It is very likely that 2017 will be one of the three hottest years on record, with many high-impact events including catastrophic hurricanes and floods, debilitating heatwaves and drought. Long-term indicators of climate change such as increasing carbon dioxide concentrations, sea level rise and ocean acidification continue unabated. Arctic sea ice coverage remains below average and previously stable Antarctic sea ice extent was at or near a record low.

 

The World Meteorological Organization’s provisional Statement on the State of the Climate says the average global temperature from January to September 2017 was approximately 1.1°C above the pre-industrial era. As a result of a powerful El Niño, 2016 is likely to remain the warmest year on record, with 2017 and 2015 being second and/or third. 2013-2017 is set to be the warmest five-year period on record.

 

The WMO statement – which covers January to September - was released on the opening day of the United Nations climate change conference in Bonn. It includes information submitted by a wide range of UN agencies on human, socio-economic and environmental impacts as part of a drive to provide a more comprehensive, UN-wide policy brief for decision makers on the interplay between weather, climate and water and the UN global goals.

 

“The past three years have all been in the top three years in terms of temperature records. This is part of a long term warming trend,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. “We have witnessed extraordinary weather, including temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius in Asia, record-breaking hurricanes in rapid succession in the Caribbean and Atlantic reaching as far as Ireland, devastating monsoon flooding affecting many millions of people and a relentless drought in East Africa."

 

“Many of these events – and detailed scientific studies will determine exactly how many – bear the tell-tale sign of climate change caused by increased greenhouse gas concentrations from human activities,” he said.

 

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change which is hosting the Bonn conference, said: “These findings underline the rising risks to people, economies and the very fabric of life on Earth if we fail to get on track with the aims and ambitions of the Paris Agreement”.

 

“There is unprecedented and very welcome momentum among governments, but also cities, states, territories, regions, business and civil society. Bonn 2017 needs to be the launch pad towards the next, higher level of ambition by all nations and all sectors of society as we look to de-risk the future and maximize the opportunities from a fresh, forward-looking and sustainable development path, “she added.

 

Extreme events affect the food security of millions of people, especially the most vulnerable. A review of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) found that, in developing countries, agriculture (crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and forestry) accounted for 26% of all the damage and loss associated with medium to large-scale storms, floods and drought.

 

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the global health impacts of heatwaves depend not only on the overall warming trend, but on how heatwaves are distributed across where people live. Recent research shows that the overall risk of heat-related illness or death has climbed steadily since 1980, with around 30% of the world’s population now living in climatic conditions that deliver prolonged extreme heatwaves. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of vulnerable people exposed to heatwave events has increased by approximately 125 million.

 

In 2016, 23.5 million people were displaced during weather-related disasters. Consistent with previous years, the majority of these internal displacements were associated with floods or storms and occurred in the Asia-Pacific region. In Somalia, more than 760 000 internal displacements have been reported, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

 

The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook indicates that adverse consequences are concentrated in countries with relatively hot climates and which are home to close to 60% of current global population.

 

 

Launched just ahead of the UNFCCC’s Climate COP23 in Bonn, the annual review: State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2017, presents good and not-so-good news. On the positive side, the value of carbon pricing initiatives – including emissions trading schemes (ETS) and carbon taxes - reached $52 billion, an increase of 7 percent compared to 2016. And with eight new or enhanced carbon pricing initiatives in place since early 2016 - three quarters of them in the Americas (Colombia, Chile, and several Canadian provinces) – there are now 42 national and 25 sub-national jurisdictions putting a price on carbon emissions.

 

Together, these jurisdictions raised revenues from carbon pricing of more than $20 billion for the second consecutive year, with the potential to raise much more. The report says revenues could increase to over $100bn a year if existing carbon pricing schemes adopted prices consistent with the Paris Agreement temperature targets.

 

 

On the less positive side, the report finds that 85 percent of emissions are still not covered by carbon pricing, and that most current carbon prices are significantly lower than the $40-80/tCO2 by 2020 and $50-100/tCO2 by 2030 that the Stern-Stiglitz High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices found to be consistent with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.

 

“A well-designed carbon price is an indispensable part of a strategy for efficiently reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also fostering growth,” said John Roome, Senior Director for Climate Change at the World Bank. “While we’ve seen progress over the past year, action to expand carbon pricing coverage and to increase prices to deepen its impact has to accelerate.”

