G7 Takes Climate by The Horns

The G7 Climate Ministers Summit this week in Sapporo, Japan, made significant progress with a raft of new agreements and pledges as members tried to get a grip on the energy transition and climate crisis.

Summarized in the Communiqué , the agreements included pledges to end plastic pollution by 2040, decarbonize transport by 2030, and promote alternative fuels like hydrogen. Three important parts stood out:

1. G7 ministers urged members to implement mandatory climate disclosure regulations . The G7 bolstered Europe’s new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Securities and Exchange Commission's soon to be released climate disclosure rule. The Ministers also highlighted the vital work of the “International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to develop a practical, flexible and interoperable global baseline” and supported using the ISSB standards as the basis for climate disclosure mandates.
2. New agreement to increase renewable targets - The G7 members agreed to increase offshore wind capacity by 150 gigawatts and solar capacity by more than 1 terawatt by 2030, quadrupling current capacities. Dave Jones , at energy think tank Ember, said, “The energy superpowers of solar and wind [will] phase out fossil fuels .”
3. A lack of consensus on ending fossil fuel use - Although the members accelerated the timeframe to phase out fossil fuels, the agreement stopped short of phasing out coal by 2030, as promised. Harjeet Singh of the non-profit network Climate Action Network International said, “While G7 ministers recognized the need to scale up renewable energy, their commitment to phase out of fossil fuels is frivolous and full of loopholes .”?

World Banks Stalls

While the G7 made significant progress, The World Bank stagnated on reforms to give affordable climate loans to developing nations hit by climate disasters. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley - Author of the Bridgetown Initiative (named after the Barbados capital), which would reshape the global economic system to face climate change - was furious about the inaction, saying, “People are not ready, or people want to kick the ball down the road .”

Technotopia: How ClimateTech is Saving the Planet

BloombergNEF’s annual Pioneer Award recognizes early-stage start-ups tackling some of the Earth’s toughest challenges. This year’s winners are leading the charge in recycling electric vehicle batteries , creating food from microbes , reducing methane emissions from cattle , and carbon removal .?

Despite the good news surrounding climate tech, BloombergNEF points to the huge climate funding gap needed to reach net zero by 2050 . New research from BCG points to strategies to reduce the climate funding gap - finding that market-shaping mechanisms can meet the $3.5 trillion needed annually to reach net zero.?

Snookered by Climate Activism

Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen in a snooker match occurred when two activists from ‘Just Stop Oil’ stormed a live broadcast of a snooker event in the UK . One activist attempted to glue themselves to a table, and the other threw orange powder across the playing surface, suspending the event for 24 hours. The group’s goal is to force the British Government to stop all new fossil fuel projects.

Following suit, Extinction Rebellion warned the UK Government of unprecedented levels of protest and civil disobedience this summer unless their demands are met - namely, an end to all new oil and gas projects and the creation of “emergency citizens assemblies” to tackle the climate crisis. Similar to a hostage crisis, the demands came with a deadline of 5 pm on April 25th before civil unrest escalates. The threats come ahead of a weekend of scheduled protests, with 28,000 forecasted to march for climate action in London from Friday to Monday.

Make My Money Matter?

Game of Thrones stars Kit Harington and Rose Leslie starred in a toxic relationship therapy session video that went viral this week . The creators of the video Make My Money Matter aim to expose the relationship between banks and fossil fuel companies. The campaign calls on the UK’s biggest five banks to stop financing new fossil fuel projects. According to the Banking On Climate Chaos report released this month, these banks funded fossil fuel companies to the tune of $37 billion last year.

The couples therapy video is not the only irreverent climate video out there. Bloomberg’s, Getting Warmer with Kal Pen is a new show that takes a light-hearted and humorous take on serious climate issues.

What Are You Doing This Earth Day?

