Cipher News

Check out our daily top reads & #HotTakes at https://nt-z.ro/3ObVtJw! A few highlights from this week: + Cat Clifford on John Podesta’s remarks at COP29. + Bill Spindle on the reality of fossil fuel usage around the world. + Anca Gurzu on Israel’s message to president-elect Trump to stay in the Paris Agreement. + Amena H. Saiyid on the EPA implementing a fee for oil and gas companies that release too much methane.

?? Today is an exciting day for sustainable urban development! ? Earlier, at the #COP29 SDG7 Global South Pavilion, Anca Gurzu of Cipher News sat down for a fireside chat with SEforALL Chief of Staff Kanika Chawla and IBM’s Justina Nixon-Saintil. The discussion focused on the use of artificial intelligence in the clean energy sector and an exciting collaboration between SEforALL and IBM through the IBM Sustainability Accelerator. ? Together, the two organizations are unveiling a new, publicly available artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solution to inform more sustainable urban development for cities and communities around the world, enabling decision-makers and policymakers to map urbanization and identify energy and infrastructure needs for communities in developing regions. ? ----------------- ? Introducing Open Building Insights—an AI-powered platform that maps building usage and urban data to help solve planning challenges, developed in collaboration with IBM. ? Also unveiled by IBM is Modeling Urban Growth?(MUG), which is an open-source AI model designed to predict where cities will grow.? ? The organizations will initially focus on continuing to expand the Open Building Insights online platform in India and will explore integrating the Modeling Urban Growth AI model into the platform. ? Read the full press release: https://lnkd.in/dDvKXwXJ?? ? #COP29 #SDG7 #UrbanPlanning #SustainableDevelopment #SDG7atCOP29 #IBMSustainabilityAccelerator

#COP29 - DAY 5 - updates from the ground from Cipher News It’s #Friyay! And what a busy day here in Baku. ?? It was a pleasure to moderate a panel today at the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Pavilion where the organisation together with tech provider IBM unveiled two AI-powered open-source solutions that can help developing countries better manage energy planning and sustainable urban development. Justina Nixon-Saintil Kanika Chawla ?? Climate activists also made their voice heard today at the Baku stadium. Protesters from Africa called for grants not loans to help them meet their mitigation and adaption needs. Protesters from Asia called for a stop to gas expansion. ?? ?? The protests coincide with the release of a report that found that at least 1,773 coal, oil, and gas lobbyists have been granted access to the #COP29, the Guardian reported, which is more than number of the delegations of almost every country at the conference (except Azerbaijan, next year’s host Brazil, and Turkey). ??Rethinking COP? Also today, and in light of a geopolitically heavy first week of the summit, a group of climate leaders, including Ban Ki-moon, former UN sec gen, Christiana Figueres , former UNFCCC executive secretary, and Sandrine Dixson-Declève from the Club of Rome, released an open letter saying the COP process is not fit for purpose anymore and needs a reform! Asked about it during a press conference, Yalchin?Rafiyev, #Azerbaijan’s top climate negotiator said the “COP29 is a global litmus test for the climate architecture.” ???? Granholm in town: U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was in town today, with media, of course, keen to get her reaction on the impact of the U.S. elections. Cancelling the U.S. electric vehicle tax credit would be counterproductive and cede ground to car-makers in China, Reuters reported. She also tried to offer the same reassurance as Podesta that the energy transition is way under way, no matter who is in power.

The global clean technology market has more than tripled in the last eight years and is expected to nearly triple again by 2035 to surpass $2 trillion, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Read more in our #DataDive: https://nt-z.ro/4hSeQVm

Cipher reader and project director at TRC Companies, Inc. Dan Grabowski took this photo while heading to a client meeting in central Illinois of wind turbines spinning as far as the eye could see. Each week, we feature a photo that is somehow related to energy, the thing we all need but don’t notice until it’s expensive or gone. Email your ideas and photos to [email protected].

Read the latest from Cat Clifford: Access to reliable energy dramatically improves the quality of people’s lives - and the world needs a lot more energy to bring billions out of poverty.?

