COP29 Digest, Vol 3: Everything You Need to Know in Food and Climate News Today
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Welcome to Volume 3 of Green Queen’s #COP29 Digest. Here, our editorial team curates the must-reads, the must-bookmarks and the must-knows from around the interwebs to help you ‘skim the overwhelm’.
Headlines You Need To Know
The COP-related news you cannot miss.
COP29 DELEGATES ASKED TO ‘CUT THE THEATRICS’: As week two of COP29 begins and ministers take over negotiations, UN climate chief Simon Stiell has asked them to “cut the theatrics and get down to the real business”, a crucial call for action since “bluffing, brinksmanship and premeditated playbooks are burning up precious time”. (Although it calls into question what exactly the first week was about after all.)
AZERBAIJAN ACCUSED OF DETAINING CLIMATE ACTIVISTS: It seems the host country needs to heed Stiell’s words more than the rest, with Azerbaijan becoming the third COP host in a row to be accused of oppression and clamping down on the right to protest. The allegations are the latest to allude to the government’s habit of detaining opponents and journalists, with political prisoners now numbering over 300.
CLIMATE FINANCE IMPASSE AT COP29 PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON G20 SUMMIT: As the heads of G20 countries gather in Rio de Janeiro, the issue of mobilising climate finance – key to COP29’s goals – looms large, given that they control 85% of the global economy. Last week, UN secretary-general António Guterres called on the G20 to lead the effort.
1.5°C TARGET ‘DEADER THAN A DOORNAIL’: In a damning indictment of countries’ failure to deliver on the climate goals they agreed to at COP21 in Paris almost a decade ago, scientists have concluded that the effort to keep post-industrial temperature rises under 1.5°C by 2100 is “deader than a doornail”, with 2024 on course to be the first individual year to be above the threshold.
COUNTRIES COMMIT TO INCREASING ENERGY STORAGE SIXFOLD: Nations including the UK, Sweden, Uruguay and Belgium have pledged to boost global energy storage sixfold from 2022 levels, a year after countries committed to tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.
INDONESIA PUMPS €1.2B IN GREEN ENERGY SECTOR: The Indonesian government has announced €1.2B in finance for the country’s transition towards renewable energy with German state development bank KfW. It comes days after it invited investors to build 75 gigawatts of renewable energy infrastructure in the next 15 years.
UN STEPS IN AFTER SCRUTINY OVER LACK OF VEGAN FOOD: After the furore over the mislabelling and lack of availability of vegan and vegetarian food at the world’s premier climate conference – only two outlets are meat-free in the COP29 food court – the UN has been forced to respond to complaints by highlighting all the plant-based options available at the summit, but its suggestion that all food items had a “very low carbon impact” is highly misleading.
Key #COP29 Reports
The food and climate reports you need to know about.
- 88% of NDCs don’t address food waste: Despite food waste causing a tenth of the world’s emissions and being a key solution for world hunger, only 25 countries attending COP29 have committed to reducing food waste and/or loss in their nationally determined contributions – nearly nine in 10 (88%) haven’t done so, reports environmental non-profit WRAP.
- The most polluting cities: Shanghai, Tokyo, New York City, Houston and Seoul are the five highest-polluting cities in the world, shows analysis by Climate Trace, a coalition co-founded by former US vice-president Al Gore.
- Using nature to greenwash: The scientists who developed the net-zero principle have warned that countries could rely on using natural carbon sinks to offset emissions, but these measures aren’t effective and will make them appear closer to their climate goals than they actually are.
- Climate crisis responsible for ‘impossible heatwaves’: New analyses show that climate change is to blame for at least 24 heatwaves that were previously impossible, and has made a total of 550 unnatural disasters significantly worse or more frequent.
Awesome Resources From Media Friends
A curation of our favourite reads from COP29 – excellent guides, explainers and op-eds from around the web.
- In support of rural populations: It’s the people in remote, marginal areas who face the worst of the climate crisis. Agriculture is rural populations’ lifeline, but their climate resilience tools are limited, the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development told Inter Press Service.
- Where’s the food?: Last year’s summit was the Food COP, thanks to a long-overdue focus on agriculture. This year’s dubbed the Finance COP, though, which has dimmed the coverage of food, the second-largest contributor to climate change. In her Thin Ink newsletter, Thin Lei Win explores why.
Lighter Green Fun
Funny stuff, weird stuff, random stuff related to COP you may enjoy.
A day of culture: It’s Culture Day at COP29, with a host of talks highlighting the role of cultural heritage and entertainment in the climate fight.
COP29 bingo: The Conversation’s guide to climate jargon is one of several of its kind, but it’s written in a playful and highly engaging manner that drew us in.
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