Citizens' Climate Lobby UK

Lobbying for a carbon fee and dividend

News

Climate experts decry government claims to be world leaders in reducing emissions as the heat goes on……..

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Yesterday Professor Sir Bob Watson, (among other roles former Chair of the IPCC), told the Radio 4 Today programme that the world was heading in the wrong direction to keep to the 1.5C global warming target agreed at the Paris COP in 2015…..”I think most people fear that if we give up on the 1.5C [limit], which I do not believe we will achieve, in fact I’m very pessimistic about achieving even 2C, that if we allow the target to become looser and looser, higher and higher, governments will do even less in the future.”

“The big issue is we need to reduce greenhouse gases now to even be on the pathway to be close to 1.5C or 2C. We need to reduce current emissions by at least 50% by 2030. The trouble is the emissions are still going up, they are not going down,” …..”We need to try and hold governments to start to act sensibly now and reduce emissions, but even governments with a really good target like the United Kingdom don’t have the policies in place, don’t have the financing in place to reach those goals.”

At the lunchtime news bulletin Lord Nicholas Stern, (G Patel Professor of Economics and Government, Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and Head of the India Observatory at the London School of Economics) was adamant that the Government can no longer hide behind the promises made at COP26 to claim that the UK is still a world leader in reducing emissions. 

He pointed out that the rest of the world now sees the UK as a laggard, particularly with the subsequent approval of a coal mine, further oil and gas exploration and the threat of cutting climate finance commitments. The Prime Minister, he stated, needs to give a clear commitment to accelerating the insulation, heat pump and EV infrastructure rollouts –  the cost of inaction will be far bigger than the cost of inaction, higher than the 5-20% global GDP loss he previously predicted and lives will be destroyed (as indeed they are being, right now).

Lord Stern was co-author of Making Carbon Pricing Work for Citizens in 2018 which put the case for a carbon fee and dividend system which would, if implemented, put an end to the claims that getting to Net Zero will hurt people and the economy and that therefore it needn’t be on the government’s priority list.

 

As the world gets hotter COP28 could be the game changer we need…….

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Yesterday the President of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, laid out his strategy for the summit and if fulfilled it could be ground breaking. Al Jaber reconfirmed the commitment to keeping below 1.5 Celsius, which did seem threatened last year. He has also removed the word emissions from the plan to phase out fossil fuels, observers were worried the use of the word emissions implied he would support business as usual for fossil fuels and reliance on CCS to remove emissions. Jaber is now using the phrase ‘phase down’ fossil fuels, many observers were hoping for ‘phase out’ but the removal of the emissions word is progress. He is also calling for a comprehensive transformation of the World Bank and other international financial institutions and for more private sector funding for the Global South (as asked for by Mia Mottley at COP27 and Citizens’ Climate International is campaigning for) and for the commitment to $100bn climate finance made in 2020 to be delivered on.

A global stock-take will be conducted for the first time so countries have to report on the progress they have made on the emissions reduction promises they made in Paris in 2015. Countries will be expected to submit updated NDCs in September. The UK might want to take guidance from a recent report from the UCL as current government strategy will not meet the demands of COP28. 

UK Energy Independence: Mapping out potential pathways to a more energy Independent UK was published in May. It was co-authored by members of the UCL Energy Institute and Institute for Sustainable Resources and outlines how the UK could become energy independent by 2050 without the need for new oil and gasfield development. The report suggests 3 pathways, Emerging and Developing which are in line with the Committee for Climate Change proposals and a more ambitious Secure pathway which suggests a faster phase out of oil for transportation and residential gas use. 

The UCL’s suggestions would likely meet the approval of Alok Sharma, who on gaining a knighthood for his work as COP26 President stated that “I think there are areas where we have moved forward, but the reality is that, if we are going to keep alive the prospect of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, we need to be doing a lot more (and) countries need to accelerate on the commitments they’ve already made.”

Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change (LSE) (which has researched the effects of a Climate Income policy in the UK) said …There has been criticism of Al Jaber’s links with the national oil company, claiming they prevent him from being a credible Cop president. But this speech shows detailed ambitions for progress on the major issues, including a recognition of the need for oil companies to be part of the solution. If Cop28 does deliver all the ambitions outlined, it would be one of the most important summits in history.”

 

Citizens’ Climate International on the World Bank Group Spring Meetings and the Paris Summit – some progress but more needed…..

