COP28 – Dec. 6

Asia Pacific leaders take the centre stage at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP28). Several APAC countries have taken bold steps to support renewable energy, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and solidify support to other regions to meet climate change goals.

• Loss and Damage Fund: World leaders have finally agreed on the operationalization of the long-awaited loss and damage fund. The fund will provide financial assistance to developing countries suffering from devastating climate change, even if they did not contribute significantly to the problem. Japan will contribute US$10 million to the fund.

• Triple Renewable Energy and the Fossil Fuel Phase-out: Despite progress on renewables and methane, fossil fuels remain a contentious issue. 118 governments, including Australia, pledged to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity by 2030.  However, China and India did not back the COP28 pledge as it was twinned with curbing the use of fossil fuels, which they see as essential to reliably meeting rapidly rising power demand. India will adopt a wait-and-watch approach to the proposal to phase-out fossil fuels.

• Australia Ends Finance for Fossil Fuel Expansion Overseas: The Albanese government announced that it had joined 40 other countries in signing up to the clean energy transition partnership, an agreement first reached in Glasgow two years ago. Moreover, it aims to create new rules to end international financing of fossil fuels across the OECD, and commits signatories to phasing out their offshore support for coal, oil and gas within 12 months.

• Japan’s Relationship with Coal: Japan is likely to agree to triple renewable energy use and pledge to reduce its reliance on coal. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has also vowed to stop building new coal-fired power plants that lack measures to cut carbon emissions. Japan has already cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent and is making progress towards its goal of a 46-percent reduction by 2030 from 2013 levels. To reduce carbon emissions, Japan is promoting the use of hydrogen, and its derivative ammonia, by burning it alongside gas and coal at existing power stations.

• Methane Crackdown: The US, UAE, and China, along with other major emitters, unveiled a raft of announcements targeting methane emissions. Even though China is facing criticism over its plan to control  methane emissions, China’s special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua has said China had taken measures to control methane emissions, including reusing it in the coal and oil sectors.

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) Rolls Out Initiatives for Asia Pacific: Together with several partners, ADB has launched a ‘Nature Solutions Finance Hub’ for Asia and the Pacific. It aims to raise at least US$2 billion for investment programmes that incorporate nature-based solutions by focusing on capital markets and other sources of private capital. The ADB has also launched a new assistance program that will allow them to research the growing threat of heat stress on women, and identify specific policies, actions, and investments that can help governments limit the impact on women and girls. The program will be implemented in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tajikistan.

• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Launches Singapore-Asia Taxonomy: To boost climate mitigation across eight key sectors, Singapore has set new criteria for banks and financial institutions on the financing of green business activities, and transitional activities that are not yet green, but are on a pathway to net-zero emissions. This will reduce the risk of banks and financial institutions greenwashing or transition washing, ensuring that transition activities meet the green criteria over time.

• India Launches the Green Credits Initiative (GCI): In a pivotal moment, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled his Green Credits initiative. The programme is aimed at incentivising environmental action and promoting sustainable development. It is also billed as an alternative to carbon credits and is part of the Green Credit Program that India’s Ministry of Environment launched in October. The credits will initially be generated from a focus on water conservation and afforestation projects.

• Singapore Inks Several Preliminary Carbon Credit Deals: Singapore has managed to “substantively conclude” separate negotiations with Bhutan and Paraguay, to pave the way for carbon credit trading aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Singapore has also locked in MOUs for collaboration on carbon credits with Rwanda and Fiji.

For additional counsel on sustainability and geopolitical matters, please contact your
Weber Shandwick client service team or get in touch with us.

• The content of this news bulletin is a summary of publicly available news articles on events and developments related to the topic.
• The views and opinions reflected by these headlines do not necessarily represent those of Weber Shandwick.