European Union

Participants highlighted the importance of investing in climate change adaptation action in LDCs, which are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and yet the least able to adapt. The event also kick-started the year of action on adaptation, spearheaded by the Global Commission on Adaptation. The event was co-hosted by the Government of Germany, the LDC Group, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Aparna Subramani, Executive Director of the World Bank representing Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Sri Lanka, and Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson Highlights Three donors announced new LDCF contributions totalling EUR 130 million. Speakers noted the Global Commission on Adaptation highlighted the LDCF as a financial mechanism that works and should be well placed to help LDCs implement the adaptation “revolutions” recommended by the Commission. Opening Maria Flachsbarth, Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, highlighted the Global Commission’s message that adaptation can produce significant economic returns and smart growth. She then announced a German pledge of EUR 50 million to the LDCF. Sonam Phuntsho Wangdi (Bhutan), Chair, LDC Group, said that the LDCF is the only multilateral fund fully dedicated to climate change in LDCs. “It is our fund,” he said, and noted that the LDC Group was involved in formulating the new LDCF Strategy and expressed satisfaction with its implementation. Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, GEF, underscored the Commission report's recommendations for adaptation revolutions and welcomed feedback on whether the new LDCF Strategy is having positive impact. Panel: Empowering Communities and Livelihoods/Agriculture and Food Security Fekadu Beyene, Commissioner for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ethiopia, discussed how the LDCF has helped Ethiopia in building climate resilience in agriculture. Bounkham Vorachit, Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR, discussed the LDCF’s contribution to building robust Laotian adaptation institutions and planning for rural areas. Panel: Climate Resilient Development in SIDS/Early Warning and Planning Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vanuatu, emphasized how the LDCF has helped the country prepare and respond to natural disasters during the past 11 years. Quite Djata, Secretary of State of Environment and Biodiversity, Guinea-Bissau, underscored the “crucial role” that the LDCF played in helping her country strengthen resilience, adaptation capacity, and early warning systems. Johannes Oljelund, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden, announced a multiannual contribution to the LDCF of EUR 50 million. Observing that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not achievable without stepping up action on adaptation, Carola van Rijnsoever, Ambassador for Sustainable Development, Netherlands, announced that the country would make an additional EUR 20 million contribution to the LDCF. Christopher MacLennan, Global Affairs Canada, said that his Prime Minister had announced an additional payment to LDCF of USD 7.5 million. Nick Bridge, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK, said his Prime Minister just announced a doubling of its contribution to climate finance over five years, with its LDCF allocation yet to be worked out. Noting that LDCF had helped his country considerably on planning and priority setting, Abdou Karim Sall, Minister of Environment, Senegal, said about USD 2.9 million more was needed from international donors to address specific issues that had been identified. Martin Frick, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), observed that the Global Commission report and the new LDCF pledges send important political signals to the upcoming UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) set to take place in Chile. Closing Moderator Mary Robinson, Chair, The Elders, noted that the Global Commission called the LDCF “a model of something that works” and urged continued support for the Fund. Photos by IISD/ENB | Felipe Ruiz For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Maria Flachsbarth, Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany   L-R: Gustavo Fonseca, GEF Secretariat; Quite Djata, Secretary of State of Environment and Biodiversity, Guinea-Bissau; Johannes Oljelund, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden; and Carola van Rijnsoever, Ambassador for Sustainable Development, Netherlands   Fekadu Beyene, Commissioner for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ethiopia   Moderator Mary Robinson, Chair, The Elders   L-R: Moderator Mary Robinson, Chair, The Elders; Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vanuatu; Gustavo Fonseca, GEF Secretariat; Quite Djata, Secretary of State of Environment and Biodiversity, Guinea-Bissau; Johannes Oljelund, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden; Carola van Rijnsoever, Ambassador for Sustainable Development, Netherlands; Christopher MacLennan, Global Affairs Canada; and Nick Bridge, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK   CONTACT Christian Hofer | chofer@thegef.org MORE INFORMATION https://www.thegef.org/topics/climate-change-adaptation http://www.ldc-climate.org/

