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Save the date: Crux Alliance reception at COP28 co-hosted with Drive Electric and ReNew2030
If you are attending COP28, please join us for a reception on December 4 celebrating the power of expert networks for delivering climate policy wins across the globe. Speakers will highlight how members of the Crux Alliance, Drive Electric Campaign, and ReNew2030 are sharing best practices across borders and partnering with local communities to ensure a just transition. You’ll have the chance to meet the changemakers doing the work vital to realizing the Paris Agreement goals.
CLASP is getting appliance efficiency back on track
At COP26 in Glasgow, 15 countries committed to doubling the energy efficiency of four priority products by 2030: air conditioners, lighting, electric motors, and refrigerators. Together these products account for more than 40 percent of global electricity use—making their efficiency critical to reaching net-zero emissions. CLASP’s new report, Getting Appliances Back on Track, assesses the signatories’ progress toward the 2030 goal. The analysis found that countries are not on pace to double efficiency, but governments do have the policy tools to get on track. This report is the first publication of CLASP’s #NetZeroHeroes COP28 campaign, which shines a light on the critical role of appliance efficiency in the lead-up to climate discussions at COP28.
Agora Industry launches new online presence
Electrification, energy-efficient production, hydrogen made with renewable energy, recycling, and a circular economy—the tools for profitable, climate-friendly industry–already exist today. Rapidly scaling up these existing low-carbon solutions could cut up to 40 percent of carbon emissions worldwide. Agora Industry works with policymakers and industry leaders to achieve that goal, together with its partner organizations around the world. Now, Agora Industry has launched a brand-new website and social media channels to better disseminate its work to global practitioners and policymakers alike.
ICCT conducts real-world NOx measurement from ships and recommends action to protect health
Globally, air pollution from ships caused an estimated 266,000 premature deaths from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease in 2020. Reducing ships’ nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions could alleviate the health burdens associated with the shipping industry. Using exhaust gas sampling devices attached to helicopters that were flown into the plumes of ships as they sailed, ICCT and its partners at Energy and Environmental Research Associates obtained 615 samples of real-world NOx emissions from 545 unique ships operating in Danish waters between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in 2019. The researchers found emissions rates increased at lower engine loads and decreased at higher loads. However, existing regulations assume that marine engines most often operate at higher engine loads. In the report, ICCT recommends revising NOx regulations to make them more effective at reducing air pollution. Rather than relying on weighted emissions limits, the International Maritime Organization could consider implementing not-to-exceed (NTE) standards for new and existing ships, particularly focusing on operations at low loads.
Explicit ApS, an emissions monitoring firm, operates a helicopter equipped with gas analyzers (“sniffers”) to sample exhaust gases from a ship in Denmark.
Forum Energii is advancing Poland’s just transition from coal
Eastern Poland (Wielkopolska Wschodnia) is undergoing a rapid energy transition away from coal and toward renewables, benefiting public health, the Polish economy, and the climate. However, the closure of coal mines and power plants means the loss of thousands of coal-related jobs. The European Commission (EC) is now considering public aid and pension rights for these workers. Agora Energiewende’s partner in Poland, Forum Energii, has been working to support a just transition by advising the utility, ZE PAK, on how to effectively make its case in Brussels, and is also facilitating meetings with the European Commission. The EC’s decision is expected later this year.
EU Commissioner Elisa Ferreira at a meeting with Daniel Baliński, Advisor to the Board of ZE PAK; Alicja Messerszmidt, head of the trade union at ZE PAK; and Aleksandra Gawlikowska-Fyk from Forum Energii.
RAP analysis enables rapid expansion of renewables in China
China has the largest power sector in the world, so the country’s clean energy transition is critical to solving global climate change. In September, China’s national economic and planning agency finalized a landmark framework for its emerging electricity spot market rules. The new framework will support the rapid expansion of renewable energy by encouraging seamless grid integration while removing obstacles hindering coal plant retirement. The framework adopts RAP’s recommended market monitoring and regulatory mechanisms to prevent coal generators from manipulating the market and stymieing clean competition, and will accelerate China’s transition by prioritizing clean energy pathways.
GBPN and RAP joint project tests low-carbon affordable housing models in India
GBPN and RAP are working together with state utilities, local partners, property developers, and universities to create “living labs” in the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. The labs will identify and test innovative policies and technologies to accelerate decarbonization of India’s building sector and the energy grid. As Dr. Saket Sarraf of RAP explains: “Living labs present a unique opportunity to approach problems from the grassroots level, fostering collaboration to co-create solutions and strategies that will truly benefit the residents of affordable housing. We are aiming to build a future where sustainable living is accessible to all.” This project harnesses the enthusiasm of the government and the private sector to deliver the greatest impact.
ITDP makes investment case for transport electrification at UrbanShift Asia Forum
Investing in electric public buses and transport now could yield $1 trillion in savings annually by 2030. At the recent UrbanShift Asia Forum 2023: Financing Climate Action in Cities event in New Delhi, ITDP Indonesia joined a high-level investment roundtable alongside government and transport officials from Jakarta to present on Deep Dive Alternative Business Models for Transjakarta Electrification. ITDP Indonesia Director Gonggomtua Sitanggang discussed innovative financing models to help Transjakarta’s bus fleet reach its goal of 100 percent electrification by 2030 and emphasized the need for more public and private investment and collaboration. ITDP continues to reinforce the urgency of transport electrification for Indonesia to meet its ambitious 2030 emissions reduction targets.
ITDP Indonesia Director Gonggomtua Sitanggang presenting on transport electrification at UrbanShift Asia.
