CCAC at COP28 - Daily Updates: 3 December

The third day of COP28 stood out as a historic turning point in global climate action. Deep decarbonisation along with non-CO2 gases mitigation, particularly methane was at the centre of the renewed climate commitments across the three key sectors including energy, waste, food and agriculture.

Sitting here in this room, I know that we have to commit ourselves. We have been doing so before today. We are committed to critical steps to reduce methane emissions by ensuring gas flaring is eliminated. There is a huge penalty for that. There is equally a huge incentive to do so. The measures that are taken here are a welcome development, no doubt about that. Over 86 countries covering well over half of emissions have national methane action plans in place and we are engaging with our partners to develop them. And we are launching exciting new initiatives and partnerships including lowering organic waste or low methane to support some national waste reduction efforts around the world. I’m very pleased to announce today that the United States, the European Union, other governments, philanthropies and the private sector significantly exceeded that target. And together, we have mobilized over $1 billion in new grant funding since COP27 for methane that has more than tripled previous annual methane grant funding. And then we will leverage the score in project investment. And these funds are going to support cutting methane emissions across all sectors with a focus on low and middle income countries.” – John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate at Session on Methane and Other Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases

“To keep a 1.5 C future within reach, we need everyone — cities, states, regions, and national governments —  to keep stepping up their ambition. LOW Methane is going to be a pivotal tool for supercharging multi-level action to tackle methane from waste, which accounts for 20% of global methane emissions.” - John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

“Reducing methane emissions is crucial for meeting our 1.5-degree commitment under the Paris Agreement. Every fraction can immediately shave down global temperature rises. We have the tools to tackle wasteful venting and flaring of gas, and use the recovered resources for a fair energy transition. With the “You Collect, We Buy” scheme we are showing the way forward. And with €175 million for the Methane Finance Sprint, we are helping low- and middle-income countries to act too.” – H.E. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

“With time short, we must be smart and decisive about how we stay below a 1.5-degree warmer world. One smart way will be for all to commit to ending methane leakages now and to regulate, urgently, all other super pollutants,” said Mia Amor Mottley, prime minister of Barbados.

"Reducing methane today will help to slow warming in the coming decade, as it's one of the best ways we can reduce the intensity of costly climate impacts in the near-term, including wildfires, floods, and drought." – Ambassador Catherine Stewart, Canada's Ambassador for Climate Change

“When I talk about methane, or when John Kerry talks about methane, we often hear much more about fossil methane about oil and gas methane than about waste methane. And we're here today to help change that because the waste sector generates a fifth of methane emissions globally. And so we're here today to put waste methane on the map as well. We need to send a clear signal that cutting methane from the waste sector is going to be a major part of our work consistent with the Global Methane Pledge going forward. And the benefits of this will go well beyond climate. When we cut food loss and waste, we boost food security. When we separate organics from waste streams, we generate compost and other high value products. And when we close open dumps and improve landfills, we cut ocean pollution, and we improve public health and safety and all this work is incredibly local in the waste sector. And that's why we're grateful to see cities like Lagos, Santiago and Rio as front runners and getting the LOW Methane initiative off the ground. We're hoping that maybe our colleagues from Brazil can put this work on the agenda of the G20 and Rio next year. And this work requires close collaboration with national governments. That's why it's great to have national governments of Chile, Nigeria, Dominican Republic and Indonesia, willing to be part of a LOW methane from the start. Others are also on the way.”- Rick Duke, U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Climate at the event on SCALE: Advancing Ambitious Multi-Level Climate Action.

“The final fight to keep 1.5 degrees alive is on.  And we are battling for climate justice.  These are fights we can win.  This COP can win with a double objective: maximum ambition on mitigation and maximum ambition in relation to climate justice, namely taking into full account the interests of developing countries. What we must avoid at all costs is a compromise based on minimum ambition on mitigation and minimum ambition on climate justice.  Because developing countries would be losing twice, would be losing because there is no climate justice and be losing because without effective mitigation the dramatic impacts of climate change will be [suffered] essentially by vulnerable populations in the global South.” - UN Secretary General António Guterres to G77+China COP28 Leaders' Summit

“Because methane is so powerful, but has a far shorter life in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, slashing emissions now is critical for limiting global temperatures within the next decade, and before we cross irreversible global tipping points, to avert climate catastrophe. Without dual action on methane and carbon dioxide, there is no viable path to climate stability,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme.