Organized by the Permanent Mission of Germany and UNEP, the event marked the official launch of Global Opportunities for SDGs (GO for SDGs), an initiative aiming to accelerate and raise ambition for building inclusive and sustainable economies. Led by Germany and UNEP and open to other partners, GO for SDGs will serve as platform to facilitate regional dialogue and exchange among practitioners on best practices for replicating and scaling-up effects, and by fostering local institutional learning and experience sharing. L-R: Krista Mikkonen, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Finland; Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany; and Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP   Highlights The GO for SDGs Initiative will serve as platform to accelerate ambition by facilitating dialogue and knowledge sharing for inclusive green economies. Germany will contribute EUR 7.5 million. GO for SDGs will work through existing initiatives like The UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) One Planet Network. Finland is using a toolbox of policies to achieve its commitments to be carbon neutral by 2035 and move towards a circular economy. Peru’s National Green Growth and Competitiveness Plan highlights the value of the environment and natural resources for economic growth. Karin Göbel, Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN, welcomed participants noting that the stakes to implement the SDGs have never been higher and calling for integrative solutions that bring actors together, unlock potential, and galvanize momentum towards a fast, fair, and green transformation. Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, reminded participants that only ten years remain to implement the SDGs, noting that despite progress in some areas, more action is needed, especially on climate, water and inequality. Highlighting that many effective tools, methods and approaches already exist, she explained that the GO for SDGs initiative will focus on scaling up their use and enabling their adaptation to specific national circumstances.  She announced Germany’s contribution of EUR 7.5 million to the initiative, expressing hope that other partners will join. She called for greater efforts to promote green innovation and sustainable business models and, outlining several successful examples, expressed confidence that GO for SDGs will be fruitful. Citing several recent reports on SDG implementation, Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director, stressed that many areas receive insufficient attention, including rapidly increasing resource consumption and biodiversity decline. She underlined that SDG 12 (sustainable consumption and production) has the potential to unlock progress on serval SDGs. She explained that GO for SDGs will allow working through the UN system to enable sharing knowledge products and cross-country learning using existing platforms such as UNEP’s One Planet network. She called for “rolling up our collective sleeves” to tackle implementation together. Krista Mikkonen, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Finland, said her country wants to lead by example, by making Finland climate-neutral by 2035 and moving towards a circular economy. She highlighted that these ambitious targets need to be achieved in a socially-inclusive way. Instead of instituting a comprehensive sustainable development policy, she noted, Finland has a toolbox of policies tackling different issues, from plastics to waste. Mikkonen added that, under the One Planet Network, Finland has taken responsibility on the program for sustainable building and construction. Lucía Ruíz, Minister of Environment, Peru, highlighted the need for a grassroots, multi-stakeholder approach to SDG implementation, and for “multi-alignment” of government policies and actions. She said Peru is working to transition to a green, circular economy and has recently instituted a ban on single-use plastics. She further mentioned Peru’s recently adopted National Green Growth and Competitiveness Plan, which highlights the value of the environment and natural resources for economic growth. In the ensuing discussion, participants debated, among other issues: ways to rapidly scale up successful local and regional initiatives for SDG implementation; transformative cooperation; the need to provide green jobs and include social partners in the social dialogue needed for a successful transition to a green economy; and putting local governments on the UN’s agenda. In her response, Schulze highlighted the need to translate the SDGs at the regional and local levels so that the Goals provide answers to local needs, and invited other governments to embark on the journey to become carbon neutral by 2050, like Germany. Mikkonen explained that GO for SDGs is necessary to create a pool of practical local answers and solutions to SDG implementation. Ruiz underscored the need to tackle corruption in local administrations. Satya Tripathi, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of UNEP’s New York Office, underscored the need to find the “magic mix between progress and politeness when it comes to the private sector,” which he explained implies finding the balance between safeguards and room for partnerships and innovation. In closing, Schulze encouraged participants to “paint the picture of a better future together” that will be realized through climate action and achieving the SDGs. Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. L-R: Naysán Sahba, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Moderator; Krista Mikkonen, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Finland; Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany; and Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP Karin Göbel, Head of Department of Economic and Financial Affairs, Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP Krista Mikkonen, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Finland Lucía Ruíz, Minister of Environment, Peru Satya Tripathi, UNEP Naysán Sahba, UNEP Event panel answering questions from participants. Anne-Beth Skrede, Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions Arjan de Haan, International Development Research Centre Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany, in conversation with event participants. CONTACT Tobias Cabani | Tobias.Cabani.Extern@bmu.bund.de MORE INFORMATION https://www.greengrowthknowledge.org/event/launch-go-sdgs-initiative-creating-opportunities-inclusive-and-sustainable-economies

