ECO 10, SB58: It is time to #EndFossilFuels #FastFairForever!

Our world is in crisis, extreme weather conditions are skyrocketing, and the climate emergency is wreaking havoc in our communities and ecosystems across the globe. To date, fires ravaging Canada to catastrophic flooding in Pakistan, back to back cyclones in the Pacific islands and record heat and droughts in Africa haven’t been enough to trigger action.

While governments here at the SBs are still backtracking and avoiding talking about the root cause of the problem, there are those who today are suffering the consequences of inaction in many places in the world.

Every ton of carbon pollution brings us closer to crossing the 1.5°C threshold, generating irreversible climate impacts. Coal, oil, and gas are the biggest causes of climate change and the leading source of CO2 increases in the atmosphere over the last decade.

The fossil fuel industry is responsible for the climate crisis and also drives a predatory and destructive economic system that harms people and the planet. Fossil fuels are bad for the climate, for our people, for our health, for our democracies and for our economies.

For decades, peoples and communities across the world have campaigned tirelessly to sound the alarm of the dangerous and destructive realities of the coal, oil, and gas industries. The fossil fuel industry has known for decades about the harm they are causing and have used every trick to keep their profits flowing.

Across the world, people are fighting back against the fossil fuel industry: we’re resisting the development of new pipelines, mines and infrastructure; we’re demanding that financial institutions stop funding fossil fuels; we’re pushing for a rapid, just and equitable phase out of all fossil fuels; we are fighting back against unproven technologies that don’t address the root cause of the climate crisis; and we’re demanding that big oil, coal and gas companies are held accountable and pay for the harm they cause.

The science is clear: what the world needs now is a rapid and just transition to an energy system that is efficient, fair, and universal – based on clean energy sources, and produced with respect for nature and the sovereign rights of Indigenous peoples.

To have any hope of addressing the root causes of the climate crisis, leaders of the biggest polluting countries must deliver a fast and fair phase out of fossil fuels and fund it globally.

The climate crisis is escalating and in response so is the global movement for climate justice. We will kickoff a Global Fight to end Fossil Fuels in Bonn and scale up our actions through to September and onwards. We will use the collective power of our movements to escalate our fight to #EndFossilFuels #FastFairForever. People are fighting for change and their voices must be heard. Our demand is clear: a rapid, just and equitable phase out of coal, oil and gas – fast, fair and forever.

Oh goodness gracious!  Anybody would think there are Parties at these negotiations whose mandate is to obstruct, obstruct, obstruct.
The GGA assembled at the last moment to find a way to present a text for the SBs.

One text was shared but there was no engagement. The other didn’t even get an airing.

Parties speaking on their own behalf were desperate. Did the room even listen when one country said they were at that moment enduring a life-taking storm? Did they hear as another explained that “disappointment” in the room means devastation for the most vulnerable if the GGA talks fail? What else needs to be said to convey how ruinous these delays are?
Nobody wants this impasse.
Or do they?

Hello there, here comes the last module of your 10-days course on how to limit global warming to 1.5°C from an energy perspective!

Just a friendly reminder, daily readings of ECO are mandatory assignments, but for those who couldn’t keep up with their homework, here’s a quick recap: there will be no just and equitable phase out of fossil fuels without a rapid scale up of sustainable renewables! We also hope that you were able to complete your math assignment: to the question, ‘How much wind and solar  do we need according to various recent scenarios’ The answer is “at least 1.5 TW of wind and solar deployment per year by 2030 (Climate Analytics, 2023)”, and to the question, ‘By how much should we scale up yearly energy efficiency gains?’ The answer is “doubling the rate by 2030 compared to last year” – well done to all of you who answered correctly!

Today’s exciting homework for the Energy module is to design a new energy system based on renewable energy only.  It must not repeat the mistakes of our present extractivist and neo-colonial system! To help you with your homework, we have come up with a few guidelines.

First of all, your system should be based on wind and solar mainly, and only rely on limited and sustainable use of bioenergy and hydropower, which can both create significant trade-offs for land-use, biodiversity, and more. You should ensure that your system prioritizes the protection of all people and ecosystems and includes policies for land and water use to prevent conflicts and avoid competition with agriculture and food security. Indeed, in some instances, the harms to communities, ecosystem integrity, and biodiversity could outweigh the benefits to the climate – we need to commit to the right projects in the right places. Your system should be combined with complementary land uses like agriculture, but it should be planned with meaningful local participation to ensure that it will benefit the local communities.

When discussing “critical” minerals, you should ensure that their mining adheres to the highest social and environmental standards, respects human rights and minimizes the amount of minerals required as well as air, land and water pollution.

