Partner News | Connect4Climate

We Innovate For Climate Because Our Future Depends On It

In Frankfurt this week, Innovate4Climate brought together climate leaders who recognized and applauded the growth in climate finance and innovation but noted that much remains to be done to scale up action and get on track to meet the Paris Agreement’s 2°C goal.

The big news coming out of #Innovate4Climate was the launch by the Government of Spain of a new initiative to develop next-generation climate solutions. This represents the first step toward facilitating new climate markets using an instrument that addresses the supply and demand of mitigation outcomes, to attract private investors and new sources of financing in line with the Paris Agreement.

There was standing room only at the presentation of the World Bank’s 2018 edition of the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing report and IETA’s GHG Markets Sentiment Survey. The World Bank report shows that coverage of global greenhouse gas emissions by carbon pricing mechanisms is up by 5 percent compared to last year - now covering about 20% of emissions. There’s a growing sense of optimism about the prospects for emissions trading around the world.

“The conference successfully convened key actors on climate finance from both the private and public sector. I am glad to see that the agenda featured resilient investing and insurance-linked solutions to climate risks. These topics will gain prominence as the impacts of a changing climate require us to rethink conventional business models."

Simone Ruiz-Vergote, Managing Director at Allianz Climate Solutions.

Simone Ruiz-Vergote, Managing Director, Allianz Climate Solutions.

Participants brought latest examples of financial innovation, business, technology and policy solutions to accelerate mitigation and adaptation. Sessions on blockchain technology and disruptive technologies to form new systems that save clients time and money drew big crowds, as did presentations at the Pitch Hub on energy efficient lighting and cooking in India by EESL.

With a new optimism and a sense that carbon markets have turned a corner – for example, the average carbon price in the EU’s emissions trading scheme is now above 14 Euros per ton– business is showing renewed interest in investing in climate-smart projects.

“There is new confidence in the air, confidence in market solutions.”

Ingrid Hoven, Director General of Global Issues, BMZ

Photo Credits: Max Thabiso Edkins / Connect4Climate

Tim Jarvis, Environmental Explorer: “Polar expeditions are about heading towards an endless white horizon, and chipping away one step at a time in the knowledge that those steps, when added together, will get you to the goal that you want. And that is the position we find ourselves with climate change and solutions to it. We mustn’t lose heart, we must keep going in the knowledge that the cumulative effort of all of us working together can get us to the end outcome.”

Innovate4Climate is about tapping the ideas and ingenuity of a growing community of business, finance, technology, civil society and policy leaders and increasing their role in driving climate action. Everyone has a part to play: governments, for example, can put policies and MRV infrastructure in place; multilateral development banks like the World Bank can help de-risk climate investments through financial and political guarantees; business can increase the use of private investment capital; and civil society can highlight progress while bringing a voice to the most vulnerable people.

“Climate Change is a challenge but also opens enormous opportunities. To take these opportunities to their full scale, partnerships, innovation and leadership are critical. Governments must provide enabling regulations; MDBs must help mobilize investors by mitigating risks; and the private sector must come in full force with its capacity to innovate and provide solutions.“

Hans Peter Lankes, IFC Vice President for Economics & Private Sector Development

This second Innovate4Climate conference showed, once again, the importance of bringing key climate finance players together to discuss ideas around accelerating decarbonization and presenting concrete solutions and deals.

Photo Credits: Max Thabiso Edkins / Connect4Climate

The World Bank takes an approach it calls “Maximizing Finance for Development” and aims to harness the power of everyone in the room to unlock climate finance. It involves redefining the approach to development finance, by leveraging the private sector in ways that optimize the use of scarce public resources. Meeting the Paris Agreement’s commitments requires investments at unprecedented speed and scale. The financing needs are monumental but so are the opportunities. Emerging market economies will need about $23 trillion to meet the Paris objectives. Unlocking this potential demands forward-looking policies, innovation and investors with capacity to take some risk.

“Blockchain has the potential to truly transform our global supply chains and create disruption but only when used in combination with other technologies to address the needs of society. We all have a role to play in defining those needs and in finding the new business cases to accelerate the transition and affect change,” said Deanna MacDonald, CEO and Co-Founder of BLOC.

There are major challenges ahead, but also solutions and opportunities. The message was loud and clear at I4C: private investment in climate action and green growth is good for the bottom line. And that is a message everyone can get behind.

