Investments in dirty energy exposed at the Climate Change Conference

The first of the “thematic” days of the COP27 Climate Change Conference, which began on Wednesday, focused on finance, with activists making it clear from the outset that there must be a global push for the hundreds of billions of dollars that are invested annually in fossil fuels are redirected towards financing renewable energy initiatives.

More than 50 activists of all ages and backgrounds took over the so-called Blue Zone, the main area of ​​the UN-supervised conference center in Sharm el-Shaik, chanting “Stop funding fossil fuels, stop funding death “.

Susan Huang, representative of the NGO Oil Change International, was one of the participants who wanted to shed light on the fact that rich countries, as the UN Secretary-General pointed out earlier this week, continue to pour money into fossil fuels. at a time when an urgent transition to renewable energy is needed.

“Last year’s G7 summit agreed to end public funding of fossil fuels by the end of this year. But the International Energy Agency has stated that, in reality, the slow transition to renewables is what that is exacerbating the climate crisis and the energy crisis. Therefore, we urge world leaders to honor their commitment and end public financing of fossil fuels,” he told UN News.

Huang said that these investments are also causing incredible damage, destroying biodiversity and devastating livelihoods around the world, and she was not alone.

Dipti Bhatnagar, from Friends of the Earth International in Mozambique, delivered an impassioned speech, which resonated clearly with all those who entered the main conference square, where heads were nodded and murmurs of approval were heard.

Demonstrators protesting against the financing of fossil fuels during COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (Photo: © UN News / Laura Quinones)

Evicted by gas

“Rich countries want to seize huge gas reserves, and people are being dispossessed of their land. One million people out of 23 million people [de Mozambique] They live in refugee camps because of the gas. We say no to giving more financing to gas. We will not let Africa burn,” he yelled.

Activists made it clear that the best way to increase access to energy around the world, and meet the needs of the most vulnerable, is by investing in renewable energy plans.

A new tool to hold polluters accountable

Meanwhile, just two zones away from the pavilion, the UN Secretary General also denounced governments and the financial sector for continuing to invest in fossil fuels.

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

The tool combines satellite data and artificial intelligence to show facility-level emissions from more than 70,000 sites around the world, including companies in China, the United States and India. This will allow managers to know the location and extent of the emissions being released.

Guterres explained that data released by the initiative shows that due to underreporting of methane leaks, flaring and other activities associated with oil and gas production, emissions are much higher than previously reported. previously.

“This should be a wake-up call to governments and the financial sector, especially those that continue to invest in and finance fossil fuel pollution,” he told the COP27 plenary session.

costly catastrophes

Al Gore delivered the unprecedented interactive inventory presentation, now online, through slides showing climate-driven destruction around the world.

The famous author of “An Inconvenient Truth” recalled that two months ago, in September, at the UN General Assembly, António Guterres spoke of the heat waves in Europe, the floods in Pakistan, the severe droughts, and he related everything correctly. as the price of humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels.

Gore said these catastrophes currently cost the world economy $2.5 trillion a year. However, he gave a ray of hope when he assured that the world is at a turning point because there are solutions to reverse the situation and boost investment in renewable energy.

The importance of the new tool

Gore went on to point out that while fossil fuel financing and subsidies are “insane”, the potential of renewable energy financing in Africa is being overlooked with little or no money coming to the continent.

“The potential of wind and solar energy is 400 times greater than the total reserves of fossil fuels in Africa, and also it does not pollute and creates more jobs, but there is a financing deficit (…) That is why it is pays so much attention in this Conference to changing the global capital allocation system,” he stressed.

He then explained that the Climate TRACE inventory, which combines reliable and verified data from more than 100 institutions and 30,000 sensors, can help governments guide their actions.

“It makes it impossible for emitters to cheat,” he explained, revealing that currently the top 14 single sources of emissions in the world are all oil and gas.

“One of the most striking early data from this paper is the magnitude of emissions from oil and gas production, particularly those that have not been previously reported,” said Guterres, calling the data “source of fundamental information” to face the climate emergency.

The UN Secretary General stressed that the new tool will be crucial for business leaders working to decarbonise their supply chains, for governments working to align policymaking with their climate plans, and for investors working to further private sector progress towards zero grid.

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

rmation about finances

Finance Day at COP27 highlighted that trillions of dollars worth of investments are needed each year to achieve the rapid and far-reaching transformations needed to address the impact of the climate crisis, and to meet the goals of the Agreement from Paris.

In various conference rooms, pavilions and “action centers” as well as in closed-door negotiations, delegates, activists, investment bankers and other stakeholders debated the importance of closing the current funding gap in critical areas of climate action. such as emissions mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage.

The experts agreed that the financial push must come from all sectors, public or private, debt or equity, commercial or philanthropic.

“Funding is the biggest solution that can drive action everywhere,” Anjali Viswamohanan, Asia Investor Group policy director, told UN News.

One of the big calls was to close the “adaptation gap.”

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), project developers and investors should focus on:

-prepare and invest in projects that increase resilience and protect vulnerable people from the negative impacts of climate change

-drive systemic change and innovation for a carbon-neutral and climate-resilient transformation in the context of a just transition

-protect and restore natural capital

More promises and initiatives

With a pledge of $20 million, New Zealand on Wednesday joined the list of those who have pledged funding for the issue of loss and damage (payments to low-carbon developing countries affected by the disaster of the climate change); list in which they are already together with Scotland, Norway, Germany, Austria and Belgium.

For its part, the UK said it would allow deferral of payments to countries hit by weather disasters.

The African Climate Risk Fund, an initiative of the Nairobi Declaration on Sustainable Insurance, was also launched, in which signatories commit to underwriting $14 billion of climate risk coverage by 2030.

US climate envoy John Kerry held an event at COP27 announcing plans for companies to “buy carbon credits” and support countries moving away from coal.

Under the proposed plan, dubbed the Energy Transition Accelerator, state agencies could earn carbon credits by reducing their emissions if they reduce their use of fossil fuels and increase their use of renewable energy.

In this sense, during a UNICEF press conference, the young German activist Luisa Neubauer sent a strong message to world leaders who make promises at COP27.

“Don’t come here talking about climate action while you’re dedicated to any new fossil fuel infrastructure around the world. Don’t come here talking about climate justice while fossil fuel funding skyrockets. Don’t come here trying to explain that money for adaptation and loss and damage may be lacking as investments in fossil fuels around the world skyrocket, day by day.” (Font: UN News)