Representatives of the IPCC’s 195 member governments will work with scientists from the IPCC from 1 to 5 October to finalize the Summary for Policymakers of the report, entitled Global Warming of 1.5°C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.

 

“Science alerts us to the gravity of the situation, but science also, and this special report, in particular, helps us understand the solutions available to us” IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee said.

 

“Together we will produce a strong, robust and clear Summary for Policymakers that responds to the invitation of governments three years ago while upholding the scientific integrity of the IPCC,” he told the opening session in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The session included a video address from President Moon Jae-in outlining the national commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

 

 

Governments invited the IPCC to prepare the report in 2015 when they adopted the Paris Agreement to combat climate change. The Paris Agreement sets a long-term goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C. At that time, relatively little was known about the risks avoided in a 1.5 ºC world compared with a 2ºC warmer world, or about the pathway of greenhouse gas emissions compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5 ºC.  The new IPCC report will seek to provide answers.

 

The IPCC is co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Environment Programme.

 

“Global mean temperatures in 2017 were about 1.1 °C above pre-industrial levels. Unfortunately, we are already well on the way to the 1.5°C limit, and the sustained warming trend shows no sign of relenting. The past two decades included 18 of the warmest years since records began in 1850,” said WMO Deputy-Secretary-General Elena Manaenkova.

 

 

“This year is, yet again, expected to be one of the warmest years. We have witnessed extreme weather ranging from record heat in northern Europe and historic flooding in Japan, India, southeast Asia and the southeastern United States. The consequences were devastating, but advance predictions helped save many lives,” she told the opening session.

 

Twenty-seven nations across the continent have now committed to restore 111 million hectares of degraded land as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) and the Bonn Challenge – exceeding the 100-million-hectare AFR100 target. In realizing these commitments, countries will spur climate resilience, economic growth and more.

 

AFR100 was launched in 2015 in response to the African Union (AU) mandate to bring 100 million hectares of land into restoration by 2030. The initiative is led by the African Union’s NEPAD Agency in partnership with 27 participating countries, 27 technical and 12 financial partners. Founding partners include NEPAD, the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), World Resources Institute (WRI), GIZ, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Bank.

 

 

During the 3rd Annual AFR100 Partners Meeting in Nairobi this August, member country representatives, as well as technical and financial partners supporting implementation, reaffirmed that the initiative is a powerful lever to bring forest landscape restoration to scale.

 

“It is a testament to the continuing political will to restore landscapes across Africa that the AFR100 partnership has exceeded its 100-million-hectare target in commitments. We must sustain this momentum and move from pledges to implementation. There are already many examples of restoration success underway in African communities from which we can collectively learn, to realize these commitments,” said Wanjira Mathai, Senior Advisor, WRI and Co-Chair, Global Restoration Council.

 

In the margins of the meeting, two countries pledged to restore a combined 19.6 million hectares of land towards the 100-million-hectare target: Burkina Faso (5 million hectares) and the Republic of Sudan (14.6 million hectares). These pledges follow commitments made by Togo (1.4 million hectares) and Tanzania (5.2 million hectares) in the weeks before the meeting.

 

“Sudan is delighted to be able to commit to restoring 14.6 million hectares of degraded land as part of AFR100. Restoration in Sudan will support in the reduction of youth immigration and food security for the poorest communities, as well as help the country to respond to international commitments,” said Ali Hamid Osman, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for the Sudan Sustainable Natural Resources Management Project and Sudan’s AFR100 Focal Point.

 

“The fight against desertification and land degradation is a major challenge for Burkina Faso's sustainable development and economic vitality. Our 5-million-hectare commitment to the AFR100 Initiative will improve food security and create more robust livelihoods, both of which are conducive to resilient restoration and productive agro-ecosystems. In our context, special attention and effort should be given to sustainable employment and entrepreneurship for young people and women, to provide economic opportunities through the restoration of our lands and forests,” added Adama Doulkom, Coordinator of the Great Green Wall Initiative for the Sahara and the Sahel, Burkina Faso.

 

“Indeed, of all the Bonn Challenge’s regional platforms, AFR100 is the most successful, contributing over half of the current global commitment of 170 million hectares. Ideas can only take root if they are owned and while many have contributed to this momentum we must recognize the fundamental role that NEPAD has played in making this an African led and owned initiative, and particularly the inspiring work of Mamadou Diakhite and his team,” stated Stewart Maginnis, Global Director, Nature-based Solutions Group, IUCN.

 

Restoration is widely understood as a key pathway to meet climate change, desertification, biodiversity and sustainable development goals in Africa, and to secure vital food, water, and energy resources.

 

“In times of ever-increasing pressure on land, water, and biodiversity, the restoration of degraded forests and lands is more urgent than ever. Bringing back trees into the land offers multiple benefits for sustainable development, the fight against poverty and hunger, for conserving biodiversity and for adaptation to climate change. Restoration is spectacular in that every $1 invested there is the potential for $27-$35 in return. Seeing communities who restore their land reap a share of their restoration proceeds, is an honor,” said Mamadou Diakhite, Sustainable Land and Water Management (SLWM) Team Leader at the NEPAD Agency, home to the AFR100 Secretariat.