State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2018

Governments at national and subnational levels around the world continue to prepare for, and implement, carbon pricing initiatives as a means to curb their emissions while raising revenues, a new World Bank report finds.

More Governments Taking Up Carbon Pricing and Seeing Big Benefits in Revenues: World Bank Report

More Governments Taking Up Carbon Pricing and Seeing Big Benefits in Revenues: World Bank Report

Launched at the Innovate4Climate conference in Frankfurt, the annual State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2018 report shows that carbon pricing continues to gain traction. This edition of the report also includes emerging trends as countries negotiate the guidelines of the Paris Agreement, in the run-up to the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Download the full report

To date, 70 jurisdictions (45 national and 25 sub-national) have implemented, or are scheduled to implement, carbon pricing initiatives. These mechanisms helped governments raise about $33 billion in 2017 in carbon pricing revenues from allowance auctions, direct payments to meet compliance obligations, and carbon tax receipts. This represents a 50% increase compared to the US$22 billion raised in 2016.

ETS and carbon tax countries. World Bank Group

Implementation of carbon pricing initiatives has tripled in the past decade. In 2016 and 2017, this increase was primarily driven by jurisdictions in the Americas, including Chile, Colombia, the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario, and the U.S. states of California, Massachusetts and Washington. But other regions are also active. In December 2017, China announced its plan to operationalize its national emissions trading system (ETS) in phases, starting with the power sector.

With a fully operational Chinese ETS, carbon pricing mechanisms around the world are projected to cover 11 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e), or about 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, up from 15 percent last year. The report also finds that carbon prices are rising, with about half of emissions now covered by carbon pricing initiatives priced at over US$10/tCO2e, compared to one-quarter of emissions covered in 2017.

“Governments at all levels are starting to see the effectiveness of carbon pricing in their efforts to cut harmful carbon pollution while also raising revenues for climate and other policies, including environmental action. As countries take stock of their Paris Agreement commitments and set a path towards increased ambition, carbon pricing mechanisms with robust pricing levels are proving to be essential elements of the toolkit.”

John Roome, World Bank Senior Director for Climate Change

John Roome, World Bank Senior Director for Climate Change

The report also highlights emerging trends in carbon pricing, including the growing prominence of efforts in Asia and the Americas, the use of carbon pricing initiatives to serve multiple environmental and social objectives, and the adoption of phased approaches to make changes as initiatives progress. The report also notes the rise of innovative tools and technologies, as well as momentum to divest from fossil fuels - factors that have played a role in the advancement of carbon pricing initiatives.

The report is launched today at the Innovate4Climate (I4C) conference – the World Bank Group’s flagship annual event on climate finance, investment and markets which brings together global business, policy and finance leaders to discuss innovative climate finance solutions.

Join the #PLASTICRESISTANCE this Coral Triangle Day - Instagram Contest & Campaign

June 9th marks Coral Triangle Day, when ocean lovers from across the Asia Pacific and the rest of the world celebrate the Coral Triangle bioregion - home to more marine species than anywhere else on the planet.

This year, WWF, The Coral Triangle and The Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI-CFF) are running a high profile Instagram contest in a bid to reduce single use plastics which are a huge source of pollution throughout the Coral Triangle.

The 2018 Coral Triangle Day Instagram Campaign focuses on ACTION and PLEDGES. We’re inviting people to join the #PLASTICRESISTANCE this Coral Triangle Day and to encourage their family and friends to do the same!

Globally, the plastic pollution problem is coming sharply into focus thanks to sustained campaigns and media coverage. People are increasingly aware of the impacts of plastic on the marine environment and the destructive wastefulness of single use plastics such as straws, coffee cup lids, cotton buds and product packaging. It's time to translate that momentum into real world action and a pledge to change behaviour moving forward!

Think before your drink - The Coral Triangle

Using the hashtag #PLASTICRESISTANCE and #CORALTRIANGLE, we're asking Instagram users to post images, gifs or videos that demonstrates how they are saying NO to pointless plastics, like bags, straws, coffee cup lids, cotton buds and packaging. We want to know what people are doing personally - as the saying goes, "be the change you want to see."