Tomorrow marks the 53rd anniversary of Earth Day. Aside from the normal turning off lights or beach clean-ups, here are a few unique ways you can celebrate our planet this Earth Day:

• Put your money where your mouth is: Donate to the Earth Day Fund or another relevant NGO or make the most of the Earth Day sales by buying one of these sustainable products .
• Get out there: Better yet, buy nothing and get outside - US National Park entry fees are waived on Earth Day - so take a hike to appreciate nature and improve your mental and physical health .
• Educate yourself and others: Among many great environmental learning resources?are these three (free) UN courses: Digital4Sustainability Learning Path , My Sustainable Living Challenge , and The Paris Agreement on Climate Change as a Development Agenda .
• Host an environmental movie watch party: Get some friends and family over to watch an environmental film - to keep the mood upbeat, I suggest the tongue-in-cheek film Don’t Look Up .

Share other interesting ways to celebrate Earth Day in the comment section.

The views expressed on this website/weblog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.?

Other Notable News:

• Hong Kong makes climate disclosure mandatory for listed companies . The Hong Kong Stock Exchange created the policy to stay competitive as a sustainable business hub. The exchange said the new mandate marks an upgrade from the existing "comply or explain" regime and that the new disclosures would be aligned with the ISSB.
• EU Reverses Ban on Combustion Engine Cars: The EU has reversed rules it had set in place to ban the sale of combustion engine automobiles by 2035. Commenting in?Nikkei,?Kazutoshi?Tominaga?says that Japanese car manufacturers should not take much stock in the reversal, and the marketing for these types of vehicles will continue shrinking for the foreseeable future. Read more in?As Automakers Transform, So Must Suppliers.
• The Economist proposed the banana index showing the climate emissions of foods in relation to their weight, calorie count, and protein levels - all indexed to the humble banana.
• Consumers’ Adaptation to Sustainability in Fashion : Commenting in?Vogue Business,?Jocelyn?Wilkinson says that brands are giving sustainability an executive direct line by implementing sustainability teams that report directly to the CEO.
• Biden appoints two climate advocates to top economic positions . Lael Brainard, the vice chair of the Federal Reserve known for citing the financial risks of climate change, will become his top economic advisor. Last month, Richard Revesz, an environmental lawyer and academic, became the regulations chief.
• Biden is bringing green jobs to red states . Last year’s Inflation Reduction Act is paying dividends for Biden. Since its announcement, there have been at least 75 large-scale manufacturing projects, which could create up to 80,000 well-paid manufacturing jobs. Ironically - most will be Republican-led states that oppose the measure.
• A new white paper outlines “How EU Financial Institutions can prepare for CSRD / ESRS.” Five critical considerations for financial institutions when incorporating CSRD/ESRS reporting into their target operating model.
• How electrifying everything will solve the climate crisis ; a series of graphs shows how electrification based on renewables will get America to its net zero by 2050 goal.?
• Scientists discover a new microbe that eats CO2 astonishingly quickly . The carbon dioxide-eating properties of this microbe, found in an Italian volcano, could be used to store CO2 in biomass.
• Starbucks certifies over 3,500 locations as green stores . The “greener stores” must meet 25 required standards to be approved. An external auditor must verify things like energy efficiency, waste recycling, water stewardship, and the use of low emissions products before the store can be classified as green.

Notable Podcasts:?

• In this week’s BCG Climate Vision 2050 , the show presents an episode of Climate Rising from the Harvard Business School, the first in a new series on climate change and AI. In this episode, Hamid Maher and Charlotte Degot , Managing Directors and Partners at BCG, join host Professor Mike Toffel to explain how BCG has developed and uses AI tools to help their clients manage climate risks and address mitigation and adaptation challenges.
• On the most recent episode of Outrage and Optimism, “A Better Future Emerging ,” hosts Christiana Figueres and Paul Dickinson talk about the exciting updates from the G7 and are joined by author Jon Alexander to discuss his widely acclaimed book: “Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us .”