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Citizens’ Climate International, the umbrella group to which we are affiliated, has this year been involved in an action to support the transformation of the World Bank Group needed for the 21st century. There is a growing awareness and acceptance by the World Bank Group that a transformation is needed to move the whole world away from reliance on fossil fuels and to mitigate the damage already done. Having the moral and economic power of the World Bank behind the move away from investment in and subsidisation of fossil fuels would be one of the most effective ways to draw a line under the fossil fuel era and achieve the goal of a just transition for all to a world where extreme poverty and inequality has been eradicated.

The new President of the World Bank, Ajay Banja is already planning to change the mission statement of the World Bank to acknowledge that we need to ‘create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet’. Progress is happening and we need to play our role in supporting it.  

CCL UK representatives contributed these statements on why the action is needed:

Catherine Dawson
Citizens’ Climate International Leader, Devizes, UK
“We stand at a crossroads, here in the UK we have had a decade of gradually increasing extreme weather events causing floods, record temperatures and even houses igniting in a London suburb! Despite these warning signs our Government is still committed to maximising the exploitation of fossil fuels. We need the World Bank Group to transform to make it fit for the challenges of the 21st century, enabling the investment needed in the technologies and services which will eliminate poverty, hasten the day when fossil fuels become a stranded asset and thus stop climate change, for all our futures.”

David Waltham
Citizens’ Climate International Leader, Marlborough, UK
“Campaigning at the national level for action on climate is hard work much of the time — governments and industry change only slowly. The right World Bank reforms would be an International step change, moving the whole world forward enormously and all at once.”

CCI’s action made an impression at the World Bank Group Spring meetings.

It is clear that our ongoing involvement is contributing to the sea change needed in attitudes and actions of international financial institutions to support a liveable world.

CCI watched with interest the Paris Summit negotiations a few weeks ago. The World Bank Group issued this statement on the progress made at the Paris Summit:

June 22, 2023—The World Bank Group today announced a suite of new and expanded actions to help countries respond quickly and effectively to an ever-growing onslaught of crises.

At the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, Ajay Banga announced an expanded toolkit for crisis preparedness, response, and recovery that includes: (1) pausing debt repayments; (2) redirecting financing; (3) linking crisis preparedness and financing; (4); backstopping development projects with private sector support, and (5) building enhanced catastrophe insurance without debt.

The World Bank Group aims to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. We work to make people better prepared for threats of any kind by sharing our expertise, building resilience, and insuring against risks.

Elements of the new comprehensive toolkit include:

1.    Offering a pause in debt repayments so countries can focus on what matters, not worrying about the bill:  To allow countries to focus on meeting the urgent needs of their people instead of on loan repayments, the World Bank Group will launch Climate Resilient Debt Clauses. These will provide a pause in debt repayments for the most vulnerable countries in times of crisis or catastrophe. We will start these new crisis debt clauses with the most vulnerable clients, and we intend to learn and work with all stakeholders to expand coverage.

2.    Giving countries new flexibility to quickly redirect a portion of their funds for emergency response, so cash is immediately accessible: The World Bank Group will put in place a new rapid response option, offering all client countries the ability to immediately repurpose a portion of their lending portfolio for emergency needs when a crisis occurs – for example to redeploy undisbursed funds in longer-term infrastructure projects for immediate disaster response.

3.    Helping governments build advance-emergency systems, so they are ready to respond on day one: To allow more countries to build emergency systems and have quick-disbursing finance available in times of crisis, the World Bank Group will increasingly link investments in prevention and preparedness with financing for catastrophe and crisis response support. We will also step up our expertise and analytical support available to every country to design a crisis preparedness and response financing strategy.

4.    Providing new types of insurance that will backstop development projects, allowing work to get back on track quickly: The World Bank Group will evolve its tools to more effectively support private sector clients in crisis preparedness and response. This will enable businesses to sustain operations and protect jobs, building resilience and long-term sustainability. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is partnering with the private insurance industry through the Insurance Development Forum, a public-private partnership, to design an innovative parametric insurance product, and the International Finance Corporation has designed a private sector-led crisis response solution to support financial institutions in addressing the impact of natural disasters due to climate change.

