
Don’t be mad once you see they screwed the GST
If you liked it, then you shoulda put some text on it
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, o-ohh