🚿 Ending greenwashing

Plus: The money fight | Tuesday, November 08, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Generate By Ben Geman and Andrew Freedman · Nov 08, 2022 👋 Hi readers! Today's newsletter has a Smart Brevity count of 1,268 words, 5 minutes.  👀 We're packed with COP27 news, but tomorrow we'll also bring you up to speed on the ramifications of today's midterm elections. 🎶 At this moment in 2004, Usher and Alicia Keys were atop the Billboard Hot 100 with today's intro tune...     1 big thing: UN panel sets red lines against greenwashing Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios   At COP27 today, a United Nations-sponsored panel laid out what should define credible net-zero emissions pledges and pathways for companies, cities and states, Andrew writes. Why it matters: The report aims to bring order and trust to the murky world of net-zero target setting and preventing greenwashing. Driving the news: The report from a panel of 17 environmental experts, chaired by former Canadian climate minister Catherine McKenna, seeks to rein in practices that risk losing the trust of the public and failing to slow human-caused global warming. Zoom in: The report sets out 10 main recommendations for net-zero targets from nonstate actors. These include committing to immediate cuts in absolute emissions across a company's entire value chain, from suppliers to end users of products. It calls for nonstate actors to publicly spell out transition plans that show both near-term emissions cuts and spending plans that are consistent with meeting their long-term targets. Making sure disclosed plans are comparable from one entity to the next is a way to prevent dishonest or incomplete carbon accounting. The expert group also recommends that companies shift from voluntary net-zero initiatives to a regulated process at the national level. The big picture: It sets out "red lines" aimed at thwarting greenwashing: Companies could not claim to be on their way to net zero while continuing to build or invest in new fossil fuel infrastructure, deforestation, or other environmentally damaging activities. "If fossil fuel companies think that they can expand production under a net zero target, they need to think again," said expert group member Bill Hare of Climate Analytics, in a statement. They also could not buy cheap emissions credits before cutting their own emissions. In addition, companies could not lobby against aggressive government climate policies either on their own or through trade associations. "They must align their advocacy, as well as their governance and business strategies with their climate commitments," the report states. Between the lines: The group's recommendations would seem to contradict a forthcoming U.S. plan to have companies finance developing country transitions to clean energy through carbon credits. However, it depends on how the credits are defined. The expert group encourages multinational companies to participate in such partnerships, albeit through the use of "high-quality credits," provided they have already taken certain actions on their own. What they're saying: "We do need to be very clear about what's required, because people are saying they are carbon neutral, they are net zero, millions of other terms," McKenna told Axios. Such terms, she said, "have to mean things." Read the whole story.     2. COP27 is about money and ideas are flying Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Florian Gaertner/Getty Images   The toughest negotiations at COP27 will be over finance and how to compensate the most vulnerable nations, and the first week is packed with analyses setting the stage for these political battles, Ben writes. Driving the news: One example is a major report this morning from prominent experts that estimates emerging markets and developing nations (other than China) will need $1 trillion annually in external climate finance by 2030. Why it matters: A crucial COP27 theme is competing proposals for boosting capital flows and aid that's now far short of needs for cutting emissions and adapting to global warming. Where it stands: The report was crafted at the request of Egypt and the U.K. — the heads of this year's and last year's COPs — and proposes a "new roadmap on climate finance." The report is from the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, co-chaired by economists Vera Songwe and Nicholas Stern. The big picture: The roadmap includes... Suggestions for mobilizing far more private sector capital. Tripling of finance from multilateral development banks and other development finance institutions. A huge increase in "concessional finance" on attractive terms from rich countries. Full report...more coverage BusinessGreen and Reuters 👀 What we're watching: Fraught talks about how rich industrial powers should compensate vulnerable nations for climate harms. French President Emmanuel Macron "gave his support to elements of a plan outlined by Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley that seeks to overhaul the way climate finance flows to the countries that most need it," Politico reports.     