5.    Building enhanced catastrophe insurance for providing resources without adding to debt: The World Bank Group will build on its catastrophe insurance solutions such as Cat Bonds and give all countries the option of embedding catastrophe insurance into lending products. Because not every country can afford this insurance, we will work with donors to make these products affordable for lower-income countries, including funds that can buy down insurance premiums. This will develop enhanced catastrophe insurance products that can provide resources for disaster-struck countries without adding to their debt.

Across countries, and as a result of these measures combined, billions of dollars could be available for crisis response.

CCI report on the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact: Meaningful progress for relief to emerging economies, but more needed

JUNE 23, 2023 — As the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact winds up in Paris, Citizens’ Climate International sees meaningful progress being made to provide debt relief to developing nations struggling with the impact of climate change. That progress, hopefully, will set the stage for further commitments at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in October and at the COP28 climate conference in December.

Structural reforms and immediate relief are needed to help emerging economies adapt to a changing climate and make a just transition to clean energy.

“Every human being has the right to a livable world,” said CCI Executive Director Joe Robertson. “To secure that livable world, rich nations and international financial institutions must transform their standard business models and prioritize support to vulnerable countries already facing unaffordable costs.”

As Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, put it in a recent op-ed, the challenge is “how to bolster investment in emerging markets and developing economies in a way that does not incur debt.”

One good piece of news from the summit was the announcement from the World Bank that it was launching a comprehensive toolkit to support countries after natural disasters. Among provisions in the toolkit is the option on new loans to pause payments on debt when disaster strikes “to allow countries to focus on meeting the urgent needs of their people instead of on loan repayments.”

“This is a much needed step in the right direction,” said Robertson, “and in the months ahead, we look forward to seeing wider reforms that structurally improve the debt and finance positions of vulnerable countries.”

Earlier this year, during the spring meetings at the World Bank and IMF, CCI members from 31 countries sent personal emails to their own countries’ executive directors at the World Bank Group asking the Bank. The letters asked for reforms that:

  1. Support for the Bridgetown Initiative;
  2. Advance human rights and gender equality;
  3. Welcome meaningful, ongoing citizen and stakeholder input;.
  4. Investigate direct delivery of funds to households, as a foundational support for climate-resilient development.

More good news at the summit: A group of wealthy nations pledged $2.7 billion to help Senegal roll out renewable energy, and Zambia secured a deal to restructure $6.3 billion owed to other governments.

“Considering that developing countries contributed the least to the climate crisis but suffer extreme impacts that can cost more than their entire economic output, these deals represent critical steps toward climate justice, though much more is needed,” said Robertson. (End of press release).

Encouraged by the progress so far this year CCI is now asking that World Bank Group Reforms take cognisance of these issues:

World Bank financing must address the longer term needs of building climate-resilient infrastructure. Infrastructure projects generally take about 30 years and restoring nature as a mitigation, biodiversity and adaptation plans could take generations. Thus, financing must reflect that reality.

  • Recognizing the sovereignty and rights of Indigenous peoples are essential for sustainable conservation efforts. Thus, preservation of nature on Indigenous lands must be over and above the ‘30-by-30’ benchmark set by the United Nations Global Biodiversity Framework.
  • We must not only protect countries from the climate impacts, stranded assets are also a concern. Guardrails for financing are needed to avoid greenwashing. The World Bank Group and the Private Partnerships must abide by the UN document  Integrity Matters.
  • Hampering the capacity of the multilateral development banks to unwind global economies from fossil fuels is the lack of a global framework. The World Bank and IMF should join the European Union, Fiji, Austin (Texas), the World Health Organisation and a plethora of organisations, governments and thought leaders in asking for the United Nations to develop a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty.

Further CCI analysis on the Paris Summit and the actions needed going forward.

CCI affiliate organisations will be contacting their World Bank Group executives with these new asks until mid July. Watch this space!

 

On the same day that Pope Francis says ‘Enough with fossil fuels’ Graham Stuart says ours are Net Zero compatible…..

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Pope Francis released a message on the 25th May in advance of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (September 1st). He said that COP28 …‘must listen to science and institute a rapid and equitable transition to end the era of fossil fuel…..According to the commitments undertaken in the Paris Agreement to restrain global warming, it is absurd to permit the continued exploration and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructures  (also the IEA and IPCC)….The unrestrained burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests are pushing temperatures higher and leading to massive droughts’. He also criticised oil and gas fracking and “unchecked mega-mining projects”.

