What's Hot in Glasgow - November 8, 2021

During COP26, WWF provides a daily “What’s Hot” newsletter with updates on the negotiations, news, announcements and press conferences.

REACTIONS FROM WWF

WWF leaders are on the ground in Glasgow watching everything unfold—here are their reactions to the latest proceedings.

• On need for strong political leadership at COP26 this week:

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Lead Climate and Energy and President of COP20, said: "Last week saw a number of impressive headline-grabbing announcements. But with record numbers of people on the streets in Glasgow calling for action not words, leaders face a credibility crisis unless they deliver real progress this week in the negotiations. Ministers must make science-based decisions on key issues, including climate finance and loss and damage, and ensure that COP26 delivers increased ambition by stipulating that countries must enhance their national climate action plans before 2023. The world is watching.”

• On the state of negotiations at the midway mark of COP26: 

Fernanda Carvalho, WWF Global Policy Manager, Climate and Energy, said: “We must leave Glasgow with an outcome that accelerates ambition on all fronts - mitigation, adaptation, and finance – while also fostering implementation and addressing loss and damage. To limit global warming to 1.5C, it is essential that governments agree to phase-out fossil fuels and acknowledge the role of nature in combating the climate crisis. Then we will be able to say leaders and negotiators have started responding to the demands of the people.”

• On the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework in the US House of Representatives

Marcene Mitchell, Senior Vice President of Climate Change, WWF-US, said: “Last night’s vote by the House to pass bipartisan infrastructure legislation shows Congress can move forward to advance tangible and effective solutions to climate change. This legislation will help accelerate efforts to meet the US commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 50-52% by 2030, but while it is an important and necessary step, by itself it is not sufficient. We have a long way to go, and with almost no time left to act, the next step must be passage by both houses of Congress of the Build Back Better Act. If we are to keep the hope of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees alive and reverse the devastating trends for people and nature that we are seeing around the world, then Congress must provide the investments needed to fully live up to America’s responsibility to lead and its commitments to act.

“Tens of thousands of people from every walk of life and every corner of the world are marching in the streets in Glasgow demanding action, and with time running short to meet the challenge science has laid out for us, any progress we can make is critical. We welcome President Biden’s signature on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and redouble our call on Congress to act now and pass the Build Back Better Act.”

• On progress on Article 6:

Brad Schallert, Director, Carbon Market Governance and Aviation, WWF-US, said:

“Here in Glasgow, we are seeing more constructive movement towards a deal on Article 6 compared to Madrid. Parties are willing to engage and find landing zones. We need to make sure we close some worrying accounting loopholes, which would threaten for years our ability to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. This week has seen some solid progress. The urgency of the climate crisis demands that we finish out next week with decisions that will allow us to move past talk and into action.”

• On Loss & Damage:

Lisa Plattner, WWF-Austria Climate Lead, said: “At the face of the climate impacts we are experiencing today are the most vulnerable communities, whose livelihoods are being irrevocably changed and whose lives are threatened. We cannot allow leaders to ignore this crisis any longer. COP26 must deliver a strong decision on finance for loss and damage that will provide technical and financial support to help them adapt, and safeguard vulnerable countries from economic, environmental and social losses.”

• On Adaptation:

Sandeep Chamling Rai#; "UNEP’s 2021 Adaptation Gap report, again highlighted the huge gap in adaptation financing expected from developed countries for developing countries. This is climate injustice. Developed countries have a moral obligation to support developing countries on adaptation much faster than at its current pace. We need urgent action on climate adaptation before it reaches its tipping points where adaptation fails or is no longer viable. COP26 must deliver an ambitious decision on adaptation financing with easy access and ultimately reducing the increasing adaptation finance gap".

RESOURCES ON ADAPTATION & LOSS AND DAMAGE:

• WWF Issue Paper: Operationalizing the Global Goal on Adaptation of the Paris Agreement
• WWF Expectations Paper: WWF Expectations on Loss and Damage at COP26
• WWF Report: Anchoring Loss & Damage in NDCs
• UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2021
• The report finds that there is an urgent need to step up climate adaptation finance. Estimated adaptation costs in developing countries are five to ten times greater than current public adaptation finance flows, and the adaptation finance gap is widening.

NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

The difficult issues under the Paris ‘rulebook’, including Article 6 (market and non-market approaches), transparency and common timeframes for NDCs, have been sent to ministers for their decision this week. There is also an expectation for key decisions on Loss and Damage and adaptation finance, a global goal for adaptation, and accelerated climate action and implementation.

• Ministers arriving in Glasgow today must make progress on the Paris Rulebook - including Article
•  6, transparency and common timeframes - and ensure that the final COP outcome secures increased ambition as well as accelerated implementation.
• The final day of negotiations last week produced a number of developments:

Ambition and COP26 cover decisions:

• A ll key issues like mitigation, adaptation, loss & damage, nature, have been brought up by Parties. There are several ideas on the table, for example inviting the IPCC to do a report on NDCs and 1.5°C. A first overview of the key points to be included in the cover text has now been produced and will be further elaborated over this week and agreed at the end of the COP.

Article 6: 

• Parties agreed on a text that will go to ministers this week, with a number of options within the text still to be narrowed down. A number of contentious issues remain, including carry over of pre-2020 Clean Development Mechanism units; a share of proceeds to raise money for adaptation; and the treatment of emission reductions from outside NDCs. Brazil is signaling flexibility on carry over of Certified Emission Reductions, but not India. Meanwhile, Arab group countries are worryingly keen on being to trade credits in non-CO2 metrics. Brazil is holding up progress on transparency as a form of pressure in the Article 6 negotiations. No movement on highly political issues like double-counting yet, but on issues like baselines some movement appears to be happening.

Loss and damage:

• Governance, inclusion in global stock-take and finance are the issues getting the most discussion. Some countries, like the G77, want more references to finance in the text. 

Common time-frames:

• A draft text, which contains multiple options, has been forwarded to ministers for a decision this week. The vast majority of countries support five year time-frames for NDCs. 

Nature:

• Positive signals from EIG and AILAC groups of countries; the EU, Canada, Norway in terms of making nature more prominent in the text. WWF especially wants to see nature and 1.5°C, the role of oceans, nature in national climate plans to be strongly present.

WATCH

• Watch the UNFCCC live streams here

NEWS

• WWF Press Release: Review of progress midway through COP26— Good intentions on climate must be backed by results in the COP26 negotiations and short-term action
• The 2021 CSO Equity Review report, A Fair Shares Review: A Civil Society Equity Review on an Equitable Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels, endorsed by more than 200 civil society organizations, including WWF, was released last week. It focuses on the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels, especially of fossil fuel extraction, and raises critical equity questions that arise from this phaseout. It includes 13 country profiles to demonstrate the diversity of challenges and opportunities in addressing fossil fuel production at national as well as international level, and highlights real-world problems playing out in key countries and suggests an introductory framework for addressing “supply-side equity” issues relating to the phaseout of fossil fuel extraction, as well as a number of possible solutions including both national and international interventions. The report also applies the ‘equity analysis’ to country NDCs to assess how each country is delivering on the Paris Agreement’s 1.5℃ goal.

panda.org/cop26

Livestream of events at the WWF Pavilion on youtube.com/wwfclimate