During the first week of COP28, key announcements from the UAE Pavilion include:
● Pledges of $200m-plus towards food systems transformation, agriculture innovation and climate action.
● An increase in electric vehicle charging stations from 360 to 914 by the end of 2023 and an increase in EVs to 50% of total vehicles on UAE roads by 2050.
● The launch of the UAE Food Innovation Hub, the sixth hub of its kind in the world and a collaboration between the UAE Ministry of Climate Change And Environment (MOCCAE), the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), and the World Economy Forum (WEF) to transform food systems and increase sustainable resources.
● The launch of World Industrial Day and a Climate Action Initiative at the Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit (GMIS).
● Transport, industry and construction sectors to reduce energy demand by 40% and water use by 50% by 2050, with new buildings adhering to the Green Building Code predicted to contribute energy savings of up to 80% by 2030.
● Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) transportation to be electric or hybrid by 2040 before moving to a zero-emission fleet by 2050, reducing environmental impact by the equivalent of 2.1 million vehicles per year and operational costs by AED3.3 billion by 2050.
The RTA shared details of its Net Zero Emissions Public Transportation 2050 strategy, which includes three pillars of sustainable transportation, infrastructure and waste management.
Energy
The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE) has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) at COP28 UAE with internationally-recognised partners, it has shared.
The agreements aim to harness solar power in space and develop clean energy transition policies and technologies.
The agreements have been signed with the Arizona State Board of Governors, on behalf of the University of Arizona and, SolarSpace in the US, and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
The two MoUs were signed at the UAE House of Sustainability Pavilion in the COP28 UAE Green Zone.
His Excellency Eng. Awaidha Murshed Al Marar, Chairman of the DoE, said: “These agreements will be instrumental in our efforts to develop world-class, innovative policies and projects that will accelerate the regional and global energy transition, while ensuring the best possible socioeconomic outcomes so nobody is left behind. We look forward to working more closely with our international friends and peers to unlock the UAE’s full potential to power a sustainable energy future for the benefit of all.
“This is a momentous occasion, and doubly appropriate that this MoU is being signed at COP28. Together, we are quite literally taking our ambitions for solar energy productions to new heights. Harnessing solar power in space will put us on a path that will outpace growing global energy demand, without sacrificing our shared environment.
“While the Middle East enjoys excellent conditions for reliable solar power production with its ground-based facilities, successfully launching solar collectors into space is a new vista of potential clean energy gains. Without cloud cover blocking their panels, space-technology solar power farms could finally unlock the dream of a continuous, uninterrupted clean energy supply.”
The MoU with the University of Arizona and SolarSpace aims to advance clean energy innovation and technologies by channelling solar power in space, it said.
The partnership will focus on investigating the feasibility of space-based solar power (SBSP) technology and its potential applications in the UAE and the Middle East as an alternative path to reduce global carbon emissions.
Robert C. Robbins, President of the University of Arizona, said: “With our record of leadership in solar energy technology and space sciences, and our strong ties in the Gulf states region, this is an ideal way for the university to contribute to this area of global need. I am excited for our work together.”
David Vili, Founder and CEO of SolarSpace, said: “I am excited to use our technology for many possible applications, from desalination, to cooling data centres, to capturing solar energy in outer space. Looking to the future, we’re working on a plan to place solar power generation facilities in orbit around the Earth, where the sun always shines, and transmit the collected energy back to earth, helping address the challenge of intermittency posed by other renewable energy forms.”
The DoE has also agreed on a framework with IRENA to cooperate in key areas of renewable energy policies, long-term energy scenarios and modelling, projects and technologies that will drive the energy transition and the long-term sustainability of Abu Dhabi.
His Excellency Eng. Ahmed Mohammed Al Rumaithi, Undersecretary of the DoE, said: “Through the MoU, we seek to enhance public dialogue and implement energy transition strategies that will drive socioeconomic and environmental progress, while reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s role as a leader in renewable energy.
“Achieving the world’s clean energy transition means pooling the resources and expertise of stakeholders in policymaking, academia, private enterprise and every other part of the energy ecosystem. Through these MoUs with world-leading partners, DoE will continue to support bolder climate action and faster decarbonisation of the energy industry through collaborative consensus building and the leveraging of emerging technologies and global best practices.”
Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA said: “I am delighted to continue our close cooperation and partnership with the DoE in support of the UAE Vision 2050, Abu Dhabi’s 2040 Vision and energy transitions domestically, regionally, and across the world.”