On the same day Graham Stuart, Energy Security and Net Zero Minister speaking at the Innovation Zero Conference in London, argued that new oil and gas licences in the North Sea were compatible with the UK’s Net Zero commitments, as they pass a ‘climate compatability test ‘, which fails to quantify the emissions produced by utilisation of the fuels.

Greenpeace UK Climate Campaigner Philip Evans stated that  “All new oil and gas drilling is incompatible with 1.5C,” …..”Don’t just take my word for it, this is also the view of the International Energy Agency, the UN secretary general, as well as countless academics and scientists.

“If the government had a shred of interest in limiting the impacts of the climate crisis it would reverse its decision to allow more fossil fuel production, and stop propping up an industry that’s destroying the planet. And by properly taxing the astronomical profits of oil and gas giants the government could begin upgrading the grid and start to unleash the full potential of renewables so we can all have cheap, clean power.”

Citizens’ Climate International at the World Bank Group Spring Meetings and some actions you can take…

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In April Citizens’ Climate International published a press release on the Bretton Woods Action. CCI members from 31 countries, including a UK contingency, sent letters to and phoned their national World Bank Executive Directors requesting that the World Bank Group….

Supports the Bridgetown Initiative of the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley (financial reform to release the capital needed to enable developing and vulnerable countries to adapt and mitigate and free the capital needed to globally transition from fossil fuels). It is gaining support and beginning to work.

Grounds all reforms in human rights and gender equality.

Gives citizens the opportunity to share meaningful input into the reforms. This must go beyond the World Bank Civil Society meetings.

Investigates how money can be dispensed directly to households in need and then develops an implementation plan to do so.

The Spring Meetings are still in progress but delegates were overwhelmed by the CCI action. Cathy Orlando (CCI Director of Programs) reported that there were gasps of astonishment that CCI had succeeded in engaging so many members to act…..I am so grateful for all of your work on the Bretton Woods Action Team. At the World Bank (WB) Spring Meetings, WB staff,  delegates and politicians were in awe of the fact that citizens from over 30 countries contacted their divisions at the World Bank. Merci et tous. 

Our action made a huge and positive impression, as a delegate explained the lack of engagement from concerned citizens makes it hard for the World Bank to work out what the world expects from it. CCI is in the process in working out its next move now it has realised how much influence it can bring to bear in forthcoming talks.

In the meantime here are some suggested actions it is endorsing….

Take Action on Global Financial Reform

In alignment with our work to push global financial flows towards a thriving and equitable planet, we are supporting Global Citizens’ petition to world leaders and financial institutions demanding they Power Up the Planet. The climate crisis and inequality crisis are not separate issues, but are deeply interconnected. We cannot solve one without addressing the other.

Sign the petition that calls on world leaders and financial institutions to prioritise the urgent need for global financial reform to power our planet and create a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.

Sign & share

Take Action on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

Join the World Health Organisation, 3,000 scientists and academics, 600 parliamentarians from 79 countries globally, 101 Nobel laureates and 2,000 civil society organisations, in saying it’s time to stop polluting the atmosphere, destabilising the climate, and degrading our common future.

Endorse the Treaty as an individual or on behalf of your own organisation. Every human being has a right to a clean, healthy environment. Last year, 196 nations formally signed up to that universal principle.

Endorse here

 

 

We are at a crossroads, let’s make our voices heard….

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As readers will know we at CCL UK are affiliates of a worldwide organisation, Citizens’ Climate International, which endorses building the political will for a liveable world through five levers of political will. This type of people power has had notable results, most famously in Canada. The current Bretton Woods project has also given the CCI delegates a powerful voice at the ongoing World Bank Group Spring Meetings.

There are other ways of being heard of course and we do sometimes alert readers to campaigns such as the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty and Warm this Winter.

Within the last month we saw the Government endorsing the IPCC ARC6 synthesis report which reiterated that we must stop exploiting new gas and oil resources now to stand a chance of remaining within a 1.5 Celsius temperature rise. A week later the Powering up Britain strategy was released. This reiterated that despite our Government’s claim to be world leaders on legislating for Net Zero and cutting emissions it intends to continue ‘maximising the vital production of UK oil and gas as the North Sea basin declines’ . Ruth Jarman from Operation Noah points out that:

The press release for last year’s IPCC report ended with, ‘Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future’, while in 2021, Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said, ‘If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year.’ And yet we know that 20 large oil and gas companies – including Shell, BP, Total and ExxonMobil – plan to spend nearly $1 trillion on new oil and gas fields by 2030. 