We're asking contestants to include a simple message explaining in 50 words or fewer how they are breaking up with single use plastics. We also want them to nominate someone to make their own plastic pledge. The three entries judged to most powerfully communicate this message will win prizes including a 7 day dive holiday in Raja Ampat, Indonesia and a 3 day dive holiday in Borneo and a Mares snorkel, mask and fin set.

The Coral Triangle is the global epicentre of marine biodiversity - a bioregion that encompasses the territorial waters of seven countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, PNG, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and Fiji). It is a Mecca for divers and sustains much of the world’s appetite for seafood. Yet two Coral Triangle countries – Indonesia and the Philippines – rank second and third only to China when it comes to coastal plastic pollution. Globally, we humans dump around eigh million tonnes of ocean into the ocean each year. And it isn't just coastal communities, as plastic also makes its way out to sea via inland waterways. It is high time we turned the tide on ocean plastics. Last year, the UN launched its Clean Seas campaign as the world unites to end once and for all our toxic relationship with single-use plastics.

Three acclaimed photographers and environmental advocates will judge the contest, based on impact, relevance to the theme and originality. There will be three top prizes as voted by the judges and three additional prizes (Coral Triangle coffee table books) for the three images that receive the most number of likes, (excluding the top 3 prize winners).

Plastic Resistance Instagram Contest - The Coral Triangle

The Coral Triangle Day #PLASTICRESISTANCE contest is working with high profile partners and sponsors including WWF, Conservation International, Mission Blue, Oceana, Matador Network, Papua Diving, Scuba Junkie and Bye- Bye Plastic Bags.

The Coral Triangle is fast emerging as one of the most exciting destinations in the world for nature-based tourism which benefits local communities, ecosystems and tourists alike. Confronting the issue of waste plastic entering the ocean is one way in which all of us as consumers can make a difference, while encouraging companies to rethink how they produce and package products.

More information about the contest: The Coral Triangle Day

World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate in Cannes doc showcase

Representatives from World Bank Group’s global climate communications and partnership program Connect4Climate are in Cannes supporting the in-production documentary Great Green Wall.

Jared P. Scott directs and Fernando Meirelles serves as executive producer on the film, which is also receiving support from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The documentary tells the epic story of one of the planet’s most ambitious endeavours at the edge of the Sahara Desert, aiming to spread awareness about and transform the lives of millions affected by the degraded landscapes. Great Green Wall features Inna Modja, a renowned Malian singer and activist.

[video:https://vimeo.com/268672668]

Connect4Climate’s Film4Climate initiative has presented films in Cannes on Saturday and Monday at the Doc Corner in support of the Global Youth Climate Movement. Slater Jewell-Kemker’s Youth Unstoppable tells the story of Jewell-Kemker’s involvement with the youth climate movement. Scythia Film’s Daniel Bekerman and Wendy Jewell produced, with support from Film4Climate. Adrian Grenier is executive producer.

“Recognising the impact that the film industry can have in particular on younger generations and the power of emotional stories and images, Film4Climate’s intention is to build a global network within the film industry to encourage climate action, environmental protection and social equity. We are pleased to continue supporting the powerful stories of young filmmakers and connecting them with renowned filmmakers to help maximise the medium’s ability to influence behaviour.”

Giulia Braga, Connect4Climate Program Manager

Banner and thumbnail photo credit to Cannes Film Festival

Four things we learned about electric vehicles at the DS Virgin Racing Innovation Summit

Following on from its previous successful thought leadership events, including its high profile New York summit, DS Virgin Racing used the recent Formula E Paris E-Prix to host another of its Race Against Climate Change Innovation Summits. And being the home of the Paris Climate Accord, there hardly seemed a more suitable location.

This year’s panellists included the likes of the renowned Christiana Figueres, the former UN Executive Secretary, Yves Bonnefont, CEO of the DS Brand, Shaun Kingsbury, former CEO of the UK Green Investment Bank, and Lei Zhang – Founder and CEO of digital energy company Envision.

Photo credit: DS Virgin Racing

Of course, being based around a Formula E event, of key discussion was the role of electric vehicles in helping us to keep global temperatures below 2°C – the figure widely regarded necessary to avoid the most serious effects of global warming. So what were the key points to come out of the discussions? Here’s our recap…

1 – Electric vehicles reduce emissions right now…

People might be put off buying an electric vehicle at the moment because the electricity that they’re using to charge the vehicle isn’t coming from a renewable source, so they assume that the emissions are just as bad. However, Sylvain Filippi, Chief Technology Officer at DS Virgin Racing, set us all straight on that.

