Nations covering half of global emissions make cleantech affordability push at COP27
Decarbonization took the center stage at COP27 on the 11th of November, 2022, as leaders from public and private sector discussed the pathways and strategies to decarbonize industrial sectors including energy, concrete and steel.
The thematic day commenced with a session titled, “The Decarbonization Challenge”, addressing the action pathways needed to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors, and to improve livelihoods of people.
Governments representing half of global emissions and more than half of global GDP have provided a sweeping update on commitments to bring low-carbon technologies to price parity with their predecessors by 2030, as part of efforts to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors.
Participants in the Road Transport Breakthrough have agreed that they will bring forward policies to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars and other light vehicles to a common timeframe. Dates of 2040, if they are a developing economy, or 2035, if they are a developed economy, are being discussed. It has been confirmed that “significant backing” will be announced by businesses and cities as COP27 continues.
“The climate crisis is existential, overriding and ever present and we need to look at every piece of the puzzle, including the decarbonization of the industrial sectors that underpin the global economy,” said COP 27 President H.E. Sameh Shoukry, commenting on Decarbonization Day. “Today’s activities provide a significant opportunity to discuss critical plans and policies needed to reduce carbon footprints, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors. We hope the conversations today help facilitate the much-needed transition to and low carbon economy”.
At the opening session, John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate said; “We are in an era where energy security, energy transition, and the affordability of energy have to be fundamental to the way that we see the world. The way we synchronize these issues today are going to have a profound outcome into the future.”
Following John Kerry’s keynote, there was a panel discussion on the importance of decarbonization. H.E. Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalization African Union spoke passionately on the impact of this transition for Africa. “Africa is the region hit hardest by climate change – the cost of damages cost between 50-80 billion dollars each year, not to mention the loss of lives and conflicts caused by climate change. It’s not theoretical for us, it’s our lives,” she said.
“It’s the food that’s not on our table, it’s the crop that’s been wiped out”, HE Tarek El Molla Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources agreed, saying that it is a “global problem that needs a global solution”.
#COP27 | Decarbonization Day@POTUS address, Africa Adaptation Initiative Launch and much more.
Watch below for some of the day’s highlights. #TogetherForImplementation pic.twitter.com/mRpBCKT2S6
— COP27 (@COP27P) November 11, 2022
Other agreed actions on ‘priority’ areas pertain to heavy industry. Nations participating in the Breakthrough Agenda have pledged to collectively develop at least 50 large-scale industrial plants or clusters operating at net-zero emissions, as well as at least 100 hydrogen valleys.
Hydrogen valleys are areas where multiple hydrogen projects operate in a ‘cluster’, with production often co-located with end-use. Hydrogen producers will, in the coming days, sign an agreement to prioritise green hydrogen produced by electrolysis powered with renewable electricity.
Another agreement is on the creation of common definitions for ‘low-emission’ steel and hydrogen. These definitions will set the bar for manufacturers and for procurement. Similarly, nations will need to define what constitutes a ‘sustainable’ battery.
All in all, there are 25 new collaborative actions for the Breakthrough Agenda participants to deliver. They have pledged to achieve all of them before COP28 begins in Dubai next winter.
COP26 President Alok Sharma said: “Since we launched the Breakthrough Agenda at COP26, the world has changed and we are facing a perilous geopolitical and economic situation. That only makes international collaboration more urgent.”
The UN’s high-level champion for climate change for Egypt, Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, added: “COP27 is an implementation COP. I am pleased to see countries come together today to shift from pledges to tangible action, by collaborating through the Priority Actions under the Breakthrough Agenda.
This represents a concrete international plan to decarbonise high-emitting sectors by 2030 and help developing countries seize the opportunity of low-carbon and climate resilient growth and development.”
Decarbonization day comprised of panel discussions and events throughout the Blue Zone including in national and civil society pavilions to bring forward further progress through public-private partnerships and innovative technologies, to advance from pledges to implementation.
This article has been published with support from MESHA/IDRC grant for coverage of COP-27 by African science journalists