Meanwhile, the UK Government is brushing off calls by its own independent advisors, the Climate Change Committee, to insulate our homes and is still considering requests for over a hundred new North Sea oil and gas fields, all of which are in violation of scientific warnings. Last year, the UK Government even greenlighted a new coal mine which, according to the chair of the Climate Change Committee, ‘is absolutely indefensible’. 

If you can please do consider joining the mass events planned in London from the 21st to the 24th April, see The Big One, Surround Parliament.

 

Citizens’ Climate International at the World Bank Group Spring Meetings – the time is now to reform international finance and stop poverty and climate change in their tracks!

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For about two months Citizens’ Climate International (CCI) volunteers from every continent have been preparing to have a dialogue with the World Bank about the need for reforms to make multilateral banks fit for the needs of the 21st century.  The need for reform had been acknowledged and suggested by the US Treasury last year and CCI is asking that reforms support the suggestions laid out by Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, at COP27 and in the Bridgetown Initiative.

Several CCL UK members took part in this process (see Quotes section of the Press Release). We received an encouraging email from the Alternative Executive Director for the UK, Robin Tasker, which among other developments stated that the UK government is engaging very actively on the Bridgetown Initiative.

3 CCI delegates are also on the ground at the World Bank in Washington this week (see Quotes section). The mood is buoyant and hopeful! ……

Global Network of Citizens Urges World Bank Group to Upgrade for Fair and Sustainable Development Ahead the Spring Meetings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 6, 4 pm ET
Media Contact: [email protected]

(Washington DC): From April 10 to April 16  Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF will take place in Washington DC. Many of the events will be broadcast live. Three members of Citizens’ Climate International are delegates at these meetings. The public money at the World Bank Group belongs to the people of this planet. Thus, they are bringing the message that the public money at the World Bank be used for fair and sustainable development.

In the past two weeks, Citizens’ Climate International  members from 31 countries have sent personal emails to their own countries’ executive directors at the World Bank Group. As taxpayers and therefore stakeholders of the World Bank, they have requested that the World Bank:

  1. Supports the Bridgetown Initiative of the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley. It is gaining support and beginning to work.
  2. Grounds all reforms in human rights and gender equality.
  3. Gives citizens the opportunity to share meaningful input into the reforms. This must go beyond the World Bank Civil Society meetings.
  4. Investigates how money can be dispensed directly to households in need and then develops an implementation plan to do so.

Here is their full request with hyperlinks.

Background:
The global  financial system we have does not meet the needs of vulnerable and low-income populations, or the overall challenge of addressing the climate emergency. Things are about to change.

In 2022, the World Bank was tasked by the U.S. Treasury—its largest shareholder—with developing a comprehensive ‘Evolution Roadmap’. The World Bank has immense potential to shift financial flows towards a thriving and equitable world. As in the years after World War II, the World Bank is positioned to transform our world—this time with input from 100 more countries than were there in 1945.

On January 17, 2023, it was reported in Bloomberg News that  “the World Bank is set to wield huge influence over how the energy transition is financed, potentially dwarfing the promised efforts of Wall Street giants like JPMorgan Chase & Co. or BlackRock Inc. to help eliminate emissions.”

At COP 27, PM Mia Mottley introduced a plan for 500 billion dollars of public money to be invested to unlock five trillion dollars in investment. For perspective, at COP 26, PM Mia Mottley cited a statistic that by November 2021 nine trillion dollars of public money was used to buffer economies globally during the COVID pandemic.

The World Bank Group / IMF  Spring meeting is one of several major meetings in the first half of 2023 as countries prepare for COP 28 in Dubai in late November.  There are also the  G7 leaders meetings in May, the mid-year United Nations in June, and The Summit For A New Global Financial Pact: Towards More Commitments To Meet The 2030 Agenda in Paris, France June 22 and 23, 2023. The Paris Summit is being co-hosted by President Macron of France and President Modi of India. Of note, India is also the G20 president this year.

About Us
Citizens’ Climate International (CCI) builds political will for a liveable world by empowering citizens. We support active chapters in 51 countries and developing chapters in another 25 countries. Our sister organisation Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) has been meeting with representatives at the World Bank since 2011. CCL  is also a founding member of the World Bank convened Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC). CCI’s executive director, Joseph Robertson, is a member of the CPLC Advisory Group.

