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Welcome to Nature4Climate's Daily Nature Brief at COP27. We encourage you to forward and share this newsletter with your colleagues at COP and beyond to stay up to date on the latest Natural Climate Solutions news.
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WEEK 2 BEGINS
Welcome to Week 2. Progress on negotiations during the first week was slow, and there is significant work ahead to bridge political differences. Whether the drive exists to tackle some of the difficult challenges ahead remains to be seen. There are significantly diverging views on a number of key items, and a wide range of proposed elements. On the nature front, we're looking forward to Biodiversity Day on Wednesday to gather signals for linking the COP outcome to calls for a global deal for nature at the upcoming biodiversity summit.
But first, quite a bit to recap from the close of Week 1.
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N4C Commitment Tracker
Nature4Climate has developed a “ NBS commitment tracker” – an evaluation of progress on joint action commitments that have been made on nature-based solutions from 2019 to 2022. The tracker shows some good progress across a number of different initiatives and commitments, but also that there is much more to do. Overall it tracks 80 commitments so far, and finds that 55% demonstrate substantial signs of progress or completion, while 45% show only small signs of progress, or no progress at all.
We will be keeping this tracker updated as more information becomes available. This resource was compiled through desktop research; there will be gaps or missing information that we need your help to fill. Please reach out to us with comments and we will continue to update on an ongoing basis.
We hope this will serve not only as a database of commitments that have been made, but also as a way to celebrate progress as well as encourage renewed commitment to taking action on nature loss and climate change.
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FOREST AND CLIMATE LEADERS PARTNERSHIP
The global political recognition of the critical role of forests and nature-based solutions in meeting our climate goals has moved into high gear this week at COP27. On Monday, the World Leaders Summit on Forests and Land Use reported on progress in implementing the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use. It also launched the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership, a platform to apply focused, ambitious political will to scale up and accelerate concrete action to meet our forest and climate goals. Co-chaired by US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Minister Samuel A. Jinapor of Ghana, 26 of its 28 members participated in the FCLP’s inaugural Ministerial meeting on Saturday to begin acting on its mission. |
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Day 6 Round Up
Brazilian Restoration. A group formed by Itaú, Marfrig, Rabobank, Santander, Suzano and Vale announced the creation of a company exclusively dedicated to the activities of restoration of degraded areas and conservation of forests in Brazil. Called Biomas, the company will have an initial contribution of R$ 120 million — R$ 20 million from each of the six partners. The idea is that it will be maintained in the following years through the sale of carbon credits, and to protect and restore 4 million hectares.
USAID Joins 1t.org. As part of USAID's Climate Strategy and in alignment with the 1t.org global goal to conserve, restore, and grow one trillion trees by 2030, the Agency announced that it is joining the 1t.org US chapter and pledged to support the conservation, restoration, or management of 100 million hectares of forests with a climate change mitigation benefit this decade.
Farmers First Cluster. The Soft Commodities Forum (SCF), composed of six major agribusinesses - ADM, Bunge, Cargill, COFCO International, Louis Dreyfus Company and Viterra - is at the forefront of mobilizing partnerships that identify, invest in and scale solutions to eliminate deforestation and land conversion from soy production, and incentivize sustainable land use in Brazil and beyond. To administer and direct funds in the most strategic way, the SCF has created the Farmer First Clusters Initiative to provide a combination of solutions to address soy-driven deforestation and conversion in four key Cerrado landscapes: Western Mato Grosso, Southern Maranhão, Western Bahia, and Tocantins. Through this endeavor, SCF members will collectively invest USD $7.2 million to establish a financial model providing soy producers with adequate incentives to halt deforestation and conversion in municipalities where the risk of conversion is high.
Water for Women. The Water for Women Fund, a five-year inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) program on track to reach three million people across Asia Pacific by the end of 2022, will be extended for two years. The Australian government will invest a further $36 million to support climate-resilient, inclusive and sustainable WASH services and systems, and safeguard water security in our region.
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Additional Round-Up and Thought Leadership
The Nature Conservancy Recaps US Midterm Elections That Boosted NBS
In 2022, voters in 14 US states considered ballot measures that secured public funding and forward-looking policies to protect people and nature. As of the latest vote counts, 17 measures passed or are leading, totaling more than $7 billion for conservation.
Stolen Amazon: the roots of environmental crime in five countries
This report from InSight Crime and the Igarapé Institute uncovers the motivators of environmental crime in the Amazon rainforest within the borders of Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, and Suriname, home to 20 percent of the Amazon Basin. They have collectively lost 10 million hectares of forest over the last two decades – an area equivalent to that of Portugal.