As part of the MoU, the DoE and IRENA will collaborate on the growing importance of the energy-water nexus, with plans to drive greater system integration and efficiency that will provide the UAE with water security as well as cleaner energy.
Thirty-one partners have announced a joint commitment to advance electrification, renewables-ready grids, and clean energy deployment in line with 2030 Breakthrough goals and a net zero future by 2050.
These industry giants, regional utilities, developers, and power system technology leaders, include 25 global utilities and power companies that together serve more than 250 million customers.
The companies formed the Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) as a vehicle for implementation and requested the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to lead the secretariat, it was shared.
UNEZA’s plan will reportedly involve:
• Capital mobilisation,
• Supply chain de-risking,
• Capabilities and talent building, and
• Facilitating policy and regulatory support.
Its primary focus is on promoting the accelerated adoption of renewables and building the necessary infrastructure, while also offering a platform for joint efforts to address supply chain bottlenecks, support the flow of capital to the power sector transformation in the global south, and engage with policymakers and regulators.
Led by the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), founding entities also include Bui Power Authority, DEWA, DLO Energy, EDF, EDP, E.ON, Enel, Engie, Etihad Water and Electricity, Hitachi Energy, Iberdrola, Jinko Power, KEGOC, KenGen, Masdar, National Grid, Octopus Energy, RWE, Schneider Electric, Siemens, SSE, Tenaga, Uniper and Xlinks.
The Alliance will be facilitated by strategic partners IRENA and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions.
The World Economic Forum (WEF), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Global Renewables Alliance and Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional, will support as ecosystem partners.
H.E. Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, said: “Utilities play a crucial role in delivering mitigation measures that align global development with a net zero future and are central to a future energy system that is in harmony with nature and the environment. At the same time, utilities can help deliver a more just and inclusive energy future for all, improving access to energy, reducing inequalities, and strengthening climate resilience and adaptive capacity. The High-Level Champions are proud to partner with IRENA. TAQA and the founding members of Utilities for Net Zero Alliance to deliver ambitious decarbonization efforts and increase the resilience of the energy system. We look forward to working on the design and delivery of the action plan during COP28 and beyond and invite utilities worldwide to join this community and demonstrate a commitment to action.”
IRENA Director-General, Francesco La Camera said: “IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook makes it clear that tripling renewable power capacity by 2030 is the most realistic way to keep 1.5°C alive. To accelerate the deployment of renewables, we need concerted action to overcome existing infrastructure barriers through the modernization and upgrade of power grids, as well as transmission and distribution lines that enable the fast electrification of the system. The utilities sector is at the frontline of this modernization. Utilities will have to significantly invest and leverage collaboration to ensure the interconnectivity, flexibility, and balancing of the distribution system in pursuit of Paris Agreement climate goals. Without a doubt, there is a pressing need to reshape the global financial landscape for infrastructure investment overall. A significant increase in funding from multilateral development banks and the leverage of private finance will be imperative to build the infrastructure of the new energy system that runs on renewables.”
Amid record heatwaves, intensifying and costly extreme weather events, and increasingly dire warnings that climate change is literally killing us, calls to abandon fossil fuels grow louder. But the fossil-fuel industry is doubling down with investments in new oil and gas projects and major corporate mergers, walking back climate pledges, and making false promises that they can keep pumping without polluting. We need to ditch fossil fuels. But how?
The answer is unlikely to emerge from this year’s petrostate-hosted United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, which could deliver a political commitment to phase out fossil fuels but won’t chart the pathway to a fossil-free future. To address what UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called “the poisoned root of the climate crisis,” we must look beyond the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to forge new forums fit for this purpose.
The good news is that the Guterres, the pope, numerous national governments, and bodies like the International Energy Agency have joined the growing global call for a phaseout of coal, oil, and gas. At the UN Climate Ambition Summit in September, governments acknowledged that the climate crisis is a fossil-fuel crisis. The question is not whether to move beyond oil and gas, but how.
The bad news is that the fossil-fuel industry, buoyed by record-breaking profits in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, seems impervious to such pressure. Worse, these colossal profits are being reinvested in more oil and gas development. As climate disasters intensify before our eyes, the industry responsible for nearly 90% of carbon dioxide emissions is betting that its dirty products will be a mainstay of the global economy for decades to come.
To force a change, we must expose the economic fragility that fossil-fuel dependence creates and its broader toll on human rights. Reliance on oil, gas, and coal makes communities more vulnerable to supply disruptions, affecting everything from heating and transportation to food prices. Such disruptions fall hardest on the most impoverished populations while boosting the industry’s profits.