Quotes:

Joseph Robertson (American)
Delegate at the World Bank Group IMF Spring Meeting
Executive Director, Citizens’ Climate International
“Every financial decision conditions future outcomes. The World Bank has an opportunity to change the game, with bold reforms that steer major financial flows toward a liveable future of climate-resilient development. This is why stakeholders and communities around the world are calling on the World Bank to make sure future investments actively honor human rights, gender equality, civic participation, and the needs of the vulnerable. The very future of human dignity and wellbeing is at stake.”

Cathy Orlando (Canadian)
Delegate at the World Bank Group IMF Spring Meeting
Director of Programs, Citizens’ Climate International 
“As a citizen of Canada who has been going to the World Bank since 2011, I know that citizens are essential to unlocking finances for climate and development. It is our money and the World Bank does listen to us. We can diffuse the climate bomb and there are sufficient financial resources available to do so. Let’s be clear-eyed. The private sector finances the lion share of the energy projects and the World Bank has the power to steer much of that finance away from fossil fuels and towards a thriving and equitable planet.”

David Michael Terungwa (Nigerian)
Delegate at the World Bank Group IMF Spring Meeting
Field Development Lead and African Regional Coordinator, Citizens’ Climate International 
“We need the World Bank Group and other international financial institutions to adopt reforms that uplift and directly empower the most vulnerable people in the world and end poverty while providing a thriving future for all. As for national governments: put a price on pollution and give the money back to the people. Canada has shown us the way.”

Knowledge Chimungunde
Citizens’ Climate International Leader, Harare, Zimbabwe
‘‘In the midst of fighting against the immense effects of climate change that are ravaging the needy and widely expanding the gap between the rich and the poor, there lies engaging the untapped and remote societies to tailor-make solutions that yield workable results. A local win is a global win, and this means we have scored a remarkable goal in the climate change agenda.’

Catherine Dawson
Citizens’ Climate International Leader, Devizes, UK
“We stand at a crossroads, here in the UK we have had a decade of gradually increasing extreme weather events causing floods, record temperatures and even houses igniting in a London suburb! Despite these warning signs our Government is still committed to maximizing the exploitation of fossil fuels. We need the World Bank Group to transform to make it fit for the challenges of the 21st century, enabling the investment needed in the technologies and services which will eliminate poverty, hasten the day when fossil fuels become a stranded asset and thus stop climate change, for all our futures.”

Rod Mitchell
National Chair, Citizens’ Climate Australia
“Australia’s vulnerability to global warming, our proximity to disappearing island nations and now a more climate friendly government are providing new impetus for change. However, industry and their financiers are slow to follow and plan to expand fossil fuel production. We need the World Bank to lead by example in directing its finances towards the zero-carbon solutions that sustain and conserve the planet we depend on.”

David Waltham
Citizens’ Climate International Leader, Marlborough, UK
“Campaigning at the national level for action on climate is hard work much of the time — governments and industry change only slowly. The right World Bank reforms would be an International step change, moving the whole world forward enormously and all at once.”

André Dumoulin,
Citizens’ Climate International, Panama
“We need clear climate actions guidelines and clear international Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) guidelines. The world needs the World Bank to urgently streamline the complex field of the climate goals and the ESG factors needed by companies and governments to answer the climate emergency, manage the energy transition and restore the world’s biodiversity.”

Alejandro Jaimes,
Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Colombia
“Colombia is extremely vulnerable to the climate crisis, leading to several climate-induced loss and damage. We need the World Bank to show real commitment and ambition on loss and damage finance so that thousands of people who will be severely impacted can have the possibility to restore essential services, to recover and to build forward better. We need you to show us the money. Money that must not increase our debt as a Global South country.”

J.J. (Full name withheld for his personal safety)
Citizens’ Climate International, Hinche, Haiti
“Le changement climatique frappe nos portes, agissons ensemble. Il faut souligner que certains  membres de CCI Francophone se trouvent en grandes difficultés en Haïti par rapport à la situation  sécuritaire”
“Climate change is knocking on our doors, let’s act together.It should be noted that some members of CCI Francophone are in great difficulty in Haiti in relation to the security situation.”

