News from Dubai. 2ª part of yesterday’s diary.
Before we start.
Today is recess at COP28.
Because of this one-day recess and given that yesterday was really intense, we split the contents in two: part 1 yesterday and 2 today.
Part 1 (yesterday)
“The role of the private sector, innovation and technology in the first Global Stocktake”
“Report of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts - Informal Consultation - SBI 13 (a) / SBSTA 4 (a)”
“Global Stocktake - Contact Group - SBI 8 / SBSTA 5”
“European Union Press Conference”
Part 2 (today)
“USA: Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry COP 28 Press Conference”
“WIPO, UNCCD: Innovative technologies in mitigation and land restoration: Finding solutions for accelerated uptake” (WIPO = World Intellectual Property Organisation)
“Greenpeace: Taking Oil to court: Greenpeace vs State of Norway”
“University of Oxford, SFU, WBCSD, VUW, WUM: What does ‘Net Zero emission’ need to mean to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement”
Let’s conclude the Part 2 now.
The (half) day.
“USA: Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry COP 28 Press Conference”. It would have been the third time listening to John Kerry at COP28 (here was the first) And in spite of the fact that the day started with that good conversation with the “guy in suit and dark green sneakers“ (see Part 1), this event was exclusive for the “American media”. Pity. I think they meant “North American” (because we are also Americans … from the South. I think). Leaving we chatted with another couple leaving the room as well. They were North Americans, but “badge Observers”, not media. Interesting job they do, “mobilize low-income communities of color to make environmental change”. Give a look. https://www.weact.org/whatwedo/
Last but not least, here are John Kerry’s highlights - Methane, Energy Transition, Climate Finance, Private Sector - at the press conference. By one official channel … All India Radio (Yes, through India, not America).
Coming next, one event from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO): “WIPO, UNCCD: Innovative technologies in mitigation and land restoration: Finding solutions for accelerated uptake”. Several panelists on stage. And pitches.
Highlight to this solution Restor:
“A platform to showcase your efforts, and to support the communities protecting and restoring nature. Whether you are gardener, farmer, run a restoration project or manage global investments - with Restor you can contribute to the regenerative use of the land we depend on.”
Besides the usual languages, such as English and Spanish, Its is also available in Portuguese and Indonesian, a.o. Give a look. https://restor.eco
And from WIPO GREEN database, the following pitches:
Clinker substitute: limestone calcined clay cement https://lc3.ch
Electric vehicles: battery-as-a-service for electric motorbikes https://www.ampersand.solar
Improved cultivation: seed film cultivation (SFC) https://seedfilm.co.kr/en/
Soil Carbon: soil carbon platform for farmers https://agreena.com (“… the company verify and issue carbon credits …”)
Click here for WIPO’s Green Technology Book, from where you have a link to the GREEN database. The latest tech entry indicated is about “Hydrogen Refueling Station Using Renewable Energy”. https://www.wipo.int/web/green-technology-book/
“From failures we learn a lot”
Leaving that WIPO panel, it caught our attention the number of young people moving into Press Conference room 2.
“Greenpeace: Taking Oil to court: Greenpeace vs State of Norway”. With Kaisa Kosonen (Greenpeace), Eline Zeilmaker (Milieudefensie https://milieudefensie.nl), Nikki Reisch (CIEL https://www.ciel.org) and Klementina Radkva (Greenpeace lawyer).
Case about countries that “export emissions” - through oil & gas - and then “earn credits” by distributing part of this “dirty money” for social and environmental activities. Other quotes:
(Klementina) “If we win, emissions from Norway would need to be revised”. (NDC)
(Nikki) “The only clean oil is the oil that we leave on the ground”.
(Eline) On their case against Shell. “Next step: financial institutions”. “If the law does not protect us, there is no justice”
Last event of the day, running until 8 p.m.
“University of Oxford, SFU, WBCSD, VUW, WUM: What does ‘Net Zero emission’ need to mean to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement”
Basically two panels:
Governments: High-Level Perspectives on ‘Net Zero Emissions’
Academia: ’Net Zero Emissions’: The Science and Solutions
Some quotes:
Princess Mashael Alshalan (AEON Collective, Saudi Arabia). Saudi changed a lot after 2016. The Circular Carbon Approach. Focus on geological storage. From the “Saudi Arabia of Oil” to the “Saudi Arabia of Energy”.
Marcelina Mataveia (Ministry of Mineral Resources & Energy Mozambique). Country still needs full electrification, green industrialisation, green transportation. And critical minerals.
Chris Skidmore (UK Parliament). On the spotlight: oil & gas production (“What is the future of fossil fuels”) and heat pumps (we still do not understand how this works, since we heart for the first time about 1 year ago). CCS, large potential for offshore North Sea underground storage.
1st moderator Sian Bradley (Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance). “Not only phase out oil&gas but algo clean up.”
Catherine Abreu (Destination Zero https://www.destinationzero.earth/about2). “Currently 79% of CCS are used for EOR” (Enhanced oil recovery).
2nd moderator Myles Allen (University of Oxford). “I know the meaning of ‘fully abated’. But I do not know what is ‘unabated’”.
Before we close the day.
Like yesterday, we also caught some brochures along our way, to read on our way back home:
Philippine National REDD+ Action Plan 2022-2031
Philippine Forests at a Glance (2022 Edition)
Mangrove Blue Carbon
Mangrove restoration: to plant or not to plant?
Association Mangrove Aquaculture - Fact Sheet
Global Mangrove Alliance - Fact Sheet
Last but not least, a poster (photo below) with a QRCode to this following website www.trueluxuryweek.com … “A New genre of Luxury … Heralding a ‘Better for the Planet’ movement … “TRUE : “in accordance with fact or reality” … TRUE-LUXURY is a genre of luxury goods, services and experience built on the foundation of solution oriented creativity, exceptional craftsmanship and low impact processes. This genre of luxury is characterised by it’s focus on honouring people and the planet by means of transparent, ethical and sustainable principles. “
People and paparazzi
Like yesterday, celebrities rarefied. But quite a lot of “normal” people. And young people. Trend? Anyway, an interesting dynamics this perspective. Just read previous diaries and you will get the sense.
Our key takeaways
Lots of impact phrases already for this pair (despair?) of words: science - fossil fuels. And hearing more and more a new pair: climate - finance.
While reporters keep asking about CBAM.
We already have the technologies. We can start implementation now. How much time have we go? Will we still be able to implement in the future?
And what Al Gore said three days ago - see our Diary post from last 3rd December - keep coming back to our mind:
“If you’re still thinking you can dump tons of pollution into the atmosphere and no one will know, you’ve run out of place to hide”.
Recall here what he meant www.climatetrace.org