“Even with current energy grids, electric vehicles will reduce emissions. And it’s only going to get better!”

Sylvain Filippi, Chief Technology Officer at DS Virgin Racing

He explained that Formula E is all about “testing and validating the technology on the racetrack” to be able to apply that to personal vehicles and move them to the road so that everyone can benefit.

2 – Electric vehicles are more than golf buggies…

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that electric vehicles lack the power of their petrol or diesel counterparts but that’s simply not true. In fact, according to Yves Bonnefont, electric vehicles are the most accelerating vehicles you can make. Plus, there’s no vibration in them so they’re more enjoyable to drive.

“Once people have started to drive electric, they will never come back to internal combustion engines.”

Yves Bonnefont, CEO, DS Brand

Christiana Figueres likened it to other forms of old technology:

“It’s the equivalent of saying once you have a mobile would you ever want to go back to your landline? It’s the same logic. Once you’re in the future you certainly never want to go to the past.”

Christiana Figueres, Former UNFCCC Executive Secretary

3 – Switching to electric vehicles will have a significant impact…

Most people accept that electric vehicles are the future of the motoring industry and know that switching to them will help to reduce the negative impacts of climate change. But just what impact would it have if we all stopped driving petrol and diesel cars tomorrow?

Last month, when the streets of London were shut for one day for the Virgin Money London Marathon, we saw more than an 80 per cent drop in pollution in the city.

“That’s what we would see if everyone drove electric vehicles.”

Shaun Kingsbury, UK Green Investment Bank

4 – Renewable energy sources are still important…

While it would be an easy solution to adopt electric vehicles and benefit from the impact that they will bring without switching to renewable energy sources, it’s still important to explore alternative sources of power. “Renewable energy is not about just being a commodity, it’s about technology,” sais Lei Zhang. “And with technology, and every year that technology improves, and with it the cost of renewable energy comes down.”

These are the two races against climate change that the world is facing, according to the panel of experts: e-mobility and renewable energy. Indeed, Christiana Figueres adds: “Both of them need to complement each other and dovetail.”

But, as Shaun Kingsbury said, “we can’t solve this alone, that’s the key thing – it’s about bringing people together who can.”

Banner and thumbnail photo credit to DS-Virgin Racing

Connect4Climate joins DS Virgin's Race Against Climate Change

DS Virgin Racing has further strengthened its support for accelerated climate action by joining forces with Connect4Climate around its Race Against Climate Change (RACC) initiative.

Launched at the start of the season in conjunction with Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Group and the Rocky Mountain Institute, the aim of RACC is to accelerate the energy transition, promote ambitious climate action, and help the world achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Accord.

The programme already boasts a number of key experts including Professor Michael Mann and Actor & Director Fisher Stevens, and will now include Connect4Climate from the Paris race onwards.

Sam Bird is Racing Against Climate Change at Formula E

Connect4Climate is a global partnership programme launched by the World Bank Group and the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea, together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its aim is to take on climate change by supporting ambitious leadership, promoting transformative solutions and empowering collective action.

“We are delighted to be joining forces with Connect4Climate to help strengthen our Race Against Climate Change initiative. By working together, it will allow us to reach an even wider platform, helping us raise even more awareness of climate change issues and to a new audience. Climate action and sustainability remains key to the DS Virgin Racing team and its ‘Purpose’, and we look forward to this exciting new relationship.”

Alex Tai, DS Virgin Racing Team Principal

“We are at a crucial time in our history, the world has come together to address climate change with the Paris Agreement, and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, but we need to accelerate the implementation of climate solutions. Connect4Climate is excited to support the DS Virgin Racing team to ensure that electric racing and its audience help build a low-carbon and resilient future.”

Max Thabiso Edkins, Climate Change Expert, Connect4Climate

The knowledge partnership allows for collaborative engagement to inspire climate action. Connect4Climate will support the team’s Innovation Summit and joint communications activities will be identified going forward.