Moderator Kandeh Yumkella, Rapporteur Clean Cooking, Energy and Health, cautions that the international community has not moved the needle on clean cooking, “which is the silent tsunami killing more people than HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.” Highlights The World Bank launched the Clean Cooking Fund and both Netherlands and Denmark have already announced contributions to the fund and Norway and UK also pledged their support. The World Health Organization (WHO), DESA, UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank launched the Health and Energy Platform of Action (HEPA), aimed at helping countries strengthen political and technical cooperation between the health and energy sectors. Participants proposed a High-Level Coalition of Leaders for Clean Cooking, Energy and Health, to be supported by HEPA in collaboration with governments and stakeholders, to launch in conjunction with the African Union Summit in January 2020. The high-level event on the energy transition track of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit highlighted new financial commitments from the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and France; the establishment of a USD 500 million Clean Cooking Fund by the World Bank; and stories from recipient countries, donors, and organizations. Session 1: Energy Fueling DevelopmentRasmus Prehn, Minister for Development Cooperation, Denmark, opened the session by highlighting the need for public-private collaboration to support the energy transition. He said that Denmark will reduce its CO2 emissions by 70% by 2030 and will become carbon neutral by 2050. He also announced that Denmark will double its contribution to the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP) of the World Bank, with a focus on clean cooking.Fekadu Beyene, Commissioner, Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Commission, Ethiopia, highlighted the role of the energy transition track within the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in promoting and accelerating the transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient economies.Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and CEO SEforALL, emphasized that “the price of leadership has gone up,” due to the growing movement of increasingly environmentally-conscious youth. Given that the politicians will in the future come to depend on votes from today’s young people, she said political leaders will have to do more to tackle climate change.Patricia Fuller, Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change, said that intermittency presents a challenge for scaling up renewable energy, as the wind, for example, does not always blow and the sun does not always shine. Noting that many governments would like to set more ambitious renewable energy targets, she underscored the need for more investment in energy storage to address the intermittency challenge. Catherine Bremner, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), UK, said that scaling up renewables at an accelerated rate “will be key” if the SDGs and the Paris Agreement are to be achieved. Adding that energy storage is an essential enabler for energy transition and scaling up, including through replacing diesel engines with batteries, she expressed UK’s support for the World Bank’s Battery Storage program.Jens Frolich Holte, State Secretary, Norway, emphasized the potential of hydropower energy, and thus of water storage as energy storage. Noting that Norway would like to make storage “the most disruptive technology” in the energy sector, he announced that the government will scale up its support to ESMAP and contribute to the World Bank’s newly launched Clean Cooking Fund.Hussain Rasheed Hassan, Minister of Environment, Maldives, announced plans to increase the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix from 6% to 70% by 2030, even though that is not currently Maldives’ nationally determined contribution (NDC) target. He also released the Executive Summary of the report, the “Energy Storage Roadmap for the Maldives”.Ingolf Dietrich, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany, welcomed the World Bank’s Energy Storage Partnership and said Germany is currently considering increasing its financial support to the initiative.Jan-Willem van de Ven, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), presented on the Bank’s support to countries for low-carbon development pathways and announced an event on energy storage on 5 November 2019, to take place in London, UK. Mechthild Worsdorfer, Director, International Energy Agency (IEA), announced the launch of a new IEA report on 21 September that shows that there will be a nearly 12% growth in renewables in 2019. In order to achieve the energy transition needed by 2030, she underscored the need to upscale battery use by 40 times current rates.R.P. Gupta, Additional Secretary, Niti Aayog, India, said the share of renewable energy in India’s electricity mix is set to increase to 53% by 2030 and highlighted the need for concessional financing to enable India’s transition to renewables. Brigitte Collet, Ambassador for Climate Negotiations, France, announced that France will commit EUR 50 million for a partnership with the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition, which will allow the financing of projects in Africa through the African Trade Insurance Agency, and could mobilize an additional EUR 3 billion in investments. Kitty van der Heijden, Vice-Minister for International Cooperation, Netherlands, announced a USD 40 million donation to the World Bank’s Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative and USD 20 million to the World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund.Francesco la Camera, Director General, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), highlighted the need for risk mitigation to promote increased investments in renewable energy at the institutional, transactional, and project levels, including through instituting policies conducive to attracting investment from the private sector.Aparna Subramani, representing the International Solar Alliance (ISA), said that the Alliance has 79 signatory countries, has supported 73 countries in developing their solar energy roadmaps, and will support South-South partnerships. Mustapha Bakkoury, Chairman of the board, Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN), underscored the need for a long term vision for the energy sector. Liang Xuming, GEIDCO, called for establishing multi-stakeholder platforms at the UN level to promote Africa’s energy development and coordinating mechanisms for clean energy projects.Session 2: Energy Fueling People Clean Cooking, Energy and HealthKandeh Yumkella, Rapporteur, Clean Cooking, Energy and Health, said the international community has done well on electrification but has not moved the needle on clean cooking, “which is the silent tsunami killing more people than HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.”Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), noted that the vast majority of world’s 71 million refugees and displaced people do not have access to sustainable and clean cooking. Approximately 85% of refugees only have access to firewood, he said, which has health and gender violence risks for the women who go to gather the wood. He called for providing refugees with access to clean cooking. Zhenmin Liu, UN Under-Secretary-General, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), welcomed the World Bank’s proposed Clean Cooking Fund; highlighted DESA’s partnership with WHO, UNDP and the World Bank in the creation HEPA; and expressed strong support for the proposed High-Level Coalition of Leaders for Clean Cooking, Energy and Health to address the clean cooking access gap. Samira Ramadan Bawumia, Second Lady of Ghana, emphasized that the lack of clean cooking is a problem that affects mostly Africa and South Asia and called for supporting developing countries’ access to clean cooking facilities. Amina Moumouni, Minister of Energy, Niger, highlighted that the lack of access to affordable energy solutions has important health and environmental risks as people rely on firewood, which causes deforestation and thus worsens the country’s resilience to climate change.Irene Margaret Nafuna-Muloni, Minister of Energy, Uganda, presented national programs to advance the use of biogas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), thanking the World Bank for its support in advancing clean cooking. Matthew Nkhuwa, Minister for Energy and Water Development, Zambia, highlighted that Zambia needs USD 3.5 million for the development of biogas projects that promote clean cooking. Naoko Yamamoto, Assistant Director General, WHO, announced the establishment of HEPA together with UNDP, DESA, and World Bank.Mourad Wahba, Associate Administrator, UNDP, noted that the international community has now “the right confluence of factors” to promote clean cooking: the need on the ground; support from multilateral development banks; political leadership; and a mandate from the UN.Dymphna Van Der Lans, CEO, Clean Cooking Alliance, highlighted that the World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund will need to disperse the money to those businesses that can scale.Edwin Huizing, Executive Director, HIVOS, emphasized that realizing universal access to clean cooking will reduce CO2 emissions by 1 gigaton per year.Sheila Oparaocha, International Coordinator, Energia, called for gender approaches to be integrated into financing programs for clean cooking. Kimball Chen, Chairman, Global LPG Partnership, said “the evidence is clear” that LPG is an urgent solution to indoor air pollution, gender inequality, and deforestation. Helena Valdes, Head, Climate and Clean Air Coalition, said that black carbon is the hottest particulate matter element and thus relates not only to clean cooking but also to achieving SDG 13 (climate change). She said that some financing for combating climate change could also be used to promote clean cooking and added that the international community could reduce global warming by 0.5 C by addressing the issue of household energy and clean cooking. Ed Brown, Coordinator, Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Program, called for investing both in new green technologies, but also in the public sector and in the companies that need support to adopt these new technologies. Moderator Yumkella summarized some of the key points participants raised during the event, including: Stressing that global energy transformation must be accelerated to achieve both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, recognizing that the world is currently not on track to meet the SDGs including SDG 7 (on energy) or to keep global temperature rise this century below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels; Expressing “the deepest concern” that 3 billion people still lack access to clean cooking solutions; Calling upon all governments to make clean cooking solutions a top political priority and put in place specific policies, cross-sectoral plans, and public investments to catalyze much larger amounts of private financing; and Emphasizing the need for all stakeholders including businesses, civil society, women, and youth, to promote innovation, capacity building, knowledge sharing, South-South cooperation, and monitoring. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ meeting coverage, provided web coverage from the Energy Transition Track High-Level Event. Photos by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and CEO SEforALL, highlights that “the price of leadership has gone up,” as the growing youth movement shows that young people are increasingly environmentally-conscious and thus decision-makers will need to act on their demands to gain their votes. Brigitte Collet, Ambassador for Climate Negotiations, France, announces that France will commit EUR 50 million for a partnership with the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition, which will allow the financing of projects in Africa through the African Trade Insurance Agency. Riccardo Puliti, Global Director Energy and Extractive Industries Global Practice, World Bank, highlights the role of the energy transition track within the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in catalyzing partnerships for accelerating the transition to low-carbon economies. Jens Frolich Holte, State Secretary, Norway, announces that the Norway will scale up its support to ESMAP and contribute to the World Bank’s newly launched Clean Cooking Fund. Amina Moumouni, Minister of Energy, Niger, cautions that the lack of access to affordable energy solutions, and thus the reliance on firewood, causes deforestation and worsens the country’s resilience to climate change. View of the room CONTACT Minoru Takada | takada@un.org MORE INFORMATION https://indd.adobe.com/view/46533ac9-32e4-44b0-a8e9-4302e1f4babe