It is worth recalling that fossil-fuel companies underperformed the market for the ten years preceding the war in Ukraine. That decade of decline reflected long-term energy-transition trends that the recent uptick in earnings has not changed. With fossil-fuel demand projected to peak globally by 2030, oil and gas remain a bad bet.
Part of the problem is that governments have responded to price volatility by increasing fossil-fuel subsidies, rather than imposing windfall taxes. They also have continued to approve new oil and gas projects, including offshore in protected ocean areas. Planned production is double what’s compatible with the target of limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels; there is simply no room for new oil and gas supply if the world is to avoid climate catastrophe.
Fossil fuels appear competitive with ever-cheaper renewables only because their production has been subsidized and their producers insulated from the costs associated with the damage they cause. The industry’s negative externalities, long borne by frontline communities, are now being imposed on people around the world in the form of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and droughts. If we compelled fossil-fuel companies to shoulder the losses they long saw coming, and redirected public funds to renewable solutions, oil and gas assets would be exposed as the liabilities they are.
This points to another big problem: corporate capture. Although climate litigation is key to holding the industry accountable, the challenge is not just to make polluters pay for the harms they cause. We also must diminish their outsize influence on climate policy. Despite the best efforts of movements like Kick Big Polluters Out, the fossil-fuel industry not only has a seat at this year’s climate talks; it is at the head of the table.
There sits Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company, which is currently pursuing its own expansion plans. Al Jaber, COP28 president, is intent on portraying the fossil-fuel industry as the hero, not the villain, in the fight against climate change. Yet this is a well-known survival strategy for an industry in long-term decline. So, too, is the UAE’s advocacy of an “all of the above” approach that promotes renewables as a complement to fossil fuels, rather than a replacement for them, and that champions carbon capture and offsets, despite abundant evidence that neither leads to significant emissions reductions.
Contrary to what Al Jaber suggested earlier this year, the problem is not just with fossil-fuel emissions; it is with fossil fuels themselves. Focusing only on carbon ignores all the other negative effects of fossil fuels, including their impact on health, such as the eight million premature deaths from air pollution annually.
Though fossil fuels are overwhelmingly to blame for climate change, our UNFCCC-led climate regime has failed to address them, even before the industry was handed the gavel. For decades, the international body that should be leading the fossil-fuel phaseout has conspicuously avoided the issue. Neither the 1992 UN Climate Convention nor the 2015 Paris climate agreement mentions oil, gas, or coal.
This omission was not some casual oversight. It is a symptom of a deeper crisis in global climate governance. Because UNFCCC decisions require a consensus among 198 members, powerful countries can block progress and assure lowest-common-denominator outcomes, or none at all.
COP28 further underscores the need for alternative processes to manage the decline of fossil fuels, free from the influence of those who profit from them. Every day provides new reminders of why we need to phase out oil, gas, and coal. Fortunately, initiatives like the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, and the Global Parliamentarians’ Inquiry offer new ideas about how to do it. Governments must commit to a forum dedicated to fossil-fuel phaseout so the real work of ending the fossil-fuel era can begin.
Nikki Reisch is Director of the Climate and Energy Program at the Center for International Environmental Law.
© Project Syndicate 1995–2023
As world reaches ‘tipping point,’ COP28 Day 7 focused on built environment, carbon capture & phase-out
Yesterday, on the thematic agenda at COP28, was multi-level action, urbanisation, built environment and transport. On the ground, a number of big announcements were made, including a pledge from the world’s ten largest concrete and cement companies to decarbonise, as well as the ‘Joint Outcome Statement on Urbanization and Climate Change.’
The latter outlines a ten-point plan for integrating climate action across different levels of government, with the aim of accelerating local climate finance and ensuring adequate adaptation finance reaches cities.
It was supported by over forty Ministers of Environment, Urban Development and Housing.
However, while some movement toward progress was made, the day also witnessed more stalling and a clear warning with the release of new climate data.
The Global Tipping Points Report, for example, was launched yesterday at COP28, with contributions from more than 200 scientists.
The report outlined that even at 1.2°C of global warming, five major tipping systems are already at risk of crossing tipping points: the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, warm-water coral reefs, North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre circulation, and permafrost regions.
This should be a serious wake-up call for decision-makers, and indeed, yesterday, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said that all governments must give their negotiators “clear marching orders.”
“We need highest ambition, not point scoring or lowest common denominator politics,” he said, adding that while the starting text is on the table, it’s a “grab bag of wishlists” and “heavy on posturing.”
“The key now is to sort the wheat from the chaff,” he added.