Environmental Defense Fund Highlights the Role of Indigenous Communities In Achieving Success for NBS
Environmental Defense Fund kicks off a new video series “ For the Forest, For the Future” that highlights why Indigenous Peoples must be included in the international climate table. The first two videos are now live and can be viewed here and here. They also share a blog recapping the major forest-related announcements during week one of COP27.
VCMI and We Mean Business Join Forces
Through a new partnership, VCMI and the We Mean Business Coalition will deepen engagement and feedback from companies in the VCMI process. WMB will support companies to follow VCMI’s Claims Code, helping to ensure carbon market investments strengthen – rather than undermine – global action towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Powerful op-eds (in case you missed them):
Need To Meet Company Net Zero Goals? Be Sure To Choose The Right Tool
Mark Moroge, Forbes
EDF’s Vice President for Natural Climate Solutions, Mark Moroge, in which he cautions buyers against purchasing REDD.plus units to meet their climate commitments, as they lack important safeguards for integrity.
Protecting forests is even more powerful in the climate fight than we thought
Frances Seymour & Michael Wolosin, MarketWatch
Forests can deliver an estimated 1/3 of annual mitigation needed to keep global warming to 1.5 °C, the target set at the pivotal Paris meetings in 2015. But forests are even more powerful than we previously thought.
This could be the answer to tackling the climate crisis
Boris Johnson & Ivan Duque, The Independent
In sawing down our ancient forests we are cutting our own throats. It is time to review our legislation so that these crimes face proper sanctions.
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NatureTech Event
3pm-4pm, 14th November, Nature Zone (Blue Zone, COP27)
Come join us in the Nature Zone to help celebrate the launch of a new landscape analysis report of the nature tech market that N4C, along with climate investment platform Capital for Climate, have released today to bring attention and finance to this burgeoning sector. This dynamic and interactive in-person event will discuss the financing of Nature Tech, the potential market for it, and the safeguards the sector could adopt.
We need nature-based solutions to provide 30% of the mitigation required by 2030 in order to keep our global climate and nature goals in reach. The application of technology to NbS makes sense, both for the sake of the planet and financially, since an estimated $44 trillion of economic value relies on nature.
Nature Tech can help to address the interrelated challenges of climate change and nature loss, supporting global climate, nature and sustainability goals. Given the point we are at in both these crises, we need all the innovation, speed and scalability of technology that we can throw at it, working alongside science and with the appropriate guardrails in place.
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TODAY'S EVENTS
All times local Sharm El-Sheikh time. The full schedule for the NatureZone can be viewed here.
Scaling climate resilient solutions via innovative SMEs and WEF nexus approach
Time: 8:30-9:30 AM
Organizers: CGIAR, FAO, Rockefeller Foundation
Location: Food and Agriculture Pavilion
Implementing Global Nature-Based Solutions Standards: Best Practices
Time: 9:00-10:00 AM
Organizers: Pew Charitable Trusts
Location: Nature Zone Pavilion
Getting to Zero-Deforestation by 2030
Time: 9:00-10:00 AM
Organizers: WRI
Location: US Pavilion
Supporting Local Adaptation Knowledge to Scale Up Nature-based Solutions
Time: 9:00-10:00 AM
Organizers: FAO, GATC/COICA, CIFOR-ICRAF, Conservation International
Location: Capacity Building Hub
Climate finance: the role of the international cooperation for low-emission development in the Brazilian Amazon
Time: 9:00-11:00 AM
Location: Amazonia Legal Hub
Carbon Markets In The Americas: Landscape, Leadership and Growth Prospects
Time: 9:30-11:00 AM
Organizer: IETA
Location: IETA BusinessHub Side Event Room
Unlocking Finance for Nature: Towards Scalable Carbon Monitoring Solutions
Time: 9:00-10:00 AM
Organizers: Pew Charitable Trusts
Location: Nature Zone Pavilion
Nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation
Time: 10:00 - 11:00 AM
Organizer: PRIMA
Location: Mediterranean Pavilion
Official launch of the new FAO Strategy on Climate Change 2022–2031
Time: 10:00-11:00 AM
Organizers: CGIAR, FAO, Rockefeller Foundation
Location: Food and Agriculture Pavilion
A Bioeconomy In The Amazon: What Role Businesses Can Play?
