Dirty fossil fuel investments and a new AI inventory of global emissions in the spotlight during ‘Finance Day’ at COP27 — Global Issues

More than 50 activists of all ages and backgrounds took over the so-called ‘Blue Zone’ – the main area of ​​the convention center in Sharm el-Sheikh monitored by the UN – to chant “Stop funding fossil fuels! Stop funding death!“

Susan Huang, representing the international oil change NGO, was one of the participants aimed at shedding light on the fact that rich countries, as the United Nations Secretary-General noted earlier this week, still pouring money into fossil fuels at a time when we need an urgent transition to renewable energy.

“At last year’s G7 summit, there was an agreement to end fossil fuel public finance by the end of the year. But the International Energy Agency has come out and said that indeed the slow transition to renewable energy is what is exacerbating the climate crisis and the energy crisis. So we call on world leaders to fulfill their pledge and stop fossil fuel public finance,” she said. United Nations News.

Ms. Huang says these investments are also causing incredible damage, destroying biodiversity and devastating livelihoods worldwide, and she is not alone: ​​Dipti Bhatnagar, from Friends of the Earth International In Mozambique, there was a speech full of implication that, if nods and enthusiastic whispers of consent were any sign, clearly resonated among all those who walked. into the main square of the convention center.

“Rich countries are going out to grab huge gas reserves, and people are being stripped of their lands. One million people out of 23 million [of Mozambique’s] population is living in refugee camps because of gas. We say no to more gas financing. We will not let Africa burn,” she shouted.

Activists make clear that the best way to increase energy access worldwide and meet the needs of the most vulnerable is to invest in community-supported renewable energy plans. aid.

“Energy plans can be controlled and operated by people in the community,” explains Ms. Huang.

A new AI tool to hold polluters accountable

Meanwhile, just two pavilions away, the United Nations Secretary-General also called on governments and big banks to continue investing in fossil fuels.

António Guterres spoke at the launch of a new independent inventory of greenhouse gas emissions created by the TRACE Climate Alliance and led by former US Vice President Al Gore.

This tool combines satellite data and artificial intelligence to show baseline emissions of more than 70,000 websites around the world, including companies in China, USA and India. This will allow leaders to know where and to what extent the emissions are being released.

Mr. Guterres explained that data released by the initiative shows that due to methane leaks, flares and other activities related to oil and gas production being underreported, emissions are high. many times more than previously thought.

“This should be a wake-up call to governments and the financial industryespecially those companies that continue to invest in and generate pollution from fossil fuels,” he told the COP27 plenary.

Expensive disaster

Unprecedented interactive inventory presentation, now online, showing Al Gore running around with a clicker, scrolling page after slide about climate devastation .

Famous author of An inconvenient truth, known as one of the early advocates of climate action, broadcast a video of an atomic bomb exploding on large 360-degree screens around the conference. The explosive sound left the attendees confused, but curious.

He wanted to highlight a truth he shared earlier at the opening of the COP27 World Leaders Summit: greenhouse gas pollution accumulates in our atmospheric traps. more than 600,000 atomic bombs explode every day.

“Two months ago, in September, at the UN General Assembly, the Secretary-General told us about heat waves in Europe, floods in Pakistan, severe drought… and he linked it all together. exactly as the cost of humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels,” he reminded the delegates.

Mr. Gore says these disasters are now costing the global economy two and a half trillion dollars annually.

However, he said, the world is at a turning point because there are solutions to reverse this bad trend, especially by stepping up investment in renewable energy.

The importance of new tools

Mr Gore went on to note that while fossil fuel financing and subsidies are “crazy”, the potential for renewable energy funding in Africa is being overlooked.

“Wind and solar potential is 400 times greater than Africa’s total fossil fuel reserves and it doesn’t pollute and it creates more jobs, but there is a financial gap… That’s why this COP has so much attention on changing the global capital allocation system, ” he emphasized.

He then explains that the Climate TRACE inventory, which combines trusted and verified data from more than 100 organizations and 30,000 sensors, can help governments target their actions.

He explained and revealed that currently, the top 14 individual emitters in the world are all oil and gas fields.

“One of the most striking early insights from this work is the scale of emissions from oil and gas production – particularly those that have not been reported before,” added Mr. Guterres, calling the data. data is “an important source of information” in efforts to tackle the climate emergency.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations emphasized that The new tool will be crucial for business leaders working to decarbonize their supply chainsfor governments to work to align policymaking with their climate plans, and for investors to work to track private sector progress toward net zero.

“The problem is bigger than we believe, and that means we have to work even harder to accelerate the phasing out of all fossil fuels,” he warned.

More highlights about COP . finance

COP27 Fiscal Day highlights the need to invest trillions of dollars each year to achieve the rapid, far-reaching transformations needed to address the impact of the climate crisis and deliver on the goals of the climate crisis. Paris Agreement.

In numerous conference rooms, pavilions and ‘action centers’, and in closed-door talks, delegates, activists, investment bankers and other stakeholders discussed the importance of of closing the current financing gap in key areas of climate action such as emissions mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.

Experts agree that the financial impetus must come from all sectors, public or private, debt or equity, commercial or philanthropic.

“Finance is the biggest solution that can drive action everywhere,” said Anjali Viswamohanan, policy director at Asia Investor Group United Nations News.

One of the big calls is to close the “adaptation gap”. According to the United Nations Climate Change (UNFCCC), project developers and investors must focus on preparing and investing in projects that build resilience and protect vulnerable people from the negative impacts of climate change. Queen; promote systemic change and innovation for a carbon-neutral, climate-resilient transition in a newly transitioned context; and to protect and restore natural capital.

More commitments and initiatives

Also on Wednesday, with a pledge of $20 million, New Zealand was added to the list, along with Scotland, Norway, Germany, Austria and Belgium, who have promised financing for the issue. loss and damage (low development payments- carbon-emitting countries affected by climate change disasters).

Meanwhile, The UK says it will allow deferral of payments to countries affected by the climate disaster.

The Africa Climate Risk Fund, an initiative of the Nairobi Declaration on Sustainable Insurance, has also been launched, with signatories committing to $14 billion in insurance against climate risks by 2030.

The US Climate Envoy, John Kerry, also hosted an event at COP27 announcing plans for companies to “buy carbon credits” and help countries transition away from coal.

Under the proposed scheme, called an Energy Transition Accelerator, public agencies could earn carbon credits by reducing emissions if they cut fossil fuel use and increase use renewable energy.

On that note, in a UNICEF During the press conference, young German activist Luisa Neubauer sent a clear message to world leaders about the promise at COP27:

“Don’t come here and talk about climate action as long as you engage with any new fossil fuel infrastructure globally. Don’t come here and talk about climate justice when fossil fuel funding is exploding. Don’t come here trying to explain that money can be short for adaptation and loss and damage while investment in fossil fuels around the world is skyrocketing day by day.”

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