#COP29 - DAY 4 - updates from the ground from Cipher News ????The #EU held its first press conference today. Loads of media interest. Highlights: -EU “very worried” about the state of negotiations for the new financial goal (NCGQ), said the Commission’s Jacob Werksman. The draft text on the table is way too long, over 30 pages long, which means negotiators are “way off” from a landing zone. ?-outstanding issue still the same: how much public vs/ private; how to best mobilize the private sector; what is the quantum (the big number everyone is waiting for) and who will join the donor base (focus on #China) -the hope is that ministers arriving next week can help fill that significant gap, he said. -on the hallways, delegates described the negotiations as going pretty badly, warning that in this rhythm there will be no deal at all.? ?? Reacting to the comments of Azerbaijan’ president from yesterday (who accused #France and the #Netherlands of “brutally” suppressing climate change concerns in its overseas territories), Werksman defended the two countries, describing them as “absolute leaders on climate action.” (France’s top climate official wont show up anymore next week in response). ???? #Argentina talk of the “town”: the sudden departure of Argentina’s delegation. Argentinian negotiators were summoned home by the government of right-wing president Javier Milei. Argentina, South America’s second-largest economy, wont be able to influence the talks in Baku. -delegates are wondering what other plot twists to expect after a couple of geopolitically charged days at the climate summit that could undermine technical talks in negotiating rooms. ???? #Israel, one of Donal Trump’s closest allies, has advised him against withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, Politico reported from Baku. “The more people that will remain … is better,” said Israel’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and Sustainability Gideon Behar. This comes after Daren Woods, the CEO of Exxon Mobil, gave the same advice. ?? The UN-backed Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance released its third report today, breaking down in more detail the financing needs of developing countries (MDBs need to triple lending capacity by 2030, donors need to at least double their contributions). ?? In “other news.” Where are the veggies at? The UNFCCC sent out an email today to reassure delegates that there are vegan and vegetarian options at the venue and said that “the carbon footprint of the meals on offer has been carefully calculated.” (The secretariat received apparently questions on what the alternatives are to the meat-heavy meals).

Embracing clean energy requires money that low-income nations often do not have. This conflict is a central focus of COP29 in Azerbaijan – which is why this year it’s being called the “Finance COP.” More in the latest from Cat Clifford: https://nt-z.ro/3CttJxd

#COP29 - DAY 3 - updates from the ground from Cipher News The climate summit is in full swing by now, people know which pavilions have the best ?? and snacks, where you can get the cool souvenirs + a flurry of events, statements, announcements and briefings are all happening at the same time! ?? First of all, our Cipher newsletter is out today leading with this great story from Cat Clifford on “how to improve life for humanity — and not worsen global warming.” If you think about it, it’s really the central focus of the COP. https://lnkd.in/dPBkitrz ??on the offensive part 2: Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev came out swinging again today, attacking #France and #TheNetherldans for their overseas territories, which he described as “colonies.” Speaking at a gathering of small islands, he said an important issue on the international agenda is “neocolonialism and climate change.” These territories are the most severely impacted by climate change, yet “the voices of these communities are often brutally suppressed by the regimes.” -another defiant move from Aliyev, who is shaking up the regular climate diplomacy we witness at COPs. The question is if/how these first-days dynamics will trickle down to the negotiating rooms (negatively) or whether everything is well “insulated.” -while passing through the corridor and through the numerous camera stands, I overheard an interview on Azerbaijani TV that caught my interest. It was with a human rights activist from Bonaire, a Dutch territory in the Caribbean. A colleague of theirs, also from the same human rights group, explained how happy they are with Aliyev’s comments because they (the islanders) dont have a voice at the climate negotiation table and are worried about their future on the island. ???? flags nuclear: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country is “at the forefront of nuclear fusion,” a tech it wants to relaunch. “It could be a game-changer as it can turn energy from a geopolitical weapon into a widely accessible resource.” ????Brazil(the host of next year’s COP) officially announced its updated NDC target: between 59% to 67% by 2035 compared to 2005. ?? In other and lighter “news:” The real VVIP of the COP29 showed up and fans were happy ??

Historically, as countries' economies have grown, so has their #energy use. Our Robbie Orvis spoke with Cipher News' Cat Clifford about the efficiency of #cleanenergy technologies and their role in increasing GDP without spiking #emissions. Check out Cat Clifford's recent piece: https://lnkd.in/ernW5yyF