Presented by Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta
It’s here: COP 27, otherwise known as the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. And we’re there with a team of reporters to help make sense of everything happening in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Egyptian resort destination that has been transformed into climate central for the next two weeks.
This is a preview of Newswire
Sign up to this newsletter for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development, in your inbox daily.
We start with the man who’s become public enemy No. 1 for many climate advocates, and the woman who’s become their No. 1 champion.
Also in today’s edition: We take you inside the metaverse, where the European Commission apparently took a wrong turn.
Weathering the storm
World Bank President David Malpass hasn’t exactly endeared himself to climate advocates, who pounced after he put his foot in it by saying “I’m not a scientist” in September when asked whether climate change is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
But in an interview Friday, Malpass told my colleague Shabtai Gold that his climate record speaks for itself, with the bank doubling climate spending under his watch.
He even said there was a silver lining to his gaffe because it spotlighted all the work the bank is doing to fight climate change.
And that fight won’t come at the expense of the bank’s anti-poverty mandate, Malpass insisted.
“You have to think of poverty reduction and climate change in the same breath,” he told Shabtai just before he flew to South Africa to tout a coal-fired power plant's decommissioning. He was then set to go straight to COP 27 in Egypt.
Criticisms of his climate record at COP probably won’t faze him considering he’s heard it all before in Washington, where an informal campaign to oust him as World Bank president seems to have sputtered.
So does Malpass think he’ll make it to the end of his term in early 2024?
“I’m just focused on getting the job done month by month,” he said.
David Malpass: Poverty reduction and climate change are 'the same breath'
Follow Devex on the sidelines of COP 27
Join us — in person Nov. 10 in Sharm el-Sheikh or online from anywhere Nov. 11 — as we ask the tough questions on how climate disruption is changing the work, urgency, and challenges of achieving climate goals.
Also check out our Road to COP 27 series, which takes stock of where we stand in the fulfillment of climate pledges.
Can the Caribbean queen reign supreme at COP?
While climate advocates are likely to give Malpass the cold shoulder, they’re sure to give a very warm welcome to Mia Mottley.
The Barbadian prime minister has become a global sensation for her powerful advocacy on behalf of lower-income countries facing the existential threat of climate change.
Yet Mottley is more than just a charismatic orator, as my colleague Colum Lynch writes. She’s well-versed in the nuances of climate science, finance, and technical jargon on adaptation, mitigation, and “loss and damage.”
Loss and damage is likely to take center stage in Egypt, as lower-income countries demand that their wealthier counterparts — whose emission-fueled industrialization propelled climate change — live up to pledges made at prior COPs and compensate them for the catastrophic weather events bearing down on them.
But even Mottley’s celebrity may not be enough to convince higher-income countries facing their own economic headwinds to write massive checks out of moral obligation.
As Natalie Samarasinghe, Open Society Foundations’ global director of advocacy, tells Colum: “She’s a superstar and people want to get the photo op, but they don’t want more than the photo op.”
Mia Mottley: The Caribbean Queen of COP 27
Road map to nowhere?
Progress on loss and damage could be the litmus test on whether trust can be rebuilt between advanced and emerging economies, according to Moazzam Malik of the World Resources Institute and Tasneem Essop of the Climate Action Network International. Both of them spoke at a recent Devex Pro Live event.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also called it a litmus test in his opening remarks at COP today, urging countries to agree on a “road map” to address massive climate finance needs.
The only problem? If donors aren’t on board, Guterres isn’t likely to find a path forward beyond the podium.
Recap: Is the world keeping its COP 26 climate promises?
Watch: The key issues to watch at COP 27 (Pro)
+ A Devex Pro membership brings you essential analysis, data-driven funding insights, and access to the world’s largest global development job board. Get these perks and more by signing up to our 15-day free trial.
EU’s meta ‘WTF’
The European Commission’s foreign aid department recently stepped into the virtual realm of the metaverse to promote its “Global Gateway” investment plan.
Some say the creators got lost in cyberspace.
“We were [like] … WTF? Who validated this?” one department staff member tells my colleague Vince Chadwick — not surprisingly on condition of anonymity.
Global Gateway — an infrastructure strategy that’s partly a response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative — is notoriously vague. The campaign to highlight it is equally head-scratching.
Once inside the platform, you adopt an avatar that resembles a floppy green stickman who ambles awkwardly through a psychedelic-looking tropical forest, complete with flying dolphins and lots of sparkling fireflies. Other strange stickmen walk by as you try to move around using your arrow keys. All this movement, however, apparently tires out your avatar — when he stops, he seems to be heaving in pain.
The cost of creating this experience is €387,000. When told the price tag, one source simply said: “Jesuuuuus.”
The hashtag for the project is #WhoWeAre. A commission spokesperson tells Vince that the campaign is geared toward 18 to 35 year olds, “to intrigue that audience, primarily on TikTok and Instagram.”
So perhaps my age is why I kept bumping into walls. Vince seemed to do a better job navigating the terrain, so check out his story to follow along.
Read: EU aid dept’s €387k metaverse meets real-world critique
In other news
U.N. rights chief Volker Türk warned against the spread of hate speech and misinformation on Twitter after reports that new owner Elon Musk laid off the social media platform’s entire human rights team. [VOA]
In the wake of an unexpected peace deal that might lift the blockade on humanitarian aid entering Ethiopia's Tigray region, health and aid workers are struggling to save critically ill and malnourished patients. [The Guardian]
Three top U.N. officials working on the Syrian crisis have raised concerns about the recent shelling incident in tent settlements in Idlib, which claimed at least nine lives. [Al Jazeera]
Sign up to Newswire for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development.
About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
