Last round of GST negotiations expected on December 6; green public procurement pledge launched
Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President, speaks at the Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) Presidency Roundtable during the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 at Expo City Dubai on December 5, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by COP28 / Stuart Wilson) The 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), began November 30, 2023. Here’s a look at what happened on the sixth day of COP28.
A new text on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) was introduced by co-facilitators on December 5 after the first draft text was rejected by developing countries.
The text on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) and adaptation finance which was earlier bracketed, now appears as options. One of the options on CBDR-RC has the statement of the principle and the other option currently has no text.
One part of the Finance and Means of Implementation section of the text has an option that talks about the predictability of adaptation finance, doubling of adaptation finance, achieving a balance between mitigation and adaptation finance, private finance for adaptation and the scaling up of finance from developed countries without any specific numbers.
There is also no mention of the adaptation finance gap highlighted by the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Adaptation Gap Report released in November, 2023.
The other option that comes from developing countries gives a financial target for the GGA as $400 billion per year till 2030, in line with the temperature target of 1.5°C. It also says that the adaptation gap would be reduced by only 5-10 per cent even if finance for adaptation from developed countries to developing countries is doubled by 2025.
The December 5 text has been accepted by Parties for further negotiations which will continue on December 6.
Parties met to continue deliberations on the draft text on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. All countries have expressed agreement on the need to shift from solely technical dialogues on the new goal to negotiations and political engagement in 2024.
At the informal consultation held on December 5, Brazil voiced on behalf of G77 that the text presently does not relate options on timeframes for the goal to adaptation activities and loss and damage. It only relates to mitigation. The delegate expressed concern that this was not reflective of the G77 approach.
Brazil also highlighted that the text does not reflect the need for financial resources to be new, adequate, predictable and additional, for the NCQG experience to be trackable and transparent.
The delegate called for accurate reflection of developing country needs in the text as well. This is to the tune of trillions of dollars and is not covered in the text.
This intervention received the support of Colombia on behalf of the Independent Alliance of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC); Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Arab Group; Argentina on behalf of their country, Brazil and Uruguay (ABU); India on behalf of the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs); and China.
The split among developed countries and developing ones (China and also India) — on whether or not to include references to Article 2.1 c in the NCQG text and the larger process for the new goal — continued to remain unresolved.
On the mode of work for the remaining days at COP28, most developed countries, along with AILAC recommended moving towards ‘inf-infs’ for continued discussion on substantive elements and procedural ones of the goal in informal settings.
Egypt, on behalf of the African group, expressed strong reservations on this. It suggested informal consultations should continue as they are accessible to non-Party stakeholders such as Observers as well.
Informal consultations are to continue on Day 7 of COP28 as well.
The second iteration of the GST text has multiple no text options for key areas such as fossil fuel phase out and finance provisions. Negotiations on December 5 ran beyond schedule again as countries had multiple edits to the new text. Another last round of negotiations is expected on December 6 after which, the text will be handed over to the Presidency to take forward.
A high level round table on hydrogen was held on December 5. The UAE Energy Minister, Suhail Al Mazrouei, began by emphasising the significance of alternate fuels.
He said: “The biggest challenge is to provide alternative fuel that is available at the right time and at the right price. If it is not affordable, it will not have the success we aspire to achieve through it.”
The discussion mentioned about a declaration of intent on mutual recognition of certification schemes for hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives. Around three dozen countries are involved in this declaration. Namibia, Japan and Germany are among them.
Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Thomas Alweendo emphasised upon the importance of covering the entire value chain under these certifications. The international methodology for determining greenhouse gases associated with production, conditioning and transport of hydrogen to consumption was also discussed.
Gerd Müller, director-general of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), highlighted the current presence of most green hydrogen projects in developed countries and the need to invest and develop these projects in developing countries. He laid emphasis on creating a win-win situation for both developed and developing countries.
An event, Greening the Grid: Public Private Round Table Building the Foundations of the Future Energy Systems, was also held. It highlighted the importance of strengthening the grid systems across the world without which achievement of popular declarations like tripling renewable energy, etc. would not be possible.
Organisations like Global Renewable Alliance, IEA, Global Wind Energy Council, World Bank and Deutsche Bank were part of the event.
IEA raised the question of whether grids can become a bottle neck for energy transition. They also showcased scenarios in case grid infrastructure is delayed. The World Bank and Deutsche Bank highlighted their ongoing support of establishing grid infrastructure in Africa and Sub Saharan Africa respectively
On December 2, the COP28 president, United Nations Climate Change and Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the Industry Transition Accelerator for Heavy Emitting Industries. An Industrial Transition Accelerator Presidency Round Table was also held on December 5, 2023, as a continuation of the initiative.
COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber himself chaired the session. He called for immediate solutions on the table and not to keep discussing problems. The UN Special Envoy on Climate and Finance, Mark Carney, highlighted the need for more progress in heavy emitting sectors.
He mentioned the issue of a lot of tech being in nascent stages in many parts of the world and also the regulatory barriers around them. He said many companies are in the transition trap. They know what they need to do but are constrained due to financial constraints and the lack of demand for green products in their region.
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Steil emphasised that every single project out there — green hydrogen or Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage — is through collaborations. This highlights the importance of collaboration in industrial decarbonisation.
As the Climate Club was launched by Germany and Chile on December 1 at COP28, an official side event titled Accelerating Industrial Decarbonisation through International Cooperation was held on December 5, 2023.
German Parliamentary State Secretary and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change, Stefan Wenzel, was among the panelists. He mentioned: “Only net zero economies will be successful in the future and net zero cannot be achieved without collaborations.”
He went on to say: “The Climate Club platform is open for all countries, even for non-members.”
Anie Heaton, chief executive, Responsible Steel said: “If you want to drive the market and shape policy, you need standards. And you need to harmonise them.” She emphasised on the need to work on globally acceptable standards.
Luis Tineo, interim chief executive from Climate Investment Funds, highlighted the issue developing economies are facing in accessing finance.
Ibu Nani Hendiarti, deputy coordinating minister from the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment, highlighted the efforts Indonesia is making towards decarbonisation through its National Plan for Industrial Decarbonization, Upcoming Carbon Markets, Just Energy Transition Partnership and put out their need for support. Indonesia is looking forward to the global matchmaking platform to garner support.
The green public procurement pledge was launched in a presidential event to enhance demand creation of green products of high-emitting industries like green steel, green cement and green aluminum.
The launch by Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI) of the clean energy ministerial saw the US, UK, Germany and Canada as the first signatories of the pledge while UAE and Japan endorsed the Statement of Intent.
Several companies like Coca-Cola, Volvo Cars and Ball Corp, who are also members of the first movers coalition, supported the move. Speakers from UNIDO, which is the IDDI secretariat, highlighted the lack of data framework and standardisation as key issues regarding the demand for green products.
Japan talked about issues relating to the high cost of these products. The pledge consists of four levels and countries can pledge to any level suitable. Austria also signaled interest for being a signatory to the pledge, as noted by the presidency in their absence.
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