Article Author: Andrew Gilder

Africa Carbon Markets Initiative announces 13 action programs

The African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) was launched at COP27 in November last year, with the ambition of having at least 300 million carbon credits from projects on the continent retired annually by 2030. At its Steering Committee meeting in January this year during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, ACMI launched 13 action programmes to achieve this goal. This includes the development of “country carbon activation plans” which Kenya, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, Togo, Nigeria, and Burundi have all signed up to do.
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Biodiversity Gets its Paris Moment: Climate Takeaways from COP15

In the early hours of the morning on 19 December 2022, the gavel came down on the 15th COP of the Convention on Biodiversity, hosted in Montreal under the Presidency of China. The outcome of the COP is the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the product of more than four years of global negotiations. Some of the debates at the negotiations will be familiar to veterans of the climate negotiations, including on the ambition of 2030 and 2050 targets and their specificity, a lack of finance for developing countries to meet the targets, the ability of states to determine how to meet the global targets through national planning frameworks, the ratcheting of ambition, the protection of indigenous community rights and special dispensations and considerations for small island states and least developed countries. In our analysis we highlight some of the key aspects of the GBF, particularly as they relate to climate, focusing on the main targets agreed to. We also discuss the debates around finance, explaining why the DRC understandably objected to the final package that was presented. Lastly, we unpack the interlinkages between two regimes and how they can learn from each other going forward.
  • Adaptation, Climate Finance

IEA Recommends EU Pursue a “You Collect We Buy” Approach for African Methane Gas to Meet Immediate Demand

The IEA recently released a report highlighting that the EU’s potential gas supply-demand gap could reach 27 billion cubic metres in 2023. It lists a raft of measures that the Union could adopt, including the import of methane gas that is ordinarily vented and flared in African countries. It encourages the EU to commit to a “you collect, we buy” approach to plug the gap in supply in the short term, focusing on ready to export markets in Algeria, Angola, Egypt and Nigeria.
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World Bank Looks to Revise its Climate Lending

Earlier this month the World Bank released an “evolution roadmap” to change its mission, operating model and financial capacity with a view to expanding its lending capacity to address global crises such as climate change. It intends to negotiate this with its shareholders in April, with a view to it being approved by the joint World Bank and IMF Development Committee in October this year. Amongst various reforms, the Bank is questioning whether climate vulnerability could substitute poverty as a lending criteria. This could mean a new concessional fund that middle income African countries could access on more affordable terms.
  • Climate Finance

Biden Administration Confirms Intent to Invest US55 billion in Africa in the Next Three years, Including in Climate Change

During December’s second US-Africa Leaders Summit, the Biden administration confirmed its intention to invest $55 billion in Africa over the next three years. In addition to finance, the US intends to support Africa’s membership of the G20, something that the African Union has been seeking for some time. G20 membership is an important means to secure influence and progress agendas within climate negotiations. To remain relevant the US will need to ensure that the intended reshoring of clean technology manufacturing and development in America is done in a way that does not alienate its African trading partners. It will need to closely engage with Africa to ensure the latter benefits from the increased export of critical rare minerals needed for the green transition.
  • Climate Finance

Steel Tariffs, Deforestation Rules and the CBAM see Climate Change Increasingly Used to Justify Trade Measures.

It has been reported that the EU and US are considering new steel tariffs on climate grounds, the revised design and implementation date for the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism was recently announced, and an agreement has been reached in the EU to pass new legislation guaranteeing that imported products are not linked to forest destruction or degradation. In this week’s brief we discuss how States are increasingly using climate change as a justification for imposing new trade measures, and consider their implications for the African continent. It has been reported that the EU and US are considering new steel tariffs on climate grounds, the revised design and implementation date for the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism was recently announced, and an agreement has been reached in the EU to pass new legislation guaranteeing that imported products are not linked to forest destruction or degradation. In this week’s brief we discuss how States are increasingly using climate change as a justification for imposing new trade measures, and consider their implications for the African continent.
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EU Reiterates Promised Investment in African Energy through the Global Gateway

At a follow up meeting between the European Commission and the African Union, the EU reiterated its to increase investment in African clean energy projects and to scale up infrastructure investment. It will do so via the EU-Africa Global Gateway Investment Package, which was announced last year. The additionality of these funds, the role of the private sector and the lack of clarity on what they will be applied to however remains in question.
  • Climate Finance

Post COP27 Developed Countries Keep Pursuing Fossil Fuel Projects

There has been much finger-pointing on which countries or regions were responsible for the failure to reach agreement on text to phase out all fossil fuels at COP27, with many developed countries expressing their disappointment on the lack of mitigation ambition. Yet many developed countries, particularly within the EU, are themselves concluding new fossil fuel deals, barely before the ink has dried on the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan. Germany is considering spending €10 billion in investing in 10 new fossil fuel projects, France just restarted a coal plant, and the UK just approved its first coal mine after 30 years.
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COP15 mulls over a Global Biodiversity Framework

At this year's Convention on Biodiversity COP15 in Montreal between 7 and 19 December, Parties are deliberating over a Global Biodiversity Framework, which many are hoping will be a "Paris Moment for Nature". The draft framework is likely to be comprised of 21 targets and 10 ‘milestones’ to be achieved by the end of the decade. In our brief we consider linkages and similarities between these negotiations and the climate regime, in particular on finance and the global goal on adaptation.
  • Adaptation, Climate Finance

Vanuatu publishes a Draft Resolution requesting an ICJ Opinion on Climate Legal Liability

Vanuatu, as part of a coalition of 18 states, has recently made available and intends to commence negotiations on a draft United Nations General Assembly resolution that requests an International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on climate change legal liability. In our analysis, we discuss some of the legal considerations around the draft text and speculate on what it might mean for loss and damage.
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