A very productive start to COP28: The global climate event of the year showed promising and decisive steps over the weekend toward climate policy and action, chief among them a swell of support behind the commitment to triple the global renewable energy capacity.

116 states committed to the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge, vowing to triple global renewable energy generation to 11 TW by 2030, according to a COP28 statement. The pledge — which Reuters released a draft of last month — also includes a commitment by signatories to slash global reliance on fossil fuels, cut financing for coal power plants, reduce methane emissions, and a target to improve energy efficiency by 4% by the end of the decade.

And over 20 countries aim to triple nuclear energy production: Led by the US, over 20 countries inked a declaration to triple the world’s nuclear energy production by 2050, according to a statement by the US Energy Department. The declaration — endorsed by countries including France, Britain, Japan, and South Korea — calls for major investments to ramp up the world’s nuclear power capacity which currently stands at 370 GW.

DECARBONIZATION-

The EU is allocating EUR 175 mn for methane reduction: The EU vowed to allocate EUR 175 mn to support effective action on methane emission reduction, according to a European Commission statement released on Friday. Some of the funds will be used to finance the International Methane Emissions Observatory’s activities including the collection of the data, or research into even better mechanisms to collect emission-related data. The funds will be written off to the US Methane Finance Sprint initiative, which said it aims to mobilize at least USD 200 mn during COP28. This comes two weeks after the bloc approved a provisional law to set methane emission curbs for future oil and gas imports into the bloc.

Philanthropies are backing the efforts with USD mns: Nearly a dozen giant philanthropies — including the Bezos Earth Fund and Bloomberg Philanthropies — said they will invest USD 450 mn over the next three years to help countries launch national actions to tackle methane, Reuters reported on Saturday. Since last year’s climate summit, the US, the EU, and philanthropy groups have raised over USD 1 bn in donations to help cut methane emissions, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry said, according to Bloomberg.

And the US is also using a methane mandate: The US issued standards and guidelines limiting methane emissions and other harmful air pollution from “new, modified and reconstructed” oil and natural gas operations for the first time, according to a statement released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Saturday. The mandate requires fossil fuel producers to monitor and eliminate methane leakage into the atmosphere, as well as natural gas flaring from new oil wells. The rule — which has been two years in the making — targets cutting methane emissions in the oil and gas sector by 80% over the next 15 years, preventing some 58 mn tons of the “super pollutant” from being released into the atmosphere, according to an EPA document (pdf).

ALSO- 50 oil companies sign decarbonization charter: Exxon Mobil and 49 other oil and gas companies signed the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC) in efforts to accelerate the sector’s journey to net-zero by 2050, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. The pact, rolled out by Saudi Arabia and the COP28 Presidency, sets a net zero by 2030 emissions target, in parallel to an emphasis on ramping up investments in renewables and other low-carbon technologies. While the targets stipulated in the charter are non-binding, the signatories — which make up over 40% of the oil sector worldwide — will be required to submit their decarbonization plans by 2050, Bloomberg writes.

Some notable signatories: Out of the 50 oil and gas companies that inked the charter, 29 are state-owned producers, including the UAE’s Adnoc and Saudi Arabia’s Aramco — the largest national oil exporter in the world.

HEALTH-

COP28’s maiden declaration on climate and health is a success: 124 countries signed the UAE Climate and Health Declaration launched by the World Health Organization, the Emirati Health Ministry, and the COP28 presidency, according to a statement. The declaration marks the first official recognition of the impacts of climate change on public health and aims to spur global policy intervention to address the health impacts of climate change and place protecting public and community health at the core of climate action.

Big funds pledged: A group of stakeholders — including signatory governments, financing institutions, and NGOs — have agreed to allocate USD 1 bn to tackle the ongoing climate-health crisis. The Global Fund has committed USD 300 mn to upgrade health systems and the Rockefeller Foundation has said it will invest USD 100 mn in climate-health solutions.

MANUFACTURING-

Kenya launches green industrialization initiative: Kenyan President William Ruto has joined forces with the UAE COP28 presidency to launch the Africa Green Industrialization Initiative (AGII) at COP28, according to a statement. The program targets upscaling green industries and businesses across African nations towards advancing the transition to a green economy and bolstering mitigation and adaptation procedures across the continent.

OTHER STORIES TO KEEP AN EYE ON-

EU heads lobby to tax jet fuel: The European Union will be pushing for an agreement to impose an international tax on aviation fuel (to be charged per flight) at COP28. The funds collected by the bloc from taxing the aviation sector would be used to fund climate actions. Other countries backing the lobby include China, Zambia, Brazil and the GCC. (The Financial Times)

US and others commit to coal phasedown…: The United States, along with the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic and four other countries, have joined 50 other nations in the Powering Past Coal Alliance. By joining the coalition, the states have committed themselves to accelerating the global coal phasedown efforts towards transitioning to clean energy. (Associated Press)

Shipping heavyweights call for tighter carbon regulations: The CEOs of global shipping lines MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, and Wallenius Wilhelmsen called for a tighter greenhouse gas emissions regulatory framework. The shipping giants also called for a deadline for ceasing production of fossil fuel-only vessels. (Statement)

WTO rolls out trade policy guidelines: The World Trade Organization (WTO) launched a 10-point Trade Policy Tools for Climate Action publication on the sidelines of COP28. The policy toolkit provides governments with a set of trade procedures aimed at supporting and accelerating climate efforts. (Statement)

Macron, Bloomberg unveil pilot climate data platform: French President Emmanuel Macron and philanthropist Mike Bloomberg have launched the pilot Net-Zero Data Public Utility to provide businesses with essential climate data. The utility is set to be the first centralized open database for climate data across industries including in-depth information on the carbon footprint and decarbonization targets for up to 400 companies. (Bloomberg Philanthropies)

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