Hello! It's day three at the COP27 UN climate conference in Egypt and it's the theme everyone's been waiting for – finance. U.N. experts published a list of projects worth $120 billion that investors could back to help poorer countries cut emissions and adapt to the impacts of global warming. Getting money to low- and middle-income countries so they can build infrastructure, such as renewable energy plants to replace fossil fuels, has long been a focus for the U.N. climate talks. But progress has been slow. So slow, in fact, that a new report by U.N. experts said that promises by companies, banks and cities to achieve net-zero emissions often amount to little more than greenwashing. The report, released at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, is intended to draw a "red line" around false claims of progress in the fight against global warming that can confuse consumers, investors and policy makers. "Too many of these net-zero pledges are little more than empty slogans and hype", group chair and Canada's former environment minister, Catherine McKenna, said during a news conference launching the report. The statement comes in the wake of countries and supranational organizations around the world making announcements about reducing carbon emissions during the climate summit. Earlier this week, the United Arab Emirates said it will be a responsible supplier of oil and gas for as long as the world needs. "Oil and gas in the UAE is among the least carbon intensive around the world and we will continue to focus on lowering carbon emissions emanating from this sector," said its President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Elsewhere, the European Union has agreed to a law that sets national targets to reduce overall carbon emissions by the end of the decade across sectors including agriculture, building and transport. Meanwhile, China has drafted a new plan to control methane and will promote new technologies and financing mechanisms to slash rising emissions of the greenhouse gas that traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide, senior climate change envoy Xie Zhenhua said on the sidelines of climate talks in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh. And Kuwait said it was committed to becoming carbon neutral in the oil and gas sector by 2050 and in the whole country a decade after that, Foreign Minister Salem al-Sabah told state news agency KUNA on the sidelines of the summit. |
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Attendees sit during the COP27 climate summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani |
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People stand outside the ruins of collapsed houses after an earthquake struck early Wednesday, in the western district of Doti, Nepal November 9, 2022. Nepal Army/Handout via REUTERS |
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- An earthquake in western Nepal killed at least six villagers, four of them children, as the tremor destroyed mud and brick houses in remote communities living in the foothills of the Himalayas.
- Fortescue Metals executive chairman Andrew Forrest said his charitable foundation is in favor of a pause on seabed mining, the first time a prominent mining executive has spoken out against the nascent industry.
- The floods in West Africa have destroyed the harvest for this season, while nearly 1 million hectares of farmland across the region remain under water, with soil nutrients being washed away and setting the scene for an even worse crop production next season.
- Spain's Iberdrola plans to invest 47 billion euros ($47 billion) in its electricity networks, renewable energy production and customer businesses in 2023-2025 alongside an expected rise in profits, it said.
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Andrea Webster, World Benchmarking Alliance's financial systems lead, talks about the recently released benchmark findings and what these mean for the financial industry: "Different parts of the finance sector have different roles to play in triggering the powerful domino-effect that is needed to mainstream sustainable finance. Providing transparency shows us what is currently being achieved, what can be scaled and which areas need urgent collaboration. "Our new Financial Systems Benchmark, released at COP27 this week, is a tool for change. Assessing the performance of 400 of the world's largest financial institutions against the Sustainable Development Goals, it paints a picture of a fragmented sector that is insufficiently aligned to drive impact at scale. But while it shows a dismal picture overall of where we are now, the intention is for it to provide a roadmap for companies themselves. "While we recognise that great efforts are being made by many, frustration is high and trust in the sector is low. This Benchmark provides a basis for hard but meaningful conversations. "There is no hiding from the fact the world is behind on where it should be towards net zero and in ensuring that no one is left behind. We need a social transition as well as an energy transition." |
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Breakingviews: It's a year since banks, investors and insurers with a collective $130 trillion convened in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Despite some setbacks, the group has made progress, writes Huw van Steenis. Now it's up to governments to help unlock more green investments. |
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"If you invest in a coal-powered plant, maybe it will make money in the short term. In the long term, it will be a stranded asset, it will not meet our long-term targets." Rossitsya Stoyanova, chief investment officer at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario speaking to Reuters Correspondent Carolyn Cohn in London |
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- The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases its report on Nov. 10 which highlights advances in climate science and potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems, biodiversity and human communities.
- Kenyan climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti, founder of the Green Generation Initiative, is among the youths calling for climate justice and urgent action as 'Young and Future Generations Day' is celebrated at COP27 on Nov. 10.
- Nov. 10 also marks 'Science day' at COP27 and features a variety of sessions tackling the role of research and innovation in addressing climate crises.
- Read our Reuters report on how finance flows into cash strapped Arab countries are currently estimated around $5.1–7.4 billion a year and how they are planning to cope with climate change.
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