Feed aggregator

But country’s climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, would not say whether it would support phase-out wording in climate deal

• Cop28 live – latest updates

China would like to see nations agree to substitute renewable energy for fossil fuels, the country’s chief climate official has said, as nations wrangled over the weekend on the wording of a deal on the climate crisis.

Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate envoy, would not be explicit on whether China supported or opposed a phase-out of fossil fuels, which more than 100 governments are pushing for at crucial climate talks, the Cop28 UN summit.

Continue reading...

With the direction of travel on the first ever stocktake of the Paris Agreement moving towards including "fossil phaseout" language in the text, sources inside negotiation rooms, country delegates, and climate stakeholders, underlined the substantial impact of such an outcome at COP28, though called for crucial clarification on "abatement" language.

The Marshall Islands shares the same concerns over climate change and rising sea levels as its Pacific Island neighbours but also makes significant revenue from its flag registry for ships and yachts, seemingly complicating the country's messaging on emissions at COP28.

Two fossil fuel dependent nations on Saturday backed a climate High Ambition Coalition (HAC) declaration at COP28 in Dubai authored by the Marshall Islands, with both of their respective environment ministers calling for an end to the use of fossil fuels.

Rules governing carbon crediting under the Paris Agreement appear to be heading towards adoption despite some "melodrama" in negotiating rooms, as countries on Saturday  discussed the first draft decision text on Article 6.4 at COP28, with an "ambitious" timeline now set for a final clean text of midday on Sunday.

Sweden and Switzerland have signed a declaration of intent to test the rules for international carbon markets in the field of removal technologies under Article 6, which they hope will pave the way towards establishing a market under the Paris Agreement framework.

Brazil has climbed up 15 spots due to progressive climate policies, while the UK slipped back by nine ranks due to policy rollback, in a report published this week alongside COP28, which found no country was on track to limit global warming in line with the Paris Agreement.

Most of the sectoral pledges announced during COP28 will not lead to a sufficient reduction in emissions to limit global warming by 1.5C, as many are already counted in national plans or lack sufficient ambition, a report published on Saturday found.

Climate activists likely to be concerned by another fossil fuel-reliant country taking over summit presidency

Azerbaijan has been announced as the host of next year’s climate summit after fraught negotiations.

Under UN rules it was eastern Europe’s turn to take over the rotating presidency but the groups need to unanimously decide on the host. Russia had blocked EU countries and Azerbaijan and Armenia were blocking each other’s bids.

Continue reading...

The Australian government should fund demonstration projects that will generate biodiversity certificates in its Nature Repair Market scheme in order to generate interest and understanding among potential participants, experts said on the side lines of the COP28 conference.

Finland plans to achieve negative emissions by around 2040 by “aggressively” pursuing carbon capture, the country’s environment minister told an audience at the United Nations climate conference COP28 on Saturday.

Azerbaijan's capital Baku will be confirmed as the next host of the annual UN climate summit, the country's ecology minister announced at COP28 in Dubai on Saturday, after Armenia formally gave its blessing earlier in the week and Russia lifted its veto threat.

Continent’s chief negotiator says an agreement for fair and equitable funding is a matter of life and death

• Cop28 live – latest updates

Fair and equitable finance for climate adaptation is a matter of life and death for the African continent, but talks at Cop28 so far have failed to deliver, the chief negotiator for the African group has warned.

Adaptation is being discussed as part of the global stocktake (GST), the assessment of where the world is on delivering the commitments made in the 2015 Paris agreement. The long-awaited global goal on adaptation (GGA) – a collective commitment proposed by the African group in 2013 and established under the Paris agreement – to drive political action and finance for adaptation on the same scale as mitigation, is also due to be completed in Dubai.

Continue reading...

UK’s former climate chief Alok Sharma says phase-out crucial to limit global warming to 1.5C

Failure to agree a phase-out of fossil fuels at the UN Cop28 climate summit would push the world beyond the crucial 1.5C temperature limit and into climate breakdown, the UK’s former climate chief has warned.

Alok Sharma, who was president of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, said it was vital that governments made a clear commitment in the next few days to eliminate coal, oil and gas.

Continue reading...

A consortium led by two major South Korean companies has taken an undisclosed stake in a global developer of carbon credits as they seek to increase their involvement in nature-based as well as technology-based projects.

EU institutions agreed on updated rules to decarbonise the gas market and create a hydrogen one on Friday evening, which will enable the bloc to further reduce its dependence on gas, as well as agree that long-term contracts for unabated fossil gas should not extend beyond 2049.

It is Day 10 – Nature Day – at COP28, where already tense negotiations about the global stocktake (GST) and Article 6 carbon markets are heating up, with announcements also seeping in on biodiversity and nature-based solutions (NbS). Week 2 is well underway, and it's now crunch time in Dubai. Fortunately, Carbon Pulse's hardworking correspondents are on the ground in Expo City wading through reports, gathering intel, and skulking around the sidelines of the summit so you don't have to. In our daily running blog, we will report relevant or useful updates throughout the day. Timestamps are in local time (Gulf Standard Time, GMT+4).

Guerrilla leader turned president says, faced with having to reduce their carbon consumption, upper classes fear ‘the barbarians are coming’

Middle-class fears of losing a high standard of living because of green policies is driving the rise of the far right across the world, the president of Colombia has warned.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian at the Cop28 UN climate summit, Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first leftwing president, said the world had to find carbon-free ways of being prosperous, and that his country’s rich biodiversity would be the basis of its wealth after phasing out fossil fuels.

Continue reading...

Exclusive: freedom of information request reveals ministers rejected plan to make pledge legally binding

The UK government has no plans to meet its target for everyone to live within a 15-minute walk of a green space, the Guardian can reveal.

Ministers have also scrapped an idea to make the target for access to nature legally binding, a freedom of information request submitted by the Right to Roam campaign shows.

Continue reading...

As the conference goes into the last few days, today’s theme will be nature and forests

It’s the Global day of action today. There have already been demonstrations in the Philippines, demanding urgent action at Cop28.

There are demonstrations planned around the UK today too. But it’s a little confusing because a number of countries – Belgium and Spain for example – ran demonstrations last weekend. So the concentrated force is perhaps not quite what it could be.

Continue reading...