The U.N. climate talks may be over for another year, but the work of unpacking what exactly was agreed in Dubai — and whether it comes anywhere near meeting the climate emergency — has just begun.
Today, we take a look at three areas — climate adaptation, technology, and food systems — where experts say the world, even post-COP 28, is still falling short.
Also in today’s edition: How to win more business with USAID.
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Reality check #1: Adaptation
“Devoid of actionable commitments,” “weak,” “no accountability” — those were some of the words observers (and some negotiators) used to sum up a climate adaptation framework agreed at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 28, this week.
The text is meant to help countries develop adaptation plans, orient investments, and track progress on delivering on a global goal to “enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change.”
African countries repeatedly described this point as “the most important outcome for Africa at COP 28.”
However, as Chloé Farand writes for Devex, low-income nations wanted the framework to link the adaptation goal with specific monetary targets — something high-income nations resisted.
In the end, countries agreed on seven thematic targets to achieve “by 2030 and progressively beyond,” such as tackling water scarcity and building climate-resilient food production — but without quantitative and qualitative targets.
A “request” to high-income countries to provide low-income nations “with long-term, scaled-up, predictable, new and additional finance” was removed, Chloé writes. While the text previously “committed” to closing the adaptation finance gap, the final agreement only “seeks” to do so.
Read: COP 28 adaptation accord blasted as 'devoid of actionable commitments'
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A message from MSD for Mothers
Strengthening supply chains to improve maternal health
In Nigeria, postpartum hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal mortality. LifeBank, a social enterprise founded in 2016, collaborates with governments to help provide a more reliable and safe blood supply. LifeBank receives private sector support from MSD for Mothers and support from the U.S. DFC.
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Things are bad enough already in many places around the world, but one concern at COP 28 — as no doubt around many family Christmas tables — was the extent to which technology will allow planet Earth to avoid the worst of the climate crisis endgame.
Asked whether technologies like carbon capture and storage will save the day, Alok Sharma — once a U.K. cabinet minister leading the COP 26 talks in Glasgow, now climate and finance fellow at The Rockefeller Foundation — had this to say at Devex’s Climate + event, on the sidelines of COP 28 in Dubai:
“Let’s not kid ourselves. It is not cheap enough, it is not deployed enough across the world, to make the difference where we will be making a big cut in emissions by 2030 just relying on tech,” Sharma said. “We have to address the issue of fossil fuel production and usage.”
But that is not to say the technology is not improving in areas such as how to combat disease.
“I've been at this for 17 years, and there's never been a moment in those 17 years where there's been simultaneously such kind of risk and peril and promise, and it's because of the technology pipeline and some of the innovations we're seeing.” said Martin Edlund, CEO of Malaria No More.
Get more takeaways — including a reminder from activist Harjeet Singh on what COP is meant to be all about.
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Digital activism: transforming social movements and humanitarianism
Digital tools are helping activists and humanitarians in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa to provide health care, coordinate aid, and champion equality.
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Reality check #3: Food systems
As the dust begins to settle, there is time to look in more detail at the assortment of announcements from COP 28. For instance, the Food and Agriculture Organization issued a global road map on how to:
- Meet the nutritional needs of a global population forecast to reach 10 billion by 2050.
- Reduce global greenhouse gases to net zero over the same period.
It’s important. Agrifood systems contribute about one-third of all human-made global greenhouse gas emissions
However, as Devex Senior Editor Tania Karas reports, many experts say the plan falls short.
Emile Frison with the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems argued the plan put too much emphasis on incremental “efficiency-first” proposals, without questioning the overarching system.
And fossil fuels, the subject of so much angst around the negotiating table in Dubai, barely rated a mention.
“When you’re talking about aligning with 1.5 [degrees Celsius], with the Paris Agreement, and this whole COP has been about what’s the role of fossil fuels, for the roadmap to not even mention it in passing was a huge miss,” Patty Fong, program director at the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, tells Tania. “Global industrialized food systems are highly energy intensive. And it’s mostly fossil fuel-based.”
Read: FAO's net-zero plan for food systems lacks ambition, experts say
For more content like this, sign up to Devex Dish, a free, weekly newsletter on the transformation of the global food system.
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Finally, for our Devex Pro members, my colleagues Miguel Antonio Tamonan and David Ainsworth have two essential pieces out this week on the U.S. Agency for International Development.
In the first, Miguel breaks down the agency’s geographic and sectoral spending priorities in the coming months.
Nearly a quarter of the new opportunities will be procured in Ukraine, with nearly $1.1 billion for three opportunities in energy, rail, and human trafficking. Thematically, there are opportunities in economic growth and trade, health, water and sanitation, and agriculture.
But if you want to win that work, you would do well to read David’s piece with insights from Mike Shanley, founder of Konektid — a consultancy that helps companies win business with USAID.
Shanley warns, “If you’re getting ready after the RFA [request for applications] is live on grant.gov … know this: You’re going up against established partners with strong expertise in that area who have been prepping for months if not over a year.”
Read more: USAID is planning to spend $27.3B in the coming months
Also read: How to win more business with USAID
See you soon at 12 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CET) for the last Devex Pro Leader Roundtable of the year — a look back on what we learned this year. This event is exclusive to our Pro members. Not yet gone Pro? Start your 15-day free trial today to access all our exclusive content.
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At the Global Refugee Forum, the U.N. refugee agency warned that the Israel-Hamas war could further push the number of people who are displaced globally past the current 144 million, already a record high. [Al Jazeera]
A new World Bank report has revealed that low- and middle-income countries paid a record $443.5 billion to external debts in 2022, money that their governments could have spent on public services. [The Guardian]
The U.S. is working on a U.N. General Assembly resolution, which it hopes will be supported by all 193 member countries, to establish ethical guidelines for AI development and deployment. [Axios]
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Thank you for reading today’s Newswire, edited by Fiona Zublin, copy edited by Florence Williams, and produced by Yula Mediavillo. Have a news tip? Email [email protected].
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