On the fossil fuel phase-out, he said there are currently “many options” on the table which speak to the phasing out of fossil fuels. “It is for parties to unpick that, but come up with a very clear statement that signals the terminal decline of the fossil fuel era as we know it.”
Earlier that day, John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, said to hit the target of net zero by 2050, “you have to do some phasing out.”
“You’ve got to have largely a phase-out of fossil fuels in our energy system,” he said, while also putting forward the case for carbon capture technologies in hard-to-abate sectors.
Carbon capture technologies, which Kerry endorsed, are currently expensive, huge energy consumers, and unproven at scale.
But Kerry is not the only one advocating for its role in the energy mix. A number of parties are heavily promoting carbon capture; it’s been shared that Saudi Arabia, specifically, is pushing for a deal that focuses on the technology.
Also in the headlines, much to many attendees’ dismay, was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to the Middle East, touching down in the UAE yesterday with further plans for a visit to Saudi Arabia.
At the close of the day, the Fossil of the Day award, presented by the Climate Action Network (CAN), was given to the province of Alberta, Canada. The award is given to countries that are “doing the most to achieve the least” or “doing their best to be the worst” on climate talks.
At the award ceremony in the Blue Zone, CAN highlighted that Alberta battled raging wildfires this summer and said: “The truth is catching up. It’s time to end support for the oil and gas industry and stop blocking federal regulations that could finally allow Canada to meet its climate target, including a much-needed cap on the massive emissions from the fossil fuel sector.
In second place was Norway, for its deep sea mining branded as a ‘green shift.’
“This country has been using the pretext of renewable energy to start a project of deep sea mining for the first time, which is setting a dangerous precedent for the extraction of minerals from underneath international waters,” they said.
“Scraping the sea and destroying ecosystems vital to our planet is anything but green, no matter what you are using the minerals for. This rationale has been debunked by leading scientists, and is both misleading and blatant greenwashing.”
Meanwhile, in third place was South Korea for the Korean- and Japanese-financed Barossa gas project. Located off the coast of the Tiwi Islands, the project, it said, intends to set off multi-billion dollar carbon bombs.
“Korea is also playing a key role in tripling the global LNG carrier capacity by providing a $44 billion subsidy to shipowners and shipbuilders. It’s time to end this toxic relationship,” they said.
While COP28 pauses for a break tomorrow, ESG Mena will continue to deliver insights, analysis and updates on the climate summit.
Wth the addition of four new partners, financial pledges towards the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) ETAF platform reached USD 4.05 billion, it has been announced. This surpasses its original target for COP28 by more than fourfold.
The platform, established in 2021 with support from the United Arab Emirates, aims to scale up renewable energy projects that contribute to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in developing countries, while also bringing benefits to communities through enhanced energy access and security, and promoting economic growth and diversification.
Collaboration agreements with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), HSBC, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) were signed with IRENA at COP28.
Under the agreements, EBRD pledged up to USD 1 billion to the platform; the IFC up to USD 1 billion; HSBC up to USD 200 million; and MIGA will provide guarantees and risk mitigation products for selected ETAF projects.
IRENA’s Director-General, Francesco La Camera, stated: “The remarkable growth of the ETAF Platform not only demonstrates its effectiveness as a project facilitator but also shows that when the right conditions are in place, securing financing for renewable energy projects no longer becomes a barrier. We are eager to leverage the unique expertise and capabilities of each ETAF partner, along with the platform’s robust project pipeline, to deliver concrete progress on energy access for those that need it most.”
EBRD Managing Director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Group, Nandita Parshad, stated: “The EBRD is proud to partner with IRENA – ETAF with up to USD 1 billion to scale up renewables, strengthen grids and drive innovative energy solutions forward. As the EBRD regions embark on the energy transition journey, we need all hands on deck to support our countries with concrete climate action. IRENA – ETAF will facilitate just that – through directing capital flows to clean affordable energy projects.”
IFC’s Vice President of Industries, Mohamed Gouled, said: “We are excited to collaborate with IRENA and other development partners as we bring IFC’s expertise in project financing, blended finance, and energy transition to the ETAF Platform. As a leading financier of low-cost renewable energy with a strong track record in supporting the energy transition globally, we are confident that today’s $1 billion pledge will play a critical role in improving access to sustainable and affordable energy across emerging markets.”
HSBC Regional Chief Executive Officer for the Middle East, North Africa & Türkiye, Stephen Moss, said: “Public-private partnerships are critical to securing the flows of capital required to scale up renewables around the world. ETAF plays an important part in helping to ensure that climate finance is deployed effectively to reduce emissions and provide clean, reliable energy for local communities. HSBC aims to use its global reach to support progress towards a net zero future through participation in meaningful alliances.”
