Highlights and images for 4 November 2021

Negotiations continued at pace on Thursday, with Saturday’s deadline for closing the subsidiary bodies looming on the horizon. As is common at this stage of the negotiations, several items look like they may run up against the deadlines as consensus still eludes many draft texts.

Highlights of the day included:

• Negotiations on finance, transparency, and Article 6 (cooperative approaches)
• A series of energy day events, and a special event on the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

You can also dive deeper by reading the full ENB daily report.

Negotiations

Considerable time was spent on three of the core issues: finance, transparency, and Article 6. Negotiators also met to work on other key issues, including adaptation, loss and damage, technology, and science and review.

Finance discussions continued to dominate the agenda throughout the day. There was a “good news, bad news” type of discussion on the fourth biennial assessment and overview of climate finance flows. Some highlighted the overall increase in climate finance flows, while others noted that only 0.34% of climate finance actually flows through UN climate funds and doesn’t necessarily reach those most vulnerable to climate change. Countries also discussed guidance on how these UN climate funds - the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund - should allocate the money.

Transparency discussions convened for seven hours. These discussions revolve around how countries will report on their actions and support under the Paris Agreement, from their emissions reductions and resilience-building measures related to the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the financial and other support provided (or received) to take climate action. While many noted progress, there are still outstanding issues, from the legal nature of the tables to reporting on loss and damage.

Several Article 6 negotiators remained optimistic that this issue could be resolved in Glasgow. They focused on the market mechanism in Article 6.4, which will govern the buying and selling of carbon credits. Discussions included how to include and safeguard the rights of Indigenous Peoples and how to ensure that the market will lead to an overall reduction in global emissions. Delegates also discussed the governance arrangements and possible activities of a work programme for non-market approaches under Article 6.8.

Around the Venue

It was a busy day around the venue. The theme of the day was energy, and a number of events aimed to showcase resolve to end unabated coal use. The Powering Past Coal Alliance held an event with a broad range of stakeholders that spoke to ending investment and planning for coal production.

In a special event, the IPCC demonstrated the effects of fossil fuel production and use and other drivers of climate change. Members presented the key findings in the Working Group I contribution to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, which focuses on the physical science basis of climate change. IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee characterized the report as “a wake-up call.” The report explains the unprecedented changes in our climate due to human activities that affect every region. As Lee explained, everyone is affected, in multiple ways and with inequitable consequences, but, with action, some of the effects could be slowed and stopped.

Climatic changes and energy transitions require putting people at the center. The Presidency met with members of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. An earlier “Energy Day” event considered how to accelerate a just and inclusive energy transition.

For additional analysis, read the full ENB daily report.