Green Finance Advisor of Friends of the Earth (HK)
It is very clear that
humanity closes the books on the hottest year in 2023 on record, it’s worth
asking whether the strategy is still working — and what might be lost by
continuing to embrace it.
At COP28 in Dubai, 1.5°C will be front and center — in part because this year
has offered a sobering glimpse of it. By early November 2023 had seen more than
80 days with temperatures at least 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, according to the UN, along with
second-order effects that include deadly wildfires, damaging flooding and
historic drought.
“We are already unsafe and we have not reached 1.5°C yet,” says Rachel Cleetus, the policy director of the non-profit
Union of Concerned Scientists’ Climate and Energy program. COP28 will also
include the first “global stocktake,” a rigorous review of how country-level
climate efforts are stacking up against Paris goals. The process, intended to
inform the next round of national climate pledges due in 2025, is sure to
highlight how few countries are moving as quickly or aggressively as is needed
to keep 1.5°C
within the realm of reality.
Never before has the finance industry attended a United Nations Conference of
the Parties in such vast numbers, according to provisional registration data
from the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change. Attendees include
BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, as well as HSBC Holdings Plc
CEO Noel Quinn and Brian Moynihan of Bank of America Corp.
They will be rubbing shoulders with numerous oil executives, which is another
notable feature of this year’s talks. Sultan Al Jaber, president of the COP28
summit and head of the Abu Dhabi national oil company, Adnoc, has said he wants
as many interests as possible represented to ensure a “successful” outcome.
Against that backdrop, Darren Woods just became the first ever Exxon Mobil
Corp. CEO to attend a COP since the summits started in the 1990s.
The mantra of this year’s summit is fast becoming that finance needs to go
where emissions are, meaning it’s no longer feasible to blacklist firms that
pollute, according to Huw van Steenis, vice-chair and partner at Oliver Wyman
Inc. It’s about “financing emissions reductions” rather than just “reducing
financed emissions,” he said.
Attendees will also turn their attention to the voluntary carbon market, which
has been hit by a string of scandals that have raised serious questions as to
the validity of the offsetting claims made by those buying carbon credits.
Discussions on how to overhaul the voluntary carbon market come as executives
from the world’s biggest banks and investment firms explore new funding
structures and partnerships, as they use finance day at the COP28 climate
summit in Dubai to devise viable pathways to a low-carbon economy.
Beijing ‘attaches great importance’ to COP28 decision to have 2035 carbon goals
laid out within two years, climate envoy Xie Zhenhua says in Dubai. China will
set up new emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2035 as part of global
pledges to fight climate change, the country’s top climate envoy said, while
urging a greater push for methane control. On methane emissions, Xie says China
is ‘willing to act’ but still lacks the capabilities, as he calls for global
joint efforts.
Meanwhile, on December 6, Hong
Kong hosted its first forum at the United Nations
climate talks to promote the city as a green and sustainable financial centre.
The event was co-hosted by the Financial Services Development Council and
Friends of the Earth at the COP28 summit.
“We will co-host a forum at the China Corner side event of COP28,”
said Plato Yip the chairman of Friends of the Earth in Hong Kong. “This
marks a significant and meaningful milestone for our Hong Kong-based NGO
Friends of the Earth as it is our first opportunity to deliver our message
directly.”
We are looking forward to seeing a meaningful and fruitful outcome of COP28!