COP28 Daily Digest: Everything You Need To Know in Food and Climate News – Day 12

Welcome to Day 12 of #COP28, the final day! In Green Queen’s COP28 Daily Digest, our editorial team curates the must-reads, the must-bookmarks and the must-knows from around the interwebs to help you ‘skim the overwhelm’.

Catch up: DAY 1 – DAY 2 – DAYS 3 & 4 – DAY 5 – DAY 6 – DAY 7 – REST DAY – DAY 8 – DAY 9 – DAY 10 – DAY 11

Headlines You Need To Know

The COP-related news you cannot miss.

UPDATE ON GLOBAL STOCKTAKE AND GLOBAL GOAL ON ADAPTATION (GGA): We are still waiting for the final text on both GGA and GST, and last-minute negotiations are still in progress. As of publishing time, 158 nations have signed the GST draft including Russia and Turkey.

CLIMATE DENIERS AT CLIMATE SUMMIT: Transparency watchdog Corporate Accountability has revealed that over 160 representatives who have records of climate denial and misinformation received access from UN organisers to COP28. These trade groups, think tanks and PR agencies have obstructed fossil fuel regulations as well as other climate action.

UAE CLIMATE MINISTER CHAMPIONS ALT-PROTEIN: COP28 food systems lead Mariam Almheiri has acknowledged the importance of protein diversification to feed a hungrier and growing planet, championing food tech and alternative proteins in a panel discussion. “We need to look at a lot of the alternatives as well; alternatives that are more sustainable that don’t need so much water, that don’t need so much land and that don’t throw out any methane emissions, and that’s why things like alternative proteins are very important,” she said.

EX-US VP SAYS COP28 ON THE VERGE OF ‘COMPLETE FAILURE’: Al Gore, the former vice-president of the US, tweeted late last night that the conference is on the verge of “complete failure” after the Global Stocktake draft saw any mention of a ‘phaseout’ removed yesterday, which has sparked tremendous backlash. “It is even worse than many had feared. It is “Of the Petrostates, By the Petrostates and For the Petrostates’,” wrote Gore.

US, UK, AUSTRALIA AMONG COUNTRIES THAT WON’T SIGN ‘DEATH CERTIFICATE’ FOR ISLAND NATIONS: The US, UK, Canada, Australia and Japan have formed an umbrella group of countries that refuse to sign the version of the Global Stocktake, which is a “death certificate” for small island countries as described by Cedric Schuster of Samoa, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States. The EU has also said elements of the document are “fully unacceptable” and threatened a walkout if things don’t change.

UK MINISTER LEAVES SUMMIT HALFWAY DURING CRISIS TALKS: The UK climate minister Graham Stuart returned home midway as talks reached a crisis point, leaving civil servants to finalise the negotiations. Speaking to the Guardian, Greenpeace’s Rebecca Newsom called it “an outrageous dereliction of leadership at the most critical point during this conference”.

TAIWAN WILLING TO DONATE TO DISASTER FUND: Taiwan, which has been blocked from participation at COP28 but is amongst the highest per capita GHG emitters, has indicated that it’s willing to contribute to the loss and damage fund if it is included in the conversations.

WTO CHIEF CALLS ON LEADERS TO PRIORITISE CLIMATE SUBSIDIES: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organization, told the Guardian that governments need to start differentiating between the good subsidies that help fight the climate crisis, and bad ones that emit more greenhouse gases.

BRAZILIAN MEAT GIANT CALLED OUT FOR GREENWASHING: JBS, the world’s largest meat producer and one of the biggest food system GHG emitters, is being criticised by a coalition group called Ban the Batistas for its attempts to greenwash consumers and present itself as eco-conscious and ethical at COP28.

PETA HANDS OUT SYMBOLIC VEGAN DOUGHNUT TO GERMAN MINISTER: A week after distributing free vegan doughnuts in New York City, PETA handed some out to Geman Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck in a symbolic gesture to promote Plant Based Treaty’s vegan doughnut economics paper.

Key #COP28 Reports

The food and climate reports you need to know about today.

Food security, climate change and sustainability in Africa: A new report by the WWF, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, IFPRI/CGIAR and AfDB touches upon the environmental implications of food system development in Africa, helping nations achieve food security and implement climate and nature commitments.

10,000 deaths due to climate change: The UK Health Security Agency has published its first Health Effects of Climate Change report, estimating that there will be up to 10,000 deaths across the country by the 2050s as a result of extreme heat, with a 12-fold increase in such deaths likely (from current rates) by the 2070s. Additionally, such temperatures will make for suitable conditions for new domestic mosquitoes, leading to transmittable diseases like chikungunya, dengue and Zika virus.

Awesome Resources From Media Friends

A curation of our favourite reads of the day – excellent guides, explainers and op-eds from around the web.

Good COP, Bad COP: Climate site CTVC has released a fantastically detailed list of takeaways from the climate summit, rounded up with a packed roundup of news.

Everything nuclear: CTVC also has an overview of all things nuclear and clean power from the conference, which is a very handy guide if all the news has drained you of energy (pun absolutely intended).

12 High-Impact Partnerships: The World Economic Forum has helpfully shared an overview of 12 High-Impact Business, Government and Civil Society Partnerships for Climate and Nature that were announced/signed during the summit around decarbonization & the energy transition, nature & biodiversity, health, adaptation & food systems, and climate financing & trade.

The future of livestock: Sharing takeaways from his COP28 experience, Michael Victor for New Food Magazine writes about the importance of nuance and geographically specific policy when it comes to animal agriculture.

Lighter Green Fun

Funny stuff, weird stuff, random stuff related to COP you may enjoy.

Cooking up a habitable planet: If you’re looking for some food (for thought) inspo, the Straits Times has come up with a tongue-in-cheek recipe for a habitable planet. Set your oven to 1.5°C and add in that climate finance sauce. Serves 8.1 billion.

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