MIGA Executive Vice President, Hiroshi Matano, said: “We welcome the opportunity to promote foreign direct investment to support projects that advance the global transition to renewable energy and contribute toward a low-carbon and climate-resilient development that benefits IRENA member countries. MIGA brings decades of experience providing risk mitigation solutions to secure financing for projects in challenging environments. Our track record working in emerging markets and developing economies, fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable regions will enable us to make a substantive contribution to this partnership.”
During the event, the OPEC Fund, which had pledged USD 250 million to ETAF earlier this year, signed a supplementary agreement committing an additional USD 400k in grants aimed at providing technical assistance to eligible projects applying on the platform.
The announcements come days after the signing of several key agreements, including the Emirates Development Bank committing USD 350 million to ETAF, the Islamic Development Bank allocating USD 250 million, and the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit offering de-risking products for renewable energy projects in developing countries.
Other key partners of ETAF include the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Masdar, Swiss RE, the OPEC Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank.
With the latest partnerships established at COP28 and in the build-up towards it, the ETAF Platform has now reached a total of 13 partners, demonstrating its rapidly expanding role as an inclusive and effective financing tool for the energy transition.
Danfoss joins 60-plus governments in supporting COP28 Global Cooling Pledge
Against the backdrop of rising cooling demand, and the first-ever Global Cooling Watch Report, launched yesterday at this year’s COP28, Danfoss has endorsed a global pledge in support of sustainable cooling.
Launched at COP28 in Dubai and led by the COP28 UAE Presidency, the Global Cooling Pledge sets out a series of commitments by governments to accelerate emission reductions from energy use and refrigerants towards near-zero emission cooling in 2050. Over 60 governments and other corporations have agreed to the pledge.
Jürgen Fischer, President, Danfoss Climate Solutions, said: “Cooling is one of the biggest societal opportunities of our time. It’s needed everywhere to cool our food, our buildings, and our vaccines. It brings health, growth, and food security for the world’s population. The commitments made by governments through the Global Cooling Pledge are a brave step, but now we must see them take action, implement the technologies readily available today and spread sustainable, energy efficient and climate friendly cooling technologies around the globe. Action is needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C.”
District cooling was highlighted by Danfoss as one of the most promising and efficient ways to cool and decarbonise buildings.
It typically saves up to 50% of energy compared to conventional cooling systems.
In most cases, chilled water is supplied from a central, electrically powered chiller and circulated to buildings through pipelines. Thermal storage opportunities in district cooling networks enable shifting cold-water production away from peak hours and adapting to variable renewable energies.
Centralised plants, it said, help professionalise refrigerant management and support the move towards more climate-friendly refrigerants.
From an urban planning perspective, heat islands, noise and space requirements can be avoided.
Similar trends are expected for cold chain and refrigeration applications as electricity use is set to grow significantly with the much-needed expansion of the cold chain to provide food, medicine and vaccines for a growing population.
It also highlighted that near-zero emission cooling is possible.
“Emissions in 2050 could be cut by 97% with readily available technology: one-third could already be achieved by compliance with the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the most important driver to reduce refrigerant emissions and state-of-the-art energy efficiency. The remainder could be reached by stepping up actions on energy efficiency and refrigerants, reducing the need for cooling and fully decarbonising the grid,” it said.
End users could save $1 trillion per year by 2050 due to reduced electricity use.
Further, it shared that reduced peak loads on electricity networks would translate to a reduction in peak electricity demand between 1.5 TW and 2 TW, resulting in $4 trillion to $5 trillion savings by 2051.
“Combining high energy efficiency in cooling with the transition to more environmentally friendly refrigerants is a very powerful way to reduce emissions and cost. District cooling and the phase-out of refrigerants with a high impact on global warming are just two examples of many that can make a major difference. Technologies and solutions to reduce cooling-related emissions are already in use around the world, and I urge the leaders behind the Global Cooling Pledge to see them into action. Seeing is believing,” said Fischer.
Andrea Voigt, Head of Global Public Affairs, Danfoss Climate Solutions, concludes: “There’s ample evidence that policies aimed at phasing down high global warming potential refrigerants combined with measures to increase energy efficiency will lead to tangible results. Training is another crucial, yet often neglected success factor. At Danfoss we look forward to collaborating with our customers and governments to create sustainable ecosystems ranging from hardware and software solutions to training and adequate policies that will make the energy and refrigerant transition a success for all.”