Stephanie de la O Pérez, Alba R. Peña Parra, Tamara Quiroz Guzman, Jorge R. Martínez,  Pérez Tejada, Garbiela Mena Breña, Javier Eduardo Preciado de Santos, Antonio Díaz Aranda
Climavivible Mexico
“We, as citizens, want the World Bank to reach its objectives of promoting long-term economic development and poverty reduction. We are tired of inequity and lack of transparency in financial processes and it’s about time to put money where it will do most good for people and the planet. In your hands lies a big key to unleashing a better future.”

 

CCI press release on the IPCC Synthesis report -This is our last chance to defuse the climate time-bomb

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The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the Synthesis Report for the 6th Assessment—is being described as “a survival guide for humanity”. That is because scientific evidence now makes clear: unchecked climate disruption will make it impossible to feed all of humankind, sustain ecosystems and biodiversity in all regions, and will lead to global destabilisation, upheaval, and an acceleration of the ongoing mass extinction.

The good news is that the latest evidence reinforces previous findings that much of that devastation can be averted if we rapidly transition to energy systems that do not generate global heating pollution. The report is a “final warning” that action must begin now and spread everywhere, if everyday climate resilience and sustainable prosperity are to be achievable.

Citizens’ Climate International Executive Director Joe Robertson observed:

“The new IPCC Synthesis Report is the clearest signal to date: We cannot afford to keep investing in activities that destroy value; action to avert climate emergency is the best investment. The 2020s must be a time of unprecedented cooperation, inclusive economic development, and financial innovation—to align the human security of the most vulnerable with the fiscal stability of nations.”

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced a plan to massively fast-track climate action. He called for “a quantum leap in climate action“ and specified:

“Our world needs climate action on all fronts—everything, everywhere, all at once… Leaders of developed countries must commit to reaching net zero as close as possible to 2040… some have already set a target as early as 2035 [and] Credible, comprehensive, and detailed transition plans… must contain actual emissions cuts for 2025 and 2030.”

The Secretary-General proposed a G20 Climate Solidarity Pact that includes an Acceleration Agenda. This Agenda calls for an end to coal, net-zero electricity generation by 2035 for all developed countries and 2040 for the rest of the world, and to stop all licensing or funding of new oil and gas, as well as any expansion of existing oil and gas reserves.

These measures must accompany safeguards for the most vulnerable communities, scaling up finance and capacities for adaptation and loss and damage, and promoting reforms to ensure Multilateral Development Banks such as the World Bank provide more grants and loans and fully mobilise private finance.

The report finds that the economic benefits for people’s health from air quality improvements alone would be roughly the same, or possibly even larger than the costs of reducing or avoiding emissions. Climate-resilient development becomes progressively more challenging with every increment of warming. This is why the choices made in the next few years will play a critical role in deciding our future and that of generations to come.

Deciding now to eliminate global heating pollution will reduce future climate disruption and allow future generations a liveable future.

To be effective, these choices need to be rooted in our diverse values, worldviews, and knowledge, including scientific knowledge, Indigenous Knowledge, and local knowledge. This approach will facilitate climate-resilient development and allow locally appropriate, socially acceptable solutions.

Finance, technology, and international cooperation are critical enablers for accelerated climate action. If climate goals are to be achieved, both adaptation and mitigation financing would need to increase many times over, and support positive innovations in the lives of far more people across the world.

Happily, the synthesis report is quite clear that there is sufficient global capital to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas pollution if existing barriers are reduced. Increasing finance to climate investments is important to achieve global climate goals. Governments, through public funding and clear signals to investors, are key in reducing these barriers. Investors, central banks, and financial regulators must also play their part.

Much of the trillions of dollars of financing for fossil fuels come from the private sector. Redirecting private sector finance away from fossil fuels is key. Policies such as an incrementally rising price on carbon pollution pricing with equal dividends to households, carbon border adjustment mechanisms, reforms at the World Bank, and climate risk disclosure rules for financial institutions would provide clear signals to redirect financial flows away from fossil fuels while not burdening the taxpayer.

Transformational progress is needed, and it is starting to happen. This includes the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S., described as ‘the most significant legislation in history to tackle the climate crisis’, and the European Union’s latest Green Deal Industrial Plan, a strategy to make the block the home of clean technology and green jobs.

At the same time, food security is reaching unprecedented levels, even as debt distress and other disruptions due to COVID, conflict, and climate, continue to threaten health and wellbeing across the world. There is no time to lose. Our children are watching, and we teach them by doing what needs to be done.

The AR6 is being treated as humanity’s “final warning”, because every delay adds future disruption, risk, harm, and cost. These costs pile up—compounding and worsening conditions for nature and for humankind.