Your system should include distributed, decentralized, democratic and community-owned renewables with transparent governance. Energy sufficiency and circularity measures should be included along with grid infrastructure and energy storage solutions. Lastly, do not forget that the system’s objective shouldn’t be focused on mitigation only, but should be able to provide universal energy access by 2030! Particular attention will be given to projects highlighting the numerous co-benefits of clean renewables, notably in relation to air pollution and health (please refer to the Health module of this course).

Our dedicated team of instructors is sorry to inform you that the Finance module is not ready yet, due to a lack of participants and unpaid fees. But we know that your system will require large sums of finance, and that investment in renewables is very unevenly distributed globally. So get the finance right and make sure that your system does not result in increased debt in the Global South.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to ECO if you have any questions or need assistance in designing your new 100% Renewable Energy System! We’re here to help.

Finance seems to be everywhere, yet while all the focus seems to be on the NCQG and 2.1c (both of which ECO thinks are important), ECO is starting to wonder, where’s the Green Climate Fund (GCF)?

Just as a good parent, ECO loves ALL its climate fund children equally–fully grown, growing and yet to be born under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement –, and knows they all need support in the outside world full of finance laggards. We remember celebrating the GCF’s birth and are looking to celebrate this key milestone in its development as the GCF has been working hard at growing, becoming a responsible young adult and is itching to fulfill its full potential – if it is given  more responsibility for climate action and the means and money to share with the world. ECO knows the GCF’s pipeline is filled, not with oil or gas, but with mitigation and adaptation projects and only more on the way. Human rights-based locally led mitigation and adaptation doesn’t happen magically–it needs real finance.

In October the GCF is facing another milestone here in Bonn: the Pledging Conference for its Second Replenishment. Let’s make it a celebration launching the GCF fully into financial adulthood – enough with the pocket money!!

Financial support for developing countries to implement the Paris Agreement is necessary and a matter of climate justice. Those most responsible for the climate crisis owe money to those least responsible and most vulnerable. ECO looks forward to welcoming back those who missed the GCF-1 Party (we’re looking at you Australia and the US). And we’re ready to party with Austria, Germany, and Czechia who have already pledged–though, don’t worry, there is still time to commit more so we can all have a bigger party for climate action.

As you leave Bonn, remember the promises made to the GCF when it was much younger, how you said you would love and support it, and how much it has grown into a strapping climate fund ready to deliver on its potential. Let’s remember that the GCF was born to fulfill its destiny to channel ambitious human rights-based and gender-responsive climate finance, and celebrate its growing capacity to do so by giving it some real funding to manage.

This week, participants at the Sixth Technical Dialogue on the post-100bn new goal (NCQG) listened to Party delegates suggest food-related metaphors for the design of the goal, noting lessons learned from the half-baked US$100bn.
Some countries suggested the NCQG should be like an onion, with layers. Others suggested it would better be considered as a (vegan) sausage roll, with a meaty core. One negotiator even compared it to an avocado … (a metaphor which ECO is just going to ignore).

Developing countries are struggling with a lack of finance, and these SBs have shown how hard it is to advance negotiations on the Mitigation Work Programme and 2.1c, without also focusing  on COP outcomes to expand support for means of implementation for the entire spectrum of climate action, especially in the NCQG.

So if developed countries are going to use the food metaphors, ECO wants them to get serious and follow recipes properly. To build an NCQG that can heal the COP process and deliver for the planet and people in developing countries, the NCQG must truly learn from the onion and the sausage roll.

Things the NCQG could learn about from onions:

Have layers, like an onion: A good NCQG, like an onion, comprises layers. The NCQG should  respond to the intricate challenges of climate change through multiple layers of quantified sub goals – for mitigation, adaptation, and to address loss and damage – this adds depth and robustness to the NCGQ compared to the 100bn goal, just like an onion adds depth and robustness to dishes.

Able to withstand time, like an onion. Onions also persistently withstand time and carry within themselves the seeds for rejuvenation and growth. Similarly, the NCQG’s commitment is long-lasting, persistently striving to achieve quantified goals and address climate change over time.

Things about onions the NCQG must avoid:
Do not make people cry. Onions make people cry, whereas the NCQG must build hope that we can collectively address the challenges of climate change and provide sustenance for those that need it the most.
Do not lack a well-defined core. Peeling layers off onions is a tedious and time-consuming task to finally get to the core only to find that it is not that well-defined  – but the core of the NCQG must be public finance that is both sufficient and easily accessible.

