Significant Strides by Cities, Investors, Businesses, and Civil Society Pave the Way for Making Progress at COP 29
High-Level Climate Champions
H.E. Ms. Razan Al Mubarak and Ms. Nigar Arpadarai are the High-Level Climate Champions for #COP28 and #COP29.
Welcome to the Top of the COP daily newsletter, brought to you by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions. The Top of the COP will highlight action of non-State actors — businesses, investors, cities and regions, Indigenous Peoples and youth — accelerating progress towards 2030 goals.
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Driving the day
World leaders gathering in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the start of COP 29 can be encouraged by the breadth and scope of climate action underway across the global economy.?
Climate-driven impacts combined with tangible economic growth opportunities are driving an increase in actions to decarbonize industries and make societies and economies more resilient.
The Yearbook of Global Climate Action highlights that rapid growth in clean technology, rising demand for low-carbon solutions, and the persistent risks of climate change are likely to drive continued and accelerating action. Launched in the lead-up to COP 29, the 2024 Yearbook is the eighth of the series published by the UNFCCC secretariat, which provides an overview of the progress, trends and challenges of real-world climate action taken by non-Party stakeholders, to inspire further actions and raise ambition.
This annual stocktake of efforts by leaders across society and the real economy incorporates contributions from the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action network of non-State entities and several recent reports. It highlights significant advances over the past 12 months including: a 473GW expansion of renewable energy capacity in 2023, marking a 14% increase during the year; a 70% increase in clean technology manufacturing since 2022; a 35% growth in zero-emission vehicle sales in 2023 and an 8% reduction in carbon intensity of the cement sector compared to 2020.
These developments, alongside the continued growth of the UNFCCC’s Global Climate Action Portal now tracking action from over 39,000 actors, demonstrate considerable headroom for national governments to make their next round of nationally determined contributions (or NDCs) to the Paris Agreement more ambitious than the last in 2020.?
The Race is on
The Yearbook also highlighted continued progress in the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience campaigns. Over the past 12 months, membership of the Race to Zero has grown by 16%, reaching more than 15,500 members from 150 countries including more than 12,400 companies of which at least 9,200 are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), 650 financial institutions, 1,100 cities, 50 states and regions, 1,200 education institutions, and 80 healthcare institutions.
In addition, the 2024 Net Zero Stocktake found that Race to Zero members perform better than non-members on good net-zero practices although more still needs to be done. Additional analysis also found that campaign members to be 2.5 times more likely to support science-aligned climate policy, outperforming their peers. Moving from pledges to plans, Race to Zero members are offering their leadership and support to help national governments set investable and implementable national plans.
The Yearbook also reflects important advances by initiatives helping people adapt to the realities of climate change. For instance, action by partners of the Race to Resilience? now cover more than 2 billion people in more than 160? countries.? Members of The Mangrove Breakthrough support the protection and restoration of more than 65,000 hectares of mangroves, and major companies such as Nestlé and Unilever have expanded their regenerative agriculture programmes, helping to restore degraded lands while securing supply chains, and impacting over 500,000 smallholder farmers.
A global problem requires a global solution
Business, investors, cities, states and regions, and civil society rally to support strong national climate plans (or NDCs) to accelerate a prosperous, net zero future. In this report , the High-Level Champions highlight the insights, priorities and offers of support from non-State actors to make them readily available for countries to leverage in the design and implementation of their NDCs.
In addition, the Truly Global: A Regional Outlook on the 2030 Climate Solutions report by the High-Level Champions and Marrakech Partnership outlines how action is accelerating across the globe from Africa, to Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, increasing the resilience of? communities, protecting lives and livelihoods and restoring nature for the benefit of people and planet.?
Earlier this year, the High Level Champions invited Parties and non-Party stakeholders to share their insights and feedback on how the High-Level Champions and the Marrakech Partnership can accelerate action and drive implementation. Their inputs are summarised here.?
Uniting leadership for a climate-resilient future
Today at the Global Climate Action High-Level Event, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions of the COP 28 Presidency and the COP 29 Presidency, respectively, H.E. Razan Al Mubarak and Nigar Arpadarai will join high-level representatives to send a clear message: actors in the real economy and across society are crucial in supporting the design and implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plan (NAPs). They will reinforce the economic opportunity of the 21st century to future proof their operations, increase the resilience of their supply chains, create new job opportunities and support the advancement of development goals.?
