Climate Change

Policing of Net-Zero Claims to Take Shape in 2022, UN Chief Says

The COP26 climate summit has seen a deluge of pledges to fight global warming. The most eye-popping came last week, when the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero announced that more than 450 firms representing $130 trillion of assets had signed up.

But the headline number was met with skepticism as climate activists and nonprofits questioned whether big finance is capable of rapidly weaning itself off fossil fuels. Signatories, meanwhile, continue to chase deals that look set to increase their carbon footprint.

Leaders and campaigners warned that the climate crisis could not be ended without the empowerment of women.
Women and girls around the world suffer disproportionately from the impacts of climate breakdown, as they are on average poorer, less educated and more dependent on subsistence farming. A UN report found 80% of those displaced by the climate emergency are women.

Why ESG is failing sustainable development

Our economic system has evolved to maximize financial value, confusing the means (financial activity) with the ends (society’s needs). It seeks infinite rewards from a finite system, and maximization of financial returns with few safeguards. Advocating for a transformational shift in mindset and decision-making, Marcos Athias Neto, Director of UNDP SDG Finance Sector Hub, highlights the need to focus on transforming internal management systems to integrate operating sustainably and contributing positively to the SDGs into all business and investment decision-making.

Nature-based Solutions for Water Security

The climate pledges agreed so far at the Cop26 conference could keep the world’s rising temperatures to within 1.8C of pre-industrialised levels, according to the International Energy Agency's executive director, Fatih Birol – but only if the commitments are implemented in full.

This Thursday, November 11 at 14:00 GMT, I invite you to join us at the COP26 Nordic Pavilion (SEC Centre, Hall 4, Exhibition Way, Glasgow) for an exciting discussion about how we can turbocharge the energy transition by swapping subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables.

Nordic countries have been trailblazers in implementing environmental fiscal policies including reforming fossil fuel subsidies, pricing carbon, and supporting renewable energy. Hosted by IISD, this hybrid COP 26 side event will explore how the Nordic experience can inform fiscal policy in the Global South and make the case for subsidy reform and reallocation to clean energy across the globe. Particular focus will be given to experience from South Africa where a coal dominated energy sector coupled with severe energy access challenges presents a number of key challenges for reform.

Tariq Fancy on the failure of green investing and the need for state action

Pushing firms to adopt climate-friendly practices doesn’t work, but government can change economic incentives, says a former sustainable-investing insider

Do you know what are the 5 ecosystems where nature-based solutions can deliver the highest benefits?

1. Forests --> where the most is at stake
2. Peatlands --> Earth’s most potent carbon stores
3. Farmlands --> where carbon feeds humanity
4. Oceans and coasts --> the many benefits of mangroves
5. Cities --> the urban frontier of climate change

Check this article to find out more!

An MCC-led study calculates the cost burden for individual private households. It shows that the EU Commission is on the right track with its policy of targeted financial support.