The World Bank Group - Together We All Prosper

Inspiring Climate Ambition through the Art of Storytelling

Governments meet in Bonn to step up Climate Action critical to the implementation of Paris Agreement

Governments are meeting for the next round of UN climate change negotiations from 30 April to 10 May to further develop the guidelines for implementing the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement.

This will allow the agreement to become operational. The guidelines, or operating manual, are needed to unlock practical actions to realize the full potential of the agreement.

The final decisions are to be taken at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Poland at the end of this year.

Finalizing the Paris Agreement guidelines is also necessary to assess whether the world is on track to achieve the agreement’s goals: to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2°C, while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

“To reach success at COP24, it is essential that nations begin working towards draft negotiating texts at the May meeting. This will provide a solid foundation for work in the second half of 2018 and help them to deliver a strong result.”

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change

At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) held last November under the leadership of Fiji, nations agreed to accelerate and complete their work to put in place the guidelines – officially termed the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) – at COP24 in Katowice, Poland in December.

The Talanoa Dialogue

Another important objective of the May session is holding the ‘Talanoa Dialogue’. This dialogue will facilitate the engagement of countries and a range of stakeholders in a vital international conversation around ambition now and in the future.

The Fiji-led Talanoa Dialogue is facilitated by the UN Climate Change secretariat and will benefit from the presence of high-level officials from Fiji, including the Prime Minister, who is the President of COP23.

Inspiring Climate Ambition through the Art of Storytelling

The consultative dialogue will check progress, reaffirm the goals of the Paris Agreement and aim to find solutions to how countries can increase their ambition now and in the next round of their national climate action plans, officially termed ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDCs).

As per tradition in the Pacific region, the goal of a ‘talanoa’ is to share stories and to find solutions for the common good. Similarly, in the context of the international climate change process, the Talanoa Dialogue will invite participants to share stories to find solutions for the global common good.

“2017 witnessed many extreme weather events and disasters that caused suffering for millions of people around the world. The consequences of climate change impacts are already being felt, particularly by the most vulnerable communities,” said UN Climate Chief Ms. Espinosa.

“The Talanoa Dialogue is a key opportunity for all stakeholders to come together and share stories on how we can significantly step up climate action to prevent even greater human suffering in the future. I encourage widespread participation in the Dialogue,” she stated.

This first phase of the Fiji-led Dialogue will write history when countries and non-Party stakeholders including cities, businesses, investors and regions engage in interactive story-telling around current and future ambition for the first time on 6 May.

The output from these story-telling conversations will feed into the Talanoa Dialogue’s political phase at COP24. The political phase will bring together Ministers and high-level government officials for conversations with a view to generating political momentum.

Ambition before 2020

Throughout 2018, countries will also focus on how they can scale up their climate ambition and implementation in the pre-2020 period. All countries share the view that climate action prior to 2020 is essential. COP24 will hold an event to take stock of the pre-2020 efforts.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama of Fiji, President of COP23, and Ms Espinosa urged countries that are yet to do so to ratify the amendment containing the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The Doha amendment sets out emission reduction commitments for the period 2012-2020 for many developed countries. The amendment has been ratified by 111 countries and will enter into force after it is ratified by just over 30 more.

Concerned about the need to accelerate action, Ms Espinosa said, “I strongly urge developed countries to make progress towards mobilizing the USD 100 billion that they have pledged to provide per year by 2020. Many developing countries desperately need this support in order to make their contribution to climate action.”

Further highlights

On 29 April, a Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) Youth Forum with people from around the world will take place. Initiated by Fiji at COP23 last year, the output from the forum will be presented to the negotiations of the operating manual for the Paris Agreement in an effort to strengthen education, awareness and public outreach under the agreement.

On 1 May, the newly-established local communities and indigenous peoples’ platform will hold a workshop on how the tool can best boost local and indigenous contributions to climate action.

On 4 May, a number of developing countries will showcase their climate actions in a new round of the so-called ‘facilitative sharing of views’ (FSV). Both achievements and unique challenges in mitigation action to date will be presented.

On 7 and 8 May, a workshop will take place to help identify how to scale up climate finance for mitigation and adaptation in the longer-term

Throughout the two-week meeting, a series of gender-related events, including a gender dialogue on 5 May, have been scheduled to boost gender-responsive climate policy and to take forward the landmark 2017 Gender Action Plan.

Banner and thumbnail photo credit to UNFCCC