Companies and Investors to Cities & Regions Announce New Commitments in Support

USPA NEWS - World Leaders Issue Proclamation Underlining “˜Irreversible´ Momentum. Companies and Investors to Cities and Regions Announce New Commitments in Support of Paris Agreement. Multi-billion and multi-million dollar packages of support for clean technologies; building capacity to report on climate action

GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION SPERHEADED BY CLIMATE CHAMPIONS LAURENCE TUBIANA AND HAKIMA HAITE---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Further impressive announcements were made by cities and sub-national governments to investors and business as part of the Global Climate Action spearheaded by Climate Champions Laurence Tubiana and Hakima El Haité. “Through our mandate as Champions, we have enhanced the participation of non-state actors, encouraging a range of initiatives, both individual and cooperative. The shift to a low-carbon future and a resilient civilization is something that is irreversible,“ said Climate Champion Laurence Tubiana. The High-Level Climate Champions launched the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action to provide a strong roadmap for how the UNFCCC process will catalyse and support climate action by Parties and non-Party stakeholders in the period 2017 to 2020.  Announcements linked to GCA events at COP 22 include: “¢ 19 African Capital Markets Authorities and Exchanges, accounting for 26 African countries, have signed and endorsed the Marrakech Pledge for Fostering Green Capital Markets in Africa. “¢ The European Union Commission launched the European Fund for Sustainable Development to encourage investment in Africa and the EU Neighbourhood, strengthen partnerships, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The plan involves: o   Value of up to EUR4.1 billion, triggering regional public and private investment of up to EUR44 billion to 2020. o   Technical assistance to help local authorities and companies to develop bankable projects and to improve regulatory environments in partner countries. o   Improvement of the general business environment by supporting reforms in economic governance. Corporate Climate Action “¢ The number of companies making climate commitments through the We Mean Business coalition has more than doubled since COP 21.  o   We Mean Business announced that in total, 471 companies with over $8 trillion in market capitalization have undertaken well over a thousand ambitious commitments to climate action. o   These companies represent every sector and geography globally. “¢ The Science Based Targets initiative continues to see tremendous momentum since Paris. To date, almost 200 companies have joined the initiative, and in the past year, growth has been at a rate of more than two new companies per week. Source : UNFCCC

  Energy “¢ At COP 22, the Indian company Dalmia Cement and Helvetia insurance group committed to use 100% renewable power across their operations and join RE100; the global, collaborative initiative with more than 80 of the world´s most influential companies. “¢ Swiss Re committed to double its energy productivity and join EP100, a global campaign that works with companies to maximize the economic benefits of every unit of energy it consumes. “¢ A new private-sector led initiative, the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), was announced. REBA builds connections between corporate electricity demand and renewable energy supply.   Cities “¢ Cities, towns and regions are making big impacts in implementing their climate commitments by acting locally and partnering globally. “¢ A new assessment tool presented during the Resilience Showcase will allow standardized qualitative reporting of adaptation commitments to the Global Covenant of Mayors.  FORESTS ANNOUNCEMENT DURING FOREST ACTION DAY----------------------------------------------------------------- “¢ The Government of Indonesia announced it is implementing a moratorium on clearing super high-carbon, intact peatland. The action builds on Indonesian President Joko Widodo´s announcement at last year´s Forest Action Day in Paris, to end new and review existing peat concessions. “¢ Colombia has announced plans to close the forest frontier as a key component of a post-conflict future. Efforts include focusing development on non-forest lands, implementing strong tenure reform, and placing very large areas of forest under indigenous peoples´ control. “¢ A new partnership between FAO and Google has created Collect Earth, an open-source tool that provides access to large collections of free, high-resolution satellite imagery and cloud computing.  WATER FOR INITIATIVES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “¢ The Water for Africa initiative, established by the Kingdom of Morocco and supported by the African Development Bank was launched at COP 22, aiming to render justice to Africa through the adoption of a specific action plan that will mobilize different international political, financial and institutional partners. “¢ The three alliances for basins, megacities and businesses, created at COP 21, which today represent more than 450 organizations worldwide, signed a common commitment to mobilize jointly their partners, identify and disseminate good practices and support the development of new projects.

THE GLOBAL FUEL ECONOMY INITIATIVE IS SUPPORTING A BETTER TRANSPORT IN 40 COUNTRIES----------- “¢ The Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) is supporting an additional 40 countries to realize the financial benefits and CO2 benefits of improved vehicle fuel economy. “¢ Airport Carbon Accreditation Scheme now has 173 certified airports worldwide, including 26 carbon-neutral airports ““ 36% of air passengers now travel through an Airport Carbon Accredited airport. “¢ The MobiliseYourCity initiative secured EUR35 million in funding over the last 12 months and launched development of Sustainable Urban Mobility plans in Morocco and Cameroon.  THE BLUE BELT INITIATIVE AIMED RESILIENCE FOR OCEANS AND COASTAL COMMUNITIES-------------------- “¢ The Kingdom of Morocco has announced its Blue Belt Initiative aimed at building the resilience of coastal communities and promoting sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in keeping with SDG14 expectations. “¢ FAO, World Bank and the African Development Bank announced the African Package for Climate-Resilient Ocean Economies, an ambitious package of technical and financial assistance to support ocean economies in Africa and build greater resilience to climate change in coastal areas. “¢ COP 22 Ocean Action partners released the Strategic Action Roadmap on Oceans and Climate: 2016 to 2021, which provides a vision for action on oceans and climate in the next five years, addressing six oceans.  LAUNCH OF ADAPTATION AGRICULTURE INTITATIVE FOR BETTER RESILIENCE------------------------------------- “¢ Launch of the Adaptation for African Agriculture initiative aims to build the resilience of farmers in Africa by promoting sustainable soil management, better water management and risk management linked with tailored capacity development, policies and funding mechanisms. “¢ Launch of The Global Framework on Water Scarcity supports countries to integrate climate change and sustainable water use into agricultural sectors policies and cross-sectoral dialogue. “¢ 130 mayors from cities across the world signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), which calls for sustainable food systems that foster the accessibility of healthy food for urban citizens, biodiversity protection and food waste reduction. MOMENTUM FOR CHANGE AT COP 22------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The UNFCCC secretariat´s Momentum for Change initiative hosted a series of special events at COP 22 from 12 to 17 November. These events celebrated the 2016 Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activities with inspiring videos, photography, roundtable discussions, an exhibition space and an evening award ceremony. Source UNFCCC See also article : WORLD LEADERS ISSUE PROCLAMATION UNDERLINING IRREVERSIBLE MOMENTUM AT COP22MULTIBILLION&MILLION $ ON CLIMATE ACTION - See more at: http://www.uspa24.com/bericht-10115/world-leaders-issue-proclamation-underlining-irreversible-momentum-at-cop22.html#sthash.PN88o3XY.dpuf and See also article ; NATIONS TAKE FORWARD GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION AT 2016 UN CLIMATE CONFERENCE IRREVERSIBLE PROCLAMATION AT COP22 - See more at: http://www.uspa24.com/bericht-10114/nations-take-forward-global-climate-action-at-2016-un-climate-conference.html#sthash.nvDKZo8C.dpuf