Time: 10:00-11:00 AM
Organizer: World Resources Institute Brasil
Location: Business Pavilion Auditorium A
Unpacking the Legality of Oceans Conversations
Time: 10:30-11:30 AM
Location: Singapore Pavilion
Unlocking Finance for Nature: Towards Scalable Carbon Monitoring Solutions
Time: 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Organizers: WRI
Location: Nature Pavilion
Climate Finance for Indigenous Peoples’ high-integrity Forests: the case and urgency for tailored financing mechanisms
Time: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Organizer: UNDP
Location: UNDP Pavilion
Boost the carbon markets - Germany’s support for developing countries to use Art. 6 to raise ambition and accelerate sustainable development
Time: 11:30 AM-12:30 PM
Organizers: Germany
Location: German Pavilion
Towards Resilient, Sustainable, Transformed African Agriculture and Food Systems
Time: 11:30 AM-1:00 PM
Organizers: Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and
Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)
Location: Akhenaten Room (150)
How to bridge the climate finance gap and support smallholders in food systems transformation
Time: 11:30 AM-1:00 PM
Organizers: Environmental Defense Fund
Location: Osiris (300)
Why direct and local climate financing for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities is urgent now
Time: 11:30 AM-1:00 PM
Organizers: Forest Trends Association
Location: Thebes (150)
Harnessing Carbon Markets for NDC enhancement
Time: 12:30-2:00 PM
Organizers: UNDP
Location: UNDP Sustainable Finance Pavilion
What do Recent Climate Actions and Investments in the U.S. Mean for the World?
Time: 1:00-2:00 PM
Organizers: The Nature Conservancy
Location: Nature Zone Pavilion
REDD+ In Amazonas: Sustainability and Guarantee of The Rights of Traditional People
Time: 1:15 2:00 PM
Location: Amazonia Legal Hub
Transition to a low emission economy in Central America and Dominican Republic: The AFOLU Initiative
Time: 1:15-2:45 PM
Organizers: Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD)
Location: Akhenaten (150)
Doing it Better: Unpacking Evidence from the Field and Lessons Learned from NbS for Adaptation
Time: 2:00-3:00 PM
Organizers: IUCN, Conservation International
Location: Capacity Building Hub
Construction and Innovation of The Amazon Bioeconomy Session 1
Time: 2:15-3:15 PM
Location: Legal Amazon Hub
The role of Indigenous women in the face of the climate crisis
Time: 2:15–3:45 PM
Organizer: The Global Alliance of Territorial Communities
Location: Egypt Pavillion Area B
How Scaling Nature Tech Could Help Solve the Climate and Nature Crises
Time: 3:00-4:00 PM
Organizers: Nature4Climate
Location: Nature Zone Pavilion
Construction and Innovation of The Amazon Bioeconomy Session 2
Time: 3:25 4:25 PM
Location: Legal Amazon Hub
Indigenous Peoples Advisory Group of the GCF
Time: 3:30-4:30 PM
Organizers: Green Climate Fund
Location: GCF-GEF Pavilion
Launch of the Singapore Blue Carbon Institute + Reception
Time: 4:00-5:30 PM
Location: Singapore Pavilion
Farmers as soil carbon stewards
Time: 4:00-5:00 PM
Organizers: CGIAR, FAO, Rockefeller Foundation
Location: Food and Agriculture Pavilion
Walking the talk on forest and climate commitments: A conversation with those involved with the Forest Climate Leaders' Partnership
Time: 4:30 PM
Organizer: UNDP
Location: UNDP Pavilion
Enhancing climate action through peatlands
Time: 4:45-6:15 PM
Organizers: Wetlands International
Location: Akhenaten (150)
The land sector: a game changer for a net zero CO2, adaptation, biodiversity & food security
Time: 4:45-6:15 PM
Organizers: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
Location: Osiris (300)
River, lake & aquifer basins: the right scale for adaptation to climate change!
Time: 5:00-6:30 PM
Organizers: French water agencies, the International Office for Water (OiEau), French Water Partnership (PFE) and the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO )
Location: French pavilion
Mobile pastoralism for climate change mitigation, ecosystem restoration and resilient food systems
Time: 6:00 PM 7:05 PM
Location: Indigenous Peoples Pavilion
Climate Adaptation Through Ocean Protection: Global Approaches to Indigenous-led Conservation
Time: 6:15 PM
Organizers: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Location: Canada Pavilion
Transitioning Agriculture systems for sustainability and climate resilience
Time: 6:30-8:00 PM
Organizers: World Animal Protection (WAP)
Location: Akhenaten (150)
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N4C AT COP
Nature Zone
The Nature Zone pavilion is a dedicated space at COP27 to bring to life the momentum, action, and impact that surrounds Nature Positive – the global goal to immediately halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. All events will be open for everyone to attend unless otherwise stated. Those not able to attend in person can watch the livestream on Nature4Climate’s YouTube channel.
Full schedule can be found our new website!
If you're on the ground, come find us in Zone C. Here's a helpful map, in case, like us, you find yourself hopelessly lost.