What can the NCQG learn from sausage rolls?
Having a filling center. Like a good vegan sausage inside a sausage roll, the core of the NCQG is a standalone meal whether or not the pastry is there, just like public finance is both the heart of the NCQG and is required whether or not the pastry of private finance ever materializes given higher costs of capital in developing countries.

And a half-baked sausage roll?
Attention to outer layers. Some of your golden air-filled pastry might be too flaky to provide real nutrition to your eaters, promising a lot of taste but only delivering empty calories. We don’t want the pastry on a vegan sausage roll to overpower the filling, i.e. the public finance heart placed at the core of the NCQG.

As we know from mosaics of solutions, metaphors can be used and abused. So ECO asks, what food metaphor would you extend, or suggest? It may sound funny, but the matter is very serious. Without a good NCQG, we will not achieve the aims set in Paris.

This week, participants at the Sixth Technical Dialogue on the post-100bn new goal (NCQG) listened to Party delegates suggest food-related metaphors for the design of the goal, noting lessons learned from the half-baked US$100bn.
Some countries suggested the NCQG should be like an onion, with layers. Others suggested it would better be considered as a (vegan) sausage roll, with a meaty core. One negotiator even compared it to an avocado … (a metaphor which ECO is just going to ignore).

Developing countries are struggling with a lack of finance, and these SBs have shown how hard it is to advance negotiations on the Mitigation Work Programme and 2.1c, without also focusing  on COP outcomes to expand support for means of implementation for the entire spectrum of climate action, especially in the NCQG.

So if developed countries are going to use the food metaphors, ECO wants them to get serious and follow recipes properly. To build an NCQG that can heal the COP process and deliver for the planet and people in developing countries, the NCQG must truly learn from the onion and the sausage roll.

Things the NCQG could learn about from onions:

Have layers, like an onion: A good NCQG, like an onion, comprises layers. The NCQG should  respond to the intricate challenges of climate change through multiple layers of quantified sub goals – for mitigation, adaptation, and to address loss and damage – this adds depth and robustness to the NCGQ compared to the 100bn goal, just like an onion adds depth and robustness to dishes.

Able to withstand time, like an onion. Onions also persistently withstand time and carry within themselves the seeds for rejuvenation and growth. Similarly, the NCQG’s commitment is long-lasting, persistently striving to achieve quantified goals and address climate change over time.

Things about onions the NCQG must avoid:
Do not make people cry. Onions make people cry, whereas the NCQG must build hope that we can collectively address the challenges of climate change and provide sustenance for those that need it the most.
Do not lack a well-defined core. Peeling layers off onions is a tedious and time-consuming task to finally get to the core only to find that it is not that well-defined  – but the core of the NCQG must be public finance that is both sufficient and easily accessible.

What can the NCQG learn from sausage rolls?
Having a filling center. Like a good vegan sausage inside a sausage roll, the core of the NCQG is a standalone meal whether or not the pastry is there, just like public finance is both the heart of the NCQG and is required whether or not the pastry of private finance ever materializes given higher costs of capital in developing countries.

And a half-baked sausage roll?
Attention to outer layers. Some of your golden air-filled pastry might be too flaky to provide real nutrition to your eaters, promising a lot of taste but only delivering empty calories. We don’t want the pastry on a vegan sausage roll to overpower the filling, i.e. the public finance heart placed at the core of the NCQG.

As we know from mosaics of solutions, metaphors can be used and abused. So ECO asks, what food metaphor would you extend, or suggest? It may sound funny, but the matter is very serious. Without a good NCQG, we will not achieve the aims set in Paris.

A long-overdue conversation about the safety, security and dignity of participants, and respect for their fundamental rights and freedoms during UNFCCC meetings has been taking place at the AIM meetings during these SBs. There were widespread calls for the Secretariat to do more, and for the host country to abide by international human rights standards before, during and after the COP. Seems like a no-brainer to ECO, and we are glad that many, many Parties spoke up about this.

But now that we are all about to leave Bonn and to roll up our sleeves to deliver climate action at the local and national level, ECO expects that all countries will now work to fully respect and protect civic space including in the context of climate action at the national level. As was said in the AIM discussions: human rights – including the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly – is critical before, during and after the UNFCCC session. Yet – on all continents we witness governments cracking down on civil society and Indigenous Peoples organizers and curtailing these real freedoms discussed in AIM.

Building on the strong decision finalized last night on AIM, we call upon ALL delegations: lead by example and, starting today, demonstrate your true commitment at the national level to ensuring that all can exercise their human rights without fear of intimidation and repercussions. Put an end to the criminalization of protest and the repression of dissent. Now is the time to demonstrate your credibility on these issues.