 

 

​  Chile and Colombia launched carbon taxes;

​​  Three Canadian provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario) and one US state (Washington) introduced new or enhanced carbon pricing schemes;

​​  Mexico is starting a one-year ETS simulation to create awareness on carbon pricing and prepare for the launch of a pilot ETS in 2018; and

​​  China is gearing up for the commencement of its national ETS, potentially the largest carbon pricing initiative in the world.

 

The report estimates that an additional US$700 billion a year will be needed annually by 2030 to finance the transition to low-carbon economies. The report builds a vision for an integrated approach that links climate-focused domestic policies and carbon pricing, complemented by effective international cooperation through climate finance from donors and new climate markets, to mobilize resources at the speed and scale required to deliver low-carbon growth, jobs and innovation.

 

According to the report, domestic resources will need to make a significant contribution, enabled by improved national policy environments -- including carbon pricing -- to catalyze increased private sector investment. International climate finance will remain important and could be targeted where it is most effective at supporting the low-carbon transition and to promote the development of climate markets. As climate markets develop, they could play a larger role in mobilizing resources for low-carbon investments. Results-based climate finance could support this transition by piloting programs based on the principles of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, providing lessons and building capacity for the implementation of international climate markets.

 

 

The report was prepared with the technical support of Ecofys, A Navigant company and Vivid Economics.

 

To download the full report, visit https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28510

 

In May 2017, the World Bank launched the Carbon Pricing Dashboard website, adding an interactive dimension to the annual State and Trends of Carbon Pricing reports. This resource provides an up-to-date overview of carbon pricing initiatives and allows users to navigate through the visuals and data of the report. Please visit: http://carbonpricingdashboard.worldbank.org/. 

 

 

The 12, with a combined population of almost 80 million, said they would promote walking, cycling and the use of public transport under a joint “fossil-fuel-free streets declaration”.

 

Many cities are setting tougher environmental goals than governments to limit air pollution and to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

 

“Air pollution caused by petrol and diesel vehicles is killing millions of people in cities around the world,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a statement. “The same emissions are also causing climate change.”

 

The mayors, part of the C40 group of cities which is seeking to slow global warming, said they would “procure only zero-emissions buses from 2025 and ensure that major areas of their city are zero emissions by 2030.”

 

Other cities signing up were Copenhagen, Barcelona, Quito, Vancouver, Mexico City, Milan, Seattle and Auckland.

 

Nineteen ground-breaking initiatives from around the world were announced on October 12, as recipients of the United Nations ‘Momentum for Change’ Climate Solutions Award.

 

The winners underline how Global Climate Action is accelerating, two years after the Paris Agreement was universally adopted and in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Representatives from the following three winning activities spoke about their innovative solutions at a special event in Berlin, Germany, on October 12:

 

​  A women-led, eco-fashion business that addresses climate change by recycling fabric waste to produce clothing collections, while providing jobs for disadvantaged female workers;

​  A partnership between TerraCylce, SUEZ, and Procter & Gamble that removes plastic from beaches and uses it to create shampoo bottles made with 25% of the reclaimed beach plastic;

​  The leading British retailer Marks & Spencer, who implemented a sustainable strategy that allowed them to achieve carbon neutrality for worldwide operations in 2014.

 

The Momentum for Change initiative, spearheaded by the UN Climate Change secretariat, shines light on some of the most innovative, scalable and practical examples of what people across the globe are doing to combat climate change.

 

Selected initiatives, called ‘Lighthouse Activities,’ demonstrate the exceptional amount of climate action happening around the world. This announcement is part of wider efforts to mobilize action and ambition, as national governments work toward implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, said: “I want to congratulate this year’s award winners. Their passion, creativity and positive impacts on the ground are extraordinary, real-world examples of how the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the wider SDGs is happening at all scales, across all countries, and across all sectors of society."

 

“We know that to meet our shared goals, ambition needs to be raised over the years and decades to come. These Lighthouse Activities provide direct inspiration to others—from developed and developing countries alike—to be agents of change that can catalyze communities and countries go further, faster, together,” she added.

 

The 19 winning activities fall within one of Momentum for Change’s five focus areas: Women for Results, Financing for Climate Friendly Investment, ICT Solutions, Planetary Health, and Climate Neutral Now. All 19 activities will be showcased at a series of special events during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) in Bonn, Germany (6 November to 17 November 2017).

 

 

1. From Waste to Wow | Italy

 

 

QUID, a woman-led, eco-fashion social enterprise, addresses climate change by recycling high-quality fabric waste from fashion companies to produce women’s clothing collections.

 

2. More Corals = More Fish | Belize

 

 

Women are offered grant-funded or subsidized training programs, often led by women divers, on marine tourism and lagoon ecology to restore coral reef habitats.

 

3. Sustainable Agriculture with Gender Inclusion and Participation in Quito, Ecuador | Ecuador

 

 

 

Home to over 870,000 people, Fiji’s 300 volcanic islands include low-lying atolls that are highly susceptible to cyclones and floods. In 2016, Tropical Cyclone Winston—the most intense tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere on record—passed directly over Fiji, causing economic losses that amounted to almost one third of the country’s GDP. Like all Pacific island states, Fiji is also highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change: close to 20 percent of the region’s 10 million people could be displaced due to climate change by 2050.

 

Green bonds are fixed income, liquid financial instruments that are used to raise funds dedicated to climate-mitigation, adaptation, and other environment-friendly projects. This provides investors an attractive investment proposition as well as an opportunity to support environmentally sound projects.

 

At the request of Fiji’s Reserve Bank, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group focusing on private sector, provided technical assistance to assist the government in issuing a sovereign green bond. This collaboration took place under a broader, three-year Capital Markets Development Project supported by the Australian Government. Through this partnership, Australia and IFC are helping stimulate private sector investment, promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty in the Pacific.

 

 

Projects financed from the Fiji green bond will follow the internationally developed Green Bond Principles, and will focus primarily on investments that build resilience against the impacts of climate change. Sustainalytics US (Sustainalytics), a provider of environmental, social and governance research and analysis, evaluated Fiji Sovereign’s green bond transaction and its alignment with the Green Bond Principles. Fiji will also use bond proceeds for projects supporting its commitment to achieve 100% renewable energy and reduce its CO2 emissions in the energy sector by 30% by 2030.

 

Fijian Prime Minister and President of COP23 Frank Bainimarama said: “The Fijian people, along with every Pacific Islander, live on the front lines of climate change. The rising seas, changing weather patterns and severe weather events are threatening our development, our security and the Fijian way of life, along with the very existence of some of our low-lying neighbors. I have made access to climate finance a key pillar of our upcoming COP23 Presidency, and we are proud to set an example to other climate-vulnerable nations by issuing this green bond to fund our work to boost climate resilience across Fiji. By issuing the first emerging country green bond, we are also sending a clear signal to other nations that we can be creative and innovative in mobilizing funds and create win-win outcomes for countries and investors in adapting to the serious effects of climate change.”

 

“With this bond, Fiji has demonstrated that green capital markets can be created in emerging economies, and that all countries, big and small, have an important role to play in facilitating climate solutions,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. “As it takes the helm of COP23, Fiji is uniquely positioned to inspire other countries to meet their respective targets and build resilience against climate change.”

 

The World Bank and IFC are among the pioneers of the green bond market. The World Bank issued the first green bond in 2008. Since then, both institutions have provided leadership by issuing green bonds across a range of currencies, tenors and volumes; helping to define best practice for reporting and standards; and working with countries to facilitate the development of domestic green bond markets. The global green bond market is expected to reach US$134.9 billion in 2017.

 

The Government of Fiji will chair the 23rd Climate Change Conference (COP23) in Bonn, Germany from November 6-17, 2017. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has given high priority to COP23 and aims to continue the momentum for action since the entry into force of the Paris Climate Change Agreement last year.

 

 

Issuer: Government of Fiji

 

Amount: 100 million Fiji dollars

 

Pricing date: 1 November 2017 – May 2018

 

Settlement date: 1 November 2017 – May 2018

 

Maturity date: 1 November 2022 and 1 November 2030

 

Issue price: 100

 

Coupon: 5 years: 4.00%; 13 years: 6.30%

 

Denomination: Fiji Dollars