Nature's Newsroom
Nature’s Newsroom is a bespoke broadcast studio within the Nature Zone which will be sharing nature positive stories via video content captured at COP27. The Newsroom will broadcast live from its studio daily. There will be a Nature Positive show going live 10.30am local time each day, as well as interviews from partners including Eurovision and We Don't Have Time. For daily content from from the Newsroom, please go to the Trello board, where we will upload the best of our content each day.
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NBS IN THE NEWS
European green finance is paying for deforestation in Indonesia: the case of Michelin
Voxeurop, 9 November
Replace animal farms with micro-organism tanks, say campaigners
The Guardian, 12 November
There’s one big subject our leaders at Cop27 won’t touch: livestock farming [Commentary]
The Guardian, 9 November
Lawyers Press International Court to Investigate a ‘Network’ Committing Crimes Against Humanity in Brazil’s Amazon
Inside Climate News, 9 November
Debt-for-Nature Swaps Are Drawing Attention, Carbon Credits Play A Role
Carbon Credits, 9 November
Private alliance creates company for reforestation and preservation at scale in Brazil
Reset Capital, 12 November
U.S. Embrace of ‘Climate-Smart’ Agriculture at COP27 Faces Scrutiny
DeSomg Blog, 11 November
Need To Meet Company Net Zero Goals? Be Sure To Choose The Right Tool
Environmental Defense Fund, 11 November
Dying lands: Farmers fight to save the 'skin of the Earth'
Reuters, 12 November
Carbon market players exasperated over prospect of Article 6.4 grievance mechanism, as parties “far apart” on issues
Carbon Pulse, 12 November
Ghana, Switzerland authorise first emissions transfer under Paris Agreement
Carbon Pulse, 12 November
Korean govt agency reveals raft of agreements as it ramps up forest carbon plans
Carbon Pulse, 12 November
EU ‘moving the goal posts’ with new timber requirement, Indonesia says
Mongabay, 10 November
Amid conflict and chaos, a reforestation project surges ahead in Haiti
Mongabay, 10 November
Bolivian protected areas hit hard by forest fires
Mongabay, 10 November
Protecting the peatlands and woodlands in Angola’s ‘source of life’
Mongabay, 11 November
Mycorrhizal fungi, nature’s ‘wood wide web,’ get a $3m conservation boost
Mongabay, 11 November
In final days before Bolsonaro’s defeat, deforestation boomed in Brazil
Mongabay, 11 November
Breaking free from photosynthesis: Will high-tech foods save nature?
Mongabay, 11 November
COP27: Food Day Finally Arrives as Sector Faces Crisis
Bloomberg, 12 November
Analysis: The next Amazon? Congo Basin faces rising deforestation threat
Reuters, 11 November
Dying lands: Farmers fight to save the 'skin of the Earth'
Reuters, 12 November
Analysis: At COP27, Brazil bets on Lula to reclaim forest leadership
Reuters, 12 November
Food firms’ plans for 1.5C climate target fall short, say campaigners
The Guardian, 12 November
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N4C TOOLS AND RESOURCES
N4C POLICY TRACKER
Nature4Climate and our partners Metabolic have updated and expanded the database for the NbS Policy Tracker, launched in 2021 at COP26. The NbS Policy Tracker is the world’s largest global database of public policies that facilitate the delivery of crucial NbS solutions. This includes legislation (laws or constitutions), subsidies, and strategies and plans with budgets. In addition to these policies, the database now also includes NbS in international commitments, such as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
The nature-based policies identified—both last year and this year—will be available on the new N4C website and further integrated into N4C’s upcoming naturebase platform.
NATUREBASE
Nature4Climate is developing a new online platform to help decision makers put Natural Climate Solutions into action: naturebase. The tool will deliver information grounded in science, lighting up pathways to protect, manage, and restore nature for measurable climate benefits. Users will be able to explore and compare target areas across forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands, while considering issues such as land tenure, opportunity cost, financing opportunities, and enabling conditions at global, regional, national and local level, as well as discover new case studies. Chris Zganjar, lead scientist is at the NatureZone until this Friday answering questions and presenting a prototype of the platform, set to launch at COP 28. To learn more, visit www.naturebase.org
CASE STUDY MAPPER
N4C is compiling case studies that highlight action on the ground, and we’re proud to present our NBS Case Study map. This is a product of a collaborative effort to enhance knowledge and to bring to the surface the development of nature-based solutions in countries around the world. The projects showcased in this index are not exhaustive, and we understand that there are many more excellent examples that were not included in this list. Really, this is just the start; the result of the first step in the journey to crowdsource case studies from around the world.
The map and underlying index will continue to be updated and improved continuously throughout the coming days, weeks and months. It currently does not comprehensively assess levels of implementation and impacts on the ground, instead, it provides a first overview of what and where climate action linked to NbS is taking place.
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