“Parties should create a mandatory global methane agreement that recognises methane mitigation as the single biggest and fastest way to slow warming in the critical near-term period, guided by the 2021 Global Methane Assessment” - Global Youth Statement – COY18 UAE

At the first-ever COP Local Climate Action Summit, the Subnational Climate Action Leaders’ Exchange (SCALE) celebrated its successful first year by unveiling a transformative initiative to combat methane emissions from the waste sector. The Summit launched the Lowering Organic Waste Methane (LOW-Methane) initiative or LOW-Methane. The ambition of LOW-Methane is to cut at least 1 million metric tons of annual waste sector methane reductions well before 2030 with 40 subnational jurisdictions and to unlock over $10 billion in investment. Financing, identified as a critical implementation gap, is addressed through this initiative. Martina Otto, Head of UNEP-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Secretariat which provides secretariat services to the Global Methane Pledge highlighted that this COP has successfully turned the methane moment into a global movement, with over 150 countries and numerous partners signing up for action. The significance of waste in contributing to 20% of anthropogenic methane emissions, emphasizes the need to cut 30 to 35% of methane emissions. The approach not only addresses current methane emissions but also focuses on preventing future issues, particularly in the context of landfills. The event underscored the interconnectedness nature of mitigating methane from the waste sector and emphasised the importance of community involvement and multi-level cooperation.

Philanthropic groups announced a $450 million investment over the next three years to help countries launch national actions to tackle methane. The emphasis on urban areas and targeted financial commitments underlines a holistic approach to addressing climate challenges.

Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Angola, Kenya, and Romania joined the Global Methane Pledge. US-Kazakhstan released a joint statement reiterated their commitment to addressing the urgent challenge posed by methane emissions.

The United States announced final standards to sharply reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations, which will achieve a nearly 80% reduction below future methane emissions expected without the rule.  

At the Accelerating Fast Mitigation: Summit on Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases, the United States and UAE called on Parties to the Paris Agreement to submit 2035 NDCs that are economy-wide and cover all greenhouse gases.  

Governments, philanthropies, and the private sector joined together to announce an unprecedented over $1 billion in new grant funding for methane reduction mobilized since COP27 in support of the Methane Finance Sprint, which more than triples current annual grant funding and will leverage billions in project investment.  

COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber unveiled the Global Decarbonization Accelerator (GDA) which focuses on three key pillars: rapidly scaling the energy system of tomorrow; decarbonizing the energy system of today; and targeting methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs).

The UAE committed $100 million to the World Bank Trust Fund for Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership. The World Bank announced that it will detail a blueprint for slashing methane emissions over the next few days.

The summit highlighted major initiatives to address methane, HFCs, and cooling. The UAE announced intent to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. Governments reiterated their recent agreement to the largest ever replenishment of the Montreal Multilateral Fund with $965 million in funding to support Kigali Amendment implementation and energy efficiency and welcomed the launch of the Global Cooling Pledge.

At the Back on Track: The Critical Path to 1.5ºC by Bending the Methane Curve the need for a dual strategy, focusing on both deep decarbonization and methane reduction was highlighted. Martina Otto, Head of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition Secretariat highlighted that the benefits of reducing methane extend to health, food security, nature, and resilience. She stressed the need for policies, financial incentives, and innovative market mechanisms to drive methane reduction. She added: “the success of methane reduction hinges on setting the right signals through policies and financial incentives. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) has been working with over 86 countries on roadmaps, and there is a huge commitment from over 150 countries through the Global Methane Pledge. While there is strong interest and commitment, there is a need to bridge the financing gap. Less than 2% of climate finance is currently directed toward methane action. Efforts are underway to open up financing windows, develop bankable projects, and create a pipeline of initiatives.”

The necessity of methane-targeted finance at all levels, advocating for support to developing countries in crafting policies and regulations, was also highlighted at The Role of Climate Finance to Meet the Global Methane Pledge. Multilateral Development Banks were identified as crucial for stimulating private sector investment and the announcement of new methane-targeted facilities were welcomed. While recognizing the importance of MDBs, the event highlighted the ongoing need to support governments in exploring innovative technologies and outlining their economic viability, as planned under the CCAC Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP).