Top of the COP: Powering through to affordable energy for all

TOP OF THE COP: POWERING THROUGH TO AFFORDABLE ENERGY FOR ALL

Tuesday 15 November 2022

The imperative to power up the transition away from fossil fuels has never been greater. Currently, only 29% of global electricity generation comes from renewables, but given electricity generation accounts for 23% of global greenhouse gas emissions, we have to move further and faster to increase our global renewable power capacity by 2030.

Under the recently launched Sharm-el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, the?outcomes for energy must meet the needs of the 733 million people still living without access to electricity. As Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme recently stated: “We have missed the opportunity to invest in a low-carbon recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we are in danger of missing the opportunity to boost clean and efficient energy as a response to the energy crisis.”

Read on for more news coming out of Energy, Ace and Civil Society day.

Today’s Key Announcements?

• The COP27 Egyptian Presidency launches the ?Africa Just and Affordable Energy Transition Initiative (AJAETI). By 2027, its three primary objectives are to offer technical and policy support to facilitate affordable energy for at least 300 million people in Africa; provide access to clean cooking fuels and technologies; and increase the share of renewable electricity generation by 25%.
• Launch of the Planning for Climate Commission, a new global initiative? focused on speeding up planning and approvals for the massive deployment of renewables and green hydrogen needed to address climate change and energy security.? The Commission is a joint initiative by the Green Hydrogen Organisation, International Hydropower Association, the Global Wind Energy Council and the Global Solar Council.?
• RMI and Lion’s Head Global Partners have partnered to launch a targeted USD 15 million Project Preparation Facility and an associated USD 75 million Caribbean Climate Smart Fund to invest in energy projects across the Caribbean.? These projects will support climate resilience in the face of intensifying storms, stabilize electricity prices, and increase energy security, while saving tens of millions of dollars each year in fossil fuel imports.?
• The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will share new insights from its recently launched “Renewable Energy Targets in 2022 - A guide to design” and its Energy Transition Support to Strengthen Climate Action: Insight to Impact 2022 ?reports.? The new insights will offer? important input to the first Global Stocktake.
• Launch of the Global Renewables Alliance. Organisations representing wind, solar, hydropower, green hydrogen, long duration energy storage and geothermal energy industries will officially join forces in an unprecedented alliance. It brings together, for the first time, all the technologies required for the energy transition in order to ensure an accelerated energy transition. As well as ensuring targets are met, the Alliance also aims to position renewable energy as a pillar of sustainable development and economic growth.?
• New? analysis from the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance (AGHA) and McKinsey concludes green hydrogen could sustainably industrialise Africa and boost GDP by 6 to 12% in six key countries. It concludes that by 2050, green hydrogen could increase the GDP of? Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, and South Africa by $126bn, equivalent to 12% of these countries’ current GDP. AGHA, with support from the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, the Green Hydrogen Organisation and the African Development Bank, calls for greater cooperation between governments and the private sector to unlock the investment needed.

GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION EVENTS SCHEDULE

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND WEBCAST, ACCESS HERE

UK COP26 Presidency event: Putting Promises into Practice: Accelerating the Clean Energy Transition?

Location: Action Room 2 (Lotus)

Time: 9:00 - 10:30

Marrakech Partnership Energy Action Event, Game Changers Accelerating the Global Energy Transition

Location: Action Room 1 (Ibis)?

Time: 10:00 - 12:00

Register here

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Marrakech Partnership Implementation Lab: Resilient Energy Systems

Location: Action Room 2 (Lotus)

Time: 12:00 - 13:30

UNFCCC-UNEP special event Emissions Gap Report 2022

Location: Action Room 1 (Ibis)

Time: 13:00 - 15:00

Beating the Heat: Accelerating Access to Sustainable Climate Solutions in Cities

Location: Buildings Pavilion, Area C

Time: 13:30 - 16:30?

Marrakech Partnership Implementation Lab, A Cleaner power sector By 2030: Scaling renewable and storage-based systems

Location: Action Room 2 (Lotus)?

Time:? 14:00-15:30

Register here

Futures of Citizen Climate Action: Futures Lab

Location: Capacity Building Hub?

Time:? 14:00-15:00?

Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)

Location: Action Room 2 (Lotus)

Time: 18:00 - 20:00

Creating A Consolidated Global Proposition For A Safer Maritime System: Futures Lab?

Location: Resilience Hub

Time: 18:15-19:15?

EXPLORE COP27

The Children and Youth Pavilion?

For the first time ever at a UNFCCC Conference, children and young people will have a dedicated space at COP27 alongside world leaders, ministers, prominent non-State actors and other delegates. Designed to amplify children and youth voices within global climate policymaking, the COP27 Children and Youth Pavilion will be entirely led by young people and has been co-created and run by influential child and youth networks. A full programme of events? is here.

The Resilience Hub: Showcasing Resilience Solutions Everyday

The Resilience Hub continues to deliver on its mandate to elevate the knowledge of front line leaders and demonstrate locally-informed resilience solutions which can be implemented at scale. Click here for the full agenda.The Hub is accessible in-person in Area C and virtually here.

On Monday, the Hub hosted the official launch of the Roof Over Our Heads campaign.?

As Nigel Topping, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion of COP26 Presidency ?said: ‘We can't talk about urban transitions if we don't take the voice of informal communities seriously.”

No More Fairy Tales: stories to save our planet

Before we can build the resilient zero carbon economy that we have promised future generations, we must first imagine it.?

Stay inspired by reading today’s story drawn from an anthology of? short stories written by a variety of authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson, Paolo Bacigalupi and others. These stories present positive visions of what a sustainable society might look like and how we might get there.

Each story links to a webpage where readers can see how they can help to make the story a reality. Compiled by the Green Stories Project, in association with Herculean Climate Solutions.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

New report highlights the value of nature in reducing energy consumption and emissions in our cities

In its Growing to Its Potential: The Value of Urban Nature for Communities, Investors, and the Climate report, RMI helps local decision makers and investors make the case for scaling up investment in urban nature concluding that globally, the value of urban nature’s benefits is nine times the costs.?

Roof Over Our Heads: Delivering resilient, affordable, low carbon homes for 2bn people by 2050

A new campaign that aims to improve the lives of 2 billion climate vulnerable people living in informal settlements, most impacted by climate change, was launched at COP27 on Monday.?

Actions After Impacts – Addressing climate losses and damages

A Future Lab event on Monday presented a set of options to mobilise finance to address climate losses and damages, with a key emphasis on the role of non-State actors.

Maritime sector and green hydrogen leaders agree on ambitious targets and collaboration to reach zero emissions global shipping by 2050

Ten organisations signed the Joint Statement on Green Hydrogen and Green Shipping, committing to rapid adoption of green hydrogen-based fuels this decade to get on track for full decarbonization of the shipping sector by 2050.

Beyond 8 billion: Focus on women, not population, for reproductive and climate justice

We need to turn away from dramatic headlines about the number of people on the planet and instead focus on the actual issue driving the continued rise of humans on Earth—a lack of rights, for women and girls in particular, argues Kristen P. Patterson, Director, Drawdown Lift, Project Drawdown.

Aya Chebbi: Tackling the climate emergency through a feminist lens

Aya Chebbi, Chair of Nala Feminist Collective, explains why effectively tackling the climate emergency demands greater representation, leadership and participation of women and young people in formal climate decision making processes.

WHO ARE THE HIGH LEVEL CHAMPIONS?

The UN Climate Change High-Level Champions enhance and strengthen the engagement of non-Party stakeholders in collaborating with Parties, to deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement. To connect the work of governments with the many voluntary and collaborative actions taken by cities, regions, businesses, investors and civil society, at COP 21, countries decided to appoint two High Level Champions.?

The current Champions are Mr. Nigel Topping and Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin. Working with the Marrakech Partnership, they build on the legacy of their predecessors to engage with non-Party stakeholders and activate the ‘ambition loop’ with national governments. Their work is fundamentally designed to encourage a collaborative shift across all of society towards a decarbonized economy so that we can all thrive in a healthy, resilient and net-zero world.

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