3. Officials seek progress on "early warnings" goal Illustration: Axios Visuals   UN officials hope to breathe life into ambitious plans to ensure everybody on Earth is covered by early warning systems for extreme weather events in just five years (!), Ben writes. 🗞️ Driving the news: The UN unveiled a detailed roadmap and cost estimates at COP27 yesterday for the initiative launched earlier this year. The UN estimates that "initial new targeted investments" would be $3.1 billion over five years, with benefits that vastly outweigh the price tag. Why it matters: Climate change is boosting the intensity of hurricanes, droughts, heat waves and floods. The UN estimates that only half the world's nations have early warning systems, which are crucial to saving lives. ⚠️ Threat level: They're absent or inadequate in the most vulnerable places, including small island states and Africa, where per the UN 60% of people lack coverage. "Countries with limited early warning coverage have disaster mortality eight times higher than countries with high coverage," the announcement states. What's next: Officials plan to work with the tech sector (including Microsoft), finance agencies and many others. They laid out four pillars in the development of integrated "multi-hazard early warning systems." Data collection and risk assessment. Development of hazard monitoring and early warning services. Building national and local response capabilities. Communication of understandable information.     A message from Axios Enhance your business strategy with Axios Pro: Climate Deals     Learn more about the challenges and opportunities presented by the IRA, rising interest rates, rampant market uncertainty and more. Download the report.     4. 🏃🏽‍♀️Catch up fast: danger and dollars 📈 The Biden administration used the opening of COP27 to release the draft version of the latest congressionally mandated "National Climate Assessment," and the findings are pretty sobering, Ben writes. Threat level: One major finding is that "Over the past fifty years, the US has warmed about 68% faster than the planet as a whole." Zoom in: The report also notes U.S. emissions would need to fall 6% annually to meet the country's 2050 net-zero target and that current efforts are not sufficient. Yes, but: On the plus side, "many cost-effective options are feasible now that have the potential to substantially reduce emissions over the next decade." What they're saying: White House energy adviser John Podesta, in a statement, said the draft report's release was pegged to COP27 to help the world understand the scope of the "climate crisis." Go deeper: Axios' Rebecca Falconer has more and the Washington Post has a deep dive. 💰 The State Department and Bloomberg Philanthropies this morning unveiled a new initiative to help cities and other local and regional governments cut emissions, Ben writes. Driving the news: The first phase of the "Subnational Climate Action Leaders' Exchange" (SCALE) program will focus on helping realize an existing multinational effort to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030. The big picture: State pledged $1.5 billion to be matched by Bloomberg Philanthropies, though the announcement cautions the U.S. cash is "subject to Congressional notification and the completion of domestic procedures."     5. 💬 Quote of the day "We were the ones whose blood, sweat and tears financed the industrial revolution. Are we now to face double jeopardy by having to pay the cost as a result of those greenhouse gases from the industrial revolution?" — Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, speaking at COP27 (h/t The Guardian) Why it matters: A key tension at COP27 is vulnerable nations' calls for compensation for mounting climate harms they've played almost no role in causing.     6. Zoom in: shipping emissions Data: International Energy Agency; Chart: Axios Visuals Among the zillions of COP27 announcements: a suite of government and private sector commitments under the "Green Shipping Challenge" the U.S. and Norway first unveiled in May, Ben writes. Why it matters: International shipping is a crucial engine of the world economy but also a big CO2 source, accounting for roughly 2% of global energy-related emissions. 📒List of announcements     A message from Axios Enhance your business strategy with Axios Pro: Climate Deals     Learn more about the challenges and opportunities presented by the IRA, rising interest rates, rampant market uncertainty and more. Download the report.   📬 Did a friend send you this newsletter? Welcome, please sign up. 🙏Thanks to Mickey Meece and David Nather for edits to today's newsletter. We'll see you back here tomorrow! Why stop here? Let's go Pro. Join the thousands of professionals reading Axios Pro: Climate Deals to better understand the forces shaping their industry.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. 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