We Are Witnessing A Breakthrough

With less than five weeks left to go before COP26 in Glasgow, the momentum of action from cities, regions, businesses and investors to both cut emissions and build resilience is building - sending a powerful signal to governments that the economy is already racing to a healthier, more resilient and more liveable future.

In the private sector, at least one-fifth of major companies by revenue across 15 of the economy’s biggest sectors are now committed to cutting emissions this decade in line with reaching net zero before 2050. That means those companies have set targets equal to their fair share of halving global greenhouse emissions between 2020 and 2030, such as boosting renewable energy to 60 per cent of the mix and zero-emissions shipping fuel to 5 per cent. 

The UN-backed Race to Zero’s 2030 Breakthroughs challenge, released in January, set out the tipping points needed across about 30 big sectors to get them on a science-based course for net zero before mid-century. 

In the clean power sector, for example, 21 per cent of major utilities are now in the Race to Zero, including Engie, Enel and Kenya Electricity Generating Company. This is crucial, because the power sector accounts for a quarter of global emissions (mostly from coal, but also oil and gas) and can help to decarbonize sectors such as transport and buildings through electrification. Renewable energy is already the cheapest option for new power generation in most countries, with an 80 per cent fall in the cost of solar and 55 per cent for wind. 

In the pharmaceuticals and medtech sector, major companies aim to secure the Green Lab Certification for 95 per cent of their labs by 2030, meaning they will meet the global standard for sustainability best practices. AstraZeneca has already adopted it in over 65 labs worldwide. In other initiatives, Philips intends to source over three-quarters of its energy from renewable sources by 2025 after achieving carbon neutrality across its operations last year, GSK is working to reach net zero emissions across its biopharma value chain by 2030, and Dr Reddy is cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 55 per cent by 2030.

In transport, nearly 40 per cent of major medium and heavy goods vehicle manufacturers have joined the Race to Zero and committed to zero-emission sales by 2040, including Ford, Volvo and Nissan. Around a quarter of major bus makers have joined with a commitment to zero-emission sales by 2030.

And in nature-based solutions and land use, 28 per cent of major food suppliers have committed to create deforestation-free supply chains and to fully adopt regenerative agriculture and land restoration work by 2030. They include Brazil’s JBS and Ambev, Thailand’s NR Instant Produce, Japan’s Ajinomoto, France’s Danone and Switzerland’s Nestlé. 

The Race to Zero now boasts 6,200 members, covering over 11 per cent of the population and almost 15 per cent of the economy. The campaign has almost doubled since this time last year, despite the global challenges presented by the pandemic. 

Now you can search who’s in the Race to Zero too, by sector, region and type of actor, using our new dashboard!

Transforming Resilience

A zero-emission economy must be a resilient economy too, to ensure that we can thrive in spite of climate change impacts such as unbearable temperatures, super-storms, floods and droughts. 

The UN-backed Race to Resilience has welcomed four new partners, bringing the total to 24 partners representing more than 2,500 organizations who are taking action in over 100 countries. The campaign plans to announce at COP26 the verified number of people these actions will impact, placing the first progress marker on the campaign's goal to make 4 billion people from vulnerable communities resilient to climate change by 2030. 

New partner Climate Heritage Network is made up of arts, culture and heritage groups such as indigenous peoples’ governments, universities, design firms and artists from across Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. It is working to strengthen resilience and scale up arts, culture, heritage and traditional knowledge-based climate action.

The International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure brings together engineers who make resilience and sustainability a cornerstone of every decision taken on infrastructure. 

Resilience First is a cross-sector business network to bridge gaps in infrastructure systems and address resilience holistically, to create a safe, resilient and sustainable future for all. 

And the Urban Sustainability Directors Network is made up of local governments in the US and Canada helping to educate residents and coordinate the distribution of resources and services before, during and after climate hazards. 