 

“It was a great success that the Global Landscapes Forum conference in Nairobi took place back-to-back with the third annual AFR100 partners meeting at the end of August there. We have sent a strong signal for the integration of reforestation, restoration, and sustainable rural development. The broad concept of landscape restoration provides us with strong ideas in the fight against hunger and poverty through implementing the entire Agenda 2030 – and mainly SDG2 (zero hunger) and SDG15 (life on land),” said Bernhard Worm, Senior Policy Officer at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

 

Participants of the recent AFR100 meeting also endorsed the motion to have the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declare a UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, first proposed in March 2018 by El Salvador’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources – intended to increase the visibility of and to resource for countries’ restoration efforts.

 

The United Nations Climate Change Secretariat announced on September 27 the 15 recipients of the 2018 UN ‘Momentum for Change’ climate action award which will be recognized at the UN Climate Conference (COP24) in Poland.

 

 

Activities range from a mobile app that promotes the fight against food waste and hunger worldwide to an entire government that is taking 100% responsibility for its greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Representatives from the following five winning activities spoke about their solutions to climate change at a special event co-hosted by The Climate Group at Climate Week in New York City:

 

         Creating the Greenest Football Club in the World - Forest Green Rovers | United Kingdom: The Forest Green Rovers are bringing eco-thinking, sustainable living, and renewable technology to football fans.

 

         Catalytic Finance Initiative | Global: Bank of America Merrill Lynch is working with partners to mobilize approximately USD 10 billion for innovative and high-impact climate mitigation and sustainability-focused investments.

 

         Santiago Biofactory | Chile: Water utility company Aguas Andinas is transforming Santiago’s three wastewater treatment plants into “biofactories” that convert wastewater and sewer sludge, a wastewater treatment byproduct, into clean energy.

 

         Carbon Neutral Government Program | Canada: In 2010, British Columbia became the first government at the provincial, territorial, or state level in North America to take 100% responsibility for its greenhouse gas pollution.

 

         Sri Lanka Mangrove Conservation Project | Sri Lanka: Seacology, a nonprofit environmental conservation organization, is helping Sri Lanka become the first nation in history to preserve and replant all of its mangrove forests.

 

Other winners include:

 

         “Yalla Let’s Bike”, a women-powered initiative that aims to end verbal harassment of female cyclists in Syria while simultaneously fighting climate change;

 

         Monash, Australia’s largest university which has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2030, and;

 

         Climate-Efficient School Kitchens and Plant-Powered Pupils, which is providing healthy, climate-friendly meals in German schools.

 

 

 

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

 

Selected initiatives, called ‘Lighthouse Activities,’ demonstrate the unprecedented amount of climate action happening around the world. This announcement is part of a wider effort to mobilize action and ambition as national governments work toward implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals at COP24 in Poland.

 

The 15 winning activities fall within one of Momentum for Change’s four focus areas: (1) Planetary Health, (2) Climate Neutral Now, (3) Women for Results, and (4) Financing for Climate Friendly Investment. All activities will be showcased at a series of special events during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland (2-14 December 2018).

Last summer, a group of youth from Fiji, Palau, Timor-Leste, Seychelles, Mauritius, Singapore, and Barbados joined Peace Boat to take part in the second edition of the Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme. During the programme, Peace Boat filmed a short documentary directed by the social impact filmmaker, Ryan Carl. This 6-minute video, ‘The Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors – A Short Film by Peace Boat’ aims to contribute to the Talanoa Dialogue for Climate Ambition, a process to take stock of collective efforts to reduce emissions and build greater resilience, in line with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.

[video:https://vimeo.com/289616328]

Through its 35-year history of conducting educational voyages, Peace Boat has visited many small islands states organizing study and exchange programmes. During this time, Peace Boat has witnessed first-hand how these small territories on the front line of climate change have experienced a degradation of their coastal areas. In 2017, Peace Boat began the Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme to bring youth leaders from countries which are members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to travel onboard our ship, engaging in capacity building and bringing their message to citizens and government representatives through the voyage.

 

After the success of the first edition, which brought together youth from Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Seychelles, Maldives, Trinidad and Tobago, and Belize, the second edition was organized in June and July 2018. The third edition will take place in May-June 2019. Peace Boat’s Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme was launched at the United Nations Ocean Conference and recognized by the COP23 Presidency Secretariat as an Endorsed Event of COP23.

 

 

In 2018, the second edition of the programme started in Stockholm, Sweden. The young leaders engaged with local, regional and national governments, civil society and the scientific community taking part in awareness-raising and outreach events in ports visited, including in Copenhagen, Denmark; Bergen, Norway; Reykjavik, Iceland; Halifax, Canada and concluding their voyage in New York, US. Participants gave testimony of their experiences and the impact of climate change and marine degradation on their communities. Music, dance, art, and spoken word were incorporated into the activities in port for wider appeal and dissemination via social and traditional media, both as a call to action and to build momentum for action for the climate and ocean. Throughout the programme, there was an emphasis on possible solutions to the crisis as the youth shared about inspiring initiatives in their own countries at the local and government level. They learnt from local projects and efforts for climate action and marine protection in the countries they visited. The short documentary outlines some of the activities in the programme.

 

The short filmed by the social impact filmmaker Ryan Carl is available now on Vimeo.

What if you could generate and sell renewable energy for extra income? How do technologies like blockchain change the equation for climate finance? Could Internet bots be repurposed to drive climate activism? We asked a range of experts and executives from academia, design, tech, finance, and media to forecast the future of climate action. 

 

The result was A New Story to Spark the Future of Climate Action, a joint study launched this week from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and the Institute for the Future (IFTF) that identifies the zones of opportunity, barriers, and potential new actors over the next decade in the always-evolving realm of climate action.

 

 

The report was launched on September 13, 2018, at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco (download the report in pdf).