Building on the momentum made throughout the year, the High-Level Champions and Marrakech Partnership Programme at COP 29 will inspire further climate action and collaboration across stakeholders and sectors to drive progress in critical areas including clean energy, equitable finance and sustainable land-use using the tools and frameworks of the 2030 Climate Solutions
Mobilising private finance for adaptation and resilience
Launched at COP 28 by the High-Level Champions in collaboration with the Atlantic Council, the Call for Collaboration to accelerate the mobilisation of private finance for adaptation and resilience brings together public and private actors to define what is needed to scale finance for adaptation and resilience.
Today, the Atlantic Council Climate Resilience Center builds on this collaboration, bringing together actors across the financial system to define concrete and detailed recommendations that have to be taken to prepare communities, businesses and financial institutions for climate impacts.
Contributors include approximately 30 specialists from public finance institutions, policy makers, leading private financial institutions: banks, investors, insurers and civil society. Together they define what actions are needed to achieve this transformational effort to scale private finance for adaptation and resilience in line with the framework of the Sharm- El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda.?
These include defining adaptation and resilience finance standards that can be tailored to local needs, and making National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) investible alongside enabling policies such as tax breaks and subsidies, mainstreaming adaptation in national climate plans, and supporting developing countries with capacity and technology and improving the availability of blended finance instruments.
TeraMed Initiative
Seven Mediterranean Countries committed to develop one terawatt of renewable capacity by 2030 through the TeraMed initiative , led by IRENA and the Global Renewables Alliance.? With investments that can reach USD 700 billion, the initiative has the potential to create three million new jobs in the solar industries alone. Non-Party stakeholders and national governments are doubling down on the untapped potential for renewable energies in the mediterranean region, contributing to the target of tripling sustainable energy capacity launched at COP 28.?
Accelerating Africa’s Climate Leadership
African leaders and global partners will come together today Wednesday 13th at the Africa Climate Summit High-Level event to examine the impact of the inaugural Africa Climate Summit held in 2023 and launch the Mission 300 agenda.?
Led by the World Bank Group and African Development Bank (AfDB), Mission 300 seeks to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030 - representing half of the continent’s? population living without electricity and 40% of the global total. The most ambitious global undertaking in decades, Mission 300 seeks to uplift livelihoods, power productivity, create green jobs, and achieve net zero goals.
The Accelerating Africa’s Climate Leadership to Action convening will be co-hosted by the? Africa Climate Summit (ACS), the African Union Commission , and His Excellency, Faure Gnassingbé, President of the Republic of Togo. Representatives from government, the private sector, academia, and civil society will be invited to examine progress on the commitments made under the Nairobi Declaration including pledges to provide USD 100 billion annually.
Making an impact
In the face of the climate crisis, solutions are emerging faster than ever, tackling every aspect of the challenge. The new High-Level Champions’ series, Impact Makers , shines a spotlight on those leading this change from the ground up – from climate-resilient healthcare in Nigeria to green transport solutions in Bangladesh, clean energy in Colombia, sustainable energy in Mozambique, and beyond.
Each day at COP, the High-Level Champions will introduce new Impact Makers, showcasing the changemakers from around the world turning ideas into action.?
Call for inputs: COP 29 climate action announcements
The UNFCCC secretariat is tracking climate action announcements made at COP 29, including the launch of:?
This information will be used to inform the Global Climate Action Portal (GCAP), formally known as Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA), in particular, on its COP 29 event page. Please find the online form to submit your inputs here or via the QR code below.
About the High-Level Champions: The UN Climate Change High-Level Champions drive ambitious climate action by connecting the work of national governments with the many voluntary and collaborative actions and initiatives from non-Party stakeholders such as cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil society. This includes delivering the five-year plan of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, in collaboration with the UNFCCC secretariat and other partners, using the tools and frameworks included? in the? 2030 Climate Solutions . H.E. Razan Al Mubarak and Ms. Nigar Arpadarai serve as the current High-Level Champions of the COP 28 Presidency and the COP 29 Presidency, respectively.
One of UK's Leading authorities on Sustainable Site Hoardings, Fencing and Noise Barriers
1 周Fingers crossed for some cooperation from all the members.
Interim Chair, UK Climate Change Committee; Director, Priestley Centre for Climate Futures
1 周GCAP is more important than ever so thanks for all you are doing
Economist, Business, Project Management and Finance Consultant. Inventor of H-TIPS for Personal Safety, and Leadership Excellence with a Focus on Systemic Thinking, Ethical and Innovative Solutions.
1 周Thanks for sharing
High-Level Climate Champions . Thanks for sharing, hope the implementation of all stated, narrated, and capsulated here in will be practically given to the consumer not to be locked inside the drawers and remain beautiful as a ship on the Dock which was not made for that purpose.