Talking about a just transition View Online [[link removed]] | Subscribe now [[link removed]]Powered byKnow better. Do better.Climate. Change.News from the ground, in a warming world

By Megan Rowling [[link removed]] | Just Transition Editor

Paris pact 2.0?

Climate finance for developing countries - or rather the lack of it - is firmly back on the international diplomatic agenda this week, as officials and campaigners gear up for the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, taking place on Thursday and Friday.

As the mid-year U.N. climate negotiations drew to a fractious close in Bonn last week - having only just managed to adopt an agenda by leaving out the contentious items - the debate about how to fund a clean and just energy transition in poorer nations [[link removed]] was raging strongly. And it will be the talk of the town in Paris too.

There are, of course, many different pieces to the climate-finance puzzle: from providing currency risk guarantees to get green investment flowing into emerging markets [[link removed]], to taxing shipping or aviation to help fill the new "loss and damage" fund due to be set up at the COP28 summit in Dubai.

While renewables investment has grown steadily since the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, more than 90% of the growth has come from advanced economies and China, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, noted in an interview with Context last week.

That puts the onus on richer economies "to assume their historical responsibility and make sure that clean energy investment in developing countries also grows as fast as needed [[link removed]]", Birol said.

There's a lot riding on how international financial institutions like the World Bank can help make that happen - but climate policy experts are warning against expecting substantial concrete outcomes from the Paris jamboree this week.

A woman looks at a solar panel, at a factory called Ener-G-Africa, where high-quality solar panels made by an all-women team are produced, in Cape Town, South Africa, February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander

Incentives for who?

Meanwhile, countries - rich and poor - are getting on with the job of putting in place the market conditions and financial incentives to boost investment in renewables. But getting it right is tough, especially if you're trying to create green jobs and tackle inequality at the same time.

In the United States, for example, new federal funding for clean energy projects [[link removed]] from President Joe Biden's landmark 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is worth an estimated $370 billion.

But some worry a key tax incentive aimed at boosting renewables investment in communities formerly dependent on the fossil fuel industry is bypassing cities like Chicago – and could affect job opportunities - while others are happy to see more money flowing into disadvantaged rural areas.

And in India, while solar power has forged ahead, the wind energy sector's sails have been deflated in the past five years by a bidding process that forced down prices and tipped some projects into financial disarray, causing problems throughout the supply chain.

Now as the government ramps up efforts to meet ambitious renewables goals, it is massaging policy to jumpstart the domestic market and get wind back on its feet, fuelling hopes of steadier employment [[link removed]], reports Roli Srivastava.

Vendor Niouth Fall smiles alongside rows of colourful fabric in Sandaga Market, Avenue Lamine Gueye, Dakar, Senegal, January 25, 2022. Marta Moreiras for StreetNet/ Handout via Thomson Reuters Foundation

Leave no one behind

Workers the world over are starting to grasp that if the shift to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future is going to be fair and protect their rights, then they need to have a say in how it's done.

Last week, 17 representatives of informal workers from around the globe attended the International Labour Conference in Geneva to call for social protection and demand that they and their peers are not left behind in the so-called "just transition" [[link removed]].

Informal workers - who number more than two billion worldwide - often bear the brunt of heatwaves or floods while out selling their wares on the streets or toiling in the fields. At the same time, many lack access to electricity, even as they do jobs that help protect the environment like waste-picking.

"Despite our disadvantaged condition ... we still have innovative ideas, and we can offer alternatives and solutions which may even work well for everyone," said Zimbabwean teacher-turned-street trader Lorraine Sibanda.

Listen up, leaders!

Megan

This week's top picks Climate-resilient homes in Bangladesh aim to put communities first [[link removed]]

Architects and aid groups invest in climate-proof housing to withstand disasters - but say the Bangladeshi government must step up

How recognizing Indigenous land protects forests and the climate [[link removed]]

Researchers find legal recognition of land owned by and designated for Indigenous and local communities rising in dozens of nations

Can parametric insurance change the game in climate disasters? [[link removed]]

Insurance that pays out pre-set sums instead of indemnifying losses is becoming more common as floods and hurricanes intensify

Florida homeowners battle for insurance after Hurricane Ian [[link removed]]

With hurricane season underway again, residents of the US state are struggling to find cover as insurers declare insolvency

Wanted: More skills for workers as green jobs grow [[link removed]]

Better understanding and promotion of green skills is needed for a just transition that protects the climate, nature and people

Is the world making real progress towards net zero emissions? [[link removed]]

Many countries and companies have set 'net zero' targets to curb global warming - but most have been criticised as insufficient

Read all of our coverage here [[link removed]] Editor's pick End of insurance? [[link removed]]

As climate change fuels growing losses from disasters such as wildfires, floods and storms in the United States, access to insurance protection against those threats is becoming increasingly unaffordable – and in some cases unavailable. That is leaving many more families, organizations and governments facing growing financial risk – but it also driving innovation in reducing risks, from raising homes to making homes more fire-proof.

[[link removed]]Discover more Nature [[link removed]] Climate Risks [[link removed]] Net Zero [[link removed]] Just Transition [[link removed]] Climate Justice [[link removed]] Green Cities [[link removed]] Thank you for reading!

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