COP28 presidency leads call for urban climate action: The COP28 presidency — along with UN Habitat, the COP28 UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, and Bloomberg Philanthropies — has issued the Joint Outcome Statement on Urbanization and Climate Change urging for the integration of climate action across all levels of government, according to a statement. Backed by 40 countries, the statement outlines a 10-mechanism framework for addressing climate change and integrating climate action in urban areas. The statement supplements the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP), which was endorsed by over 60 governments.

Addressing the city-climate crisis nexus: With urban areas being responsible for 71-76% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of cities at risk of sinking, there is a dire need to adapt cities to be climate-resilient. To that end, over 250 municipal representatives raised USD 467 mn at COP28 for urban climate action, the COP28 presidency said.

The UAE has released a roadmap for reducing emissions from the cement, iron, steel, and aluminum sectors, Wam reports. The roadmap aims to cut 90 mn tons of carbon dioxide annually and 2.9 gigatons of carbon emissions by 2050 by adopting advanced technologies, and focusing on boosting the growth of the national industrial sector, Public Education and Advanced Technology Minister Sarah Al Amiri said.

What we know: The first phase of the roadmap aims to slash emissions by 5% by 2030, followed by a much more ambitious aim of cutting emissions by 63% by 2040. The final phase aims for a 93% reduction in emissions by 2050.

Advanced technologies? More than 50 technologies have been assessed to achieve these goals including clean electricity, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), alternative fuels, recycling, clinker substitutes, and hydrogen. CCUS alone could contribute to a 70% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

TotalEnergies commits to tripling renewables by 2030: Oil and gas giant TotalEnergies is backing the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge to triple renewables and improve energy efficiency by 4% by the end of the decade, Reuters reports. The company will channel more investments toward clean energy projects in developing countries in a bid to help phase out fossil fuels, CEO Patrick Pouyanne told Reuters, noting that renewables production — rather than carbon sequestration — is the path to global decarbonization. The pledge has been signed by 116 states in efforts to have global renewable energy generation reach 11 TW by 2030.

No time to waste: The company signed an Agreement on Investment (AoI) pact with the government of Kazakhstan to develop a 1 GW wind farm in the Central Asian country at a cost of USD 1.4 bn earlier this week, according to a statement. The company plans to expand its renewables portfolio from the current 22 GW capacity to 100 GW by the end of the decade.

Kerry wants to advance nuclear fusion globally: US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry has launched an international plan to accelerate global fusion energy development at COP28, saying that nuclear fusion has the potential to “revolutionize our world,” Reuters reports. The international engagement plan will see the US cooperate with 35 other governments to accelerate efforts to harness the zero emissions source of energy. The plan will focus on areas for international cooperation including research and development, supply chain issues, regulation, and safety.

Why is this important? Nuclear fusion could generate four times more power per kg of fuel than fission reactions — which see nuclei split to release large amounts of energy in the form of heat and radiation — and nearly four mn times more energy than burning oil or coal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) explains. The power source “could provide virtually limitless clean, safe, and affordable energy to meet the world’s demand,” the IAEA explains.

The US is making strides in nuclear fusion: The international strategy comes a month after the US and the UK inked an agreement to accelerate nuclear fusion technology. In August, scientists at a national lab in California made a second breakthrough in nuclear fusion, managing to yield a reaction from a fusion ignition that generated more energy than the initial input used to ignite it. The US rolled out last year its vision for developing fusion technology by 2030.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

  • Commonwealth introduces model law for carbon taxation: The Commonwealth Secretariat has rolled out a model law to introduce a carbon tax to be imposed on fossil fuel companies in the 56 Commonwealth countries. This is a preliminary step towards drafting a binding legislation that would help with reducing carbon emissions in the Commonwealth countries. (Statement)
  • UAE to roll out clean energy + hydrogen strategy by 2024: The UAE is set to release the plans for implementing its hydrogen and energy strategies by early 2024. The plans would build on the country’s updated Energy Strategy 2050, which targets tripling the UAE’s renewable energy capacity and producing 1.4 mn tons of hydrogen per year by 2030. (Wam)
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