IPCC  resources

 

Powering up Britain – still on the wrong path…

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The Government’s revised energy stategy has had extensive coverage since its release yesterday. One piece of good news is that the need for Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is now back on the agenda. Sadly though, the Government has not taken this opportunity to reconsider the decision to continue to maximise  the exploitation of the North Sea gas and oil reserves, claiming that we will need it for decades to come, even though 78% of UK oil is not suitable for domestic purposes and will have to be exported.

As well as ignoring the warnings of the IEA and IPCC (the Government has recently approved the synthesis report) the strategy has been released in a week when The Times reported that “a dramatic shift in the flow of deep sea waters around Antarctica threatens to starve large parts of the world’s oceans of nutrients and oxygen within decades” and there was an oil spill in Poole Harbour. Baroness Brown, interviewed on The World Tonight stated that we can achieve energy security through improving the grid infrastructure and developing renewables and should not be developing more oil and gas fields. 

The most eloquent plea that the Government use the energy strategy as an opportunity to reset its policy on fossil fuel exploitation was a letter signed by over 700 UK scientists and delivered to the Government on the 28th March. Here is an excerpt……

The UK has previously shown that it understands the magnitude of the risks the world faces from the climate crisis and has repeatedly shown global leadership. In 2008, it became the first major economy to introduce a legal target for significantly cutting greenhouse gas emissions through the Climate Change Act. In 2019, you and other Parliamentarians voted to amend the Act and the UK became the first major economy to set a legal target for achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

However, if the UK allows any new development of oil and gas fields, it will severely undermine those claims of leadership by contributing to further oversupply of fossil fuels, and making it more difficult for the world to limit warming to 1.5°C. Therefore, the UK should commit to preventing any new oil and gas field development, and the Government should state this commitment clearly in the forthcoming revised Net Zero Strategy.

There are those who might claim that stopping new developments of oil and gas fields would raise concerns about the affordability and security of future energy supplies, but there is now overwhelming evidence that the UK is far better served by a rapid transition to domestic clean energy sources, particularly renewables, and decarbonisation of our economy. Doubling down on fossil fuels will not lower energy bills or enhance our energy security.

The IPCC emphasised that feasible, effective, and low-cost alternatives to fossil fuels are already available. If the UK had moved more quickly in this direction in the past, it would not have been so exposed to the energy and cost of living crises caused by interruptions in supplies of fossil fuels following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Furthermore, numerous analyses, including an independent review led by Chris Skidmore which was published by your Government earlier this year, shows that investments in a net zero economy will generate jobs and growth across the UK. The evidence is overwhelming that our net zero ambitions are good for lives and livelihoods across the UK.

The IPCC report stated: “The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years”. Hence, the choices made by you, as the UK’s Prime Minister, about tackling the climate crisis will have far-reaching consequences, not just for your children and their children, but for the whole of humanity.

This is now a moment for political leadership. Please act to make the UK and the rest of the world safer and more prosperous for current and future generations.

Sadly the plea was not headed.

Momentum is growing for World Bank reform to make it fit for the 21st century. Please consider supporting the act.350org petition.

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There is a growing momentum behind calls for the World Bank to reform to make it ‘fit for purpose in the 21st century’. This excerpt from an editorial in the New York Times entitled “Humanity is facing a great injustice. The World Bank must respond” says it all….

It’s one of the great injustices of this era that countries contributing negligible amounts to global carbon emissions are now feeling the most harrowing impacts of climate change. Pakistan, which makes up less than 1 percent of the world’s carbon footprint, had a third of its territory under water in last year’s floods. Parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia are experiencing the worst drought in 70 years of record-keeping, threatening millions with famine, even though the entire continent of Africa contributes less than 4 percent of global carbon emissions. Small island developing countries such as Papua New Guinea account for less than 1 percent of global carbon emissions, yet they stand to lose the most when sea levels rise.

The World Bank and the donor countries that control it can do more to step up and tackle this generational challenge. To make the World Bank and other multilateral lending institutions fit for purpose in the 21st century, leaders need to figure out how to raise and leverage the massive amounts of capital that are going to be necessary in the coming years to help countries adapt to and mitigate a changing climate.

CCL UK is joining win the CCI Bretton Woods Action to have a dialogue with the World Bank but individuals can also support the momentum for reform by signing the petition at act.350.org