To further support its members, the Race to Resilience last week launched its Transformation programme for local governments, businesses and investors working to increase the quantity and quality of finance and investment, capacity building, governance systems, infrastructure and technological innovations - and sharing best practices for it. The campaign will announce the Transformation programme’s first partners at COP26, and hold events at the first dedicated physical and virtual space for resilience at a COP - the Resilience Hub.

Call For Input On the First Global Stocktake

The Paris Agreement created a process known as the Global Stocktake, during which the world takes stock of its progress in meeting the Paris goals and help countries enhance their climate action. This will happen every five years, starting between 2021 and 2023. 

In preparation, the chairs of the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Bodies have opened a call for input, and noted in a  paper that cities, regions, the private sector and civil society have a significant role to play. They noted the importance of working with the High-Level Champions and the Marrakech Partnership in the stocktake, and of using UN Climate Change’s Yearbook of Global Climate Action as a key synthesis document. 

Supporting the stocktake is expected to be among the High-Level Champions’ main activities going forward, as part of an improved Marrakech Partnership. We therefore encourage all stakeholders to submit their inputs by February 2022. Further inputs on how to do so can be found here.

In Case You Missed It

• Global greenhouse gas emissions would rise by about 16 per cent by 2030, compared to 2010, under the available Nationally Determined Contributions from 191 parties to the Paris Agreement, according to the UNFCCC’s NDC Synthesis Report. That would lead to 2.7°C of warming by 2100.  
• Twelve investment consultants responsible for advising on over US$10 trillion in assets have launched the Net Zero Investment Consultants Initiative, aiming to align their operations and advisory services with a 1.5°C limit. The consultants’ support adds strength to the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance and Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative.
• The governments of Sri Lanka, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Montenegro and the UK announced a ‘No New Coal Power Compact’ last week, encouraging all other countries to commit to halting the construction of new plants.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping announced last week that China will stop new coal-fired power plants overseas, while US President Joe Biden said the US will double its climate finance by 2024 to US$11.4 billion per year. 
• The list of coal power project proposals worldwide has shrunk by 76 per cent since 2015, bringing the end of new coal construction in sight, according to E3G. Action and support for six countries could remove 82 per cent of the remaining pipeline. Forty countries do not have pre-construction projects and could join 44 others in committing to stop building new coal by 2021.  
• The EU and US have jointly committed to cutting global methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and launch a Global Methane Pledge at COP26. 
• Greening Africa’s cities could generate hundreds of billions of US dollars in economic dividends over the next three decades, according to research by the Coalition for Urban Transitions, based on analysis of cities in Ethiopia, South Africa and Kenya. Urban growth would be based on compact neighbourhood development, connected infrastructure, clean technologies and climate-resilient planning. 
• The private sector can put health at the centre of its action to stem climate change and regenerate nature, by focusing on six areas including air pollution, water security and forest protection, according to a new report by pharma major GSK. 
• For evidence of the transformation already underway in the economy, check out the Climate Progress News Barrel, a database that tracks news stories on climate action and impacts in fields such as energy, cities, transport, finance and resilience. This live and open-access tool is maintained by Camda.

Mark Your Calendars

• Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition: 28-30 September 
• Pre-COP26, hosted by Italy: 30 September-2 October 
• World Expo 2020 Dubai: 1 October 2021-31 March 2022
• Race for our Planet, hosted by Italy and Climate Champions: 1 October
• World Habitat Day: 4 October 
• Adaptation Futures Conference, hosted by India: 5-8 October 
• UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP15, Part 1), hosted by China: 11-15 October
• World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting: 11-17 October 
• Local Conference of Youth on Climate Change in Kenya: 12-16 October
• UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference 2021: 14-16 October 
• World Food Day: 16 October
• Third Asia-Pacific Urban Forestry Meeting: 25-29 October
• G20 Leaders’ Summit, hosted by Italy: 30-31 October 
• COP26, hosted by the UK: 31 October-12 November