The make-or-break climate conference, COP 26, staggered across the finish line Saturday. A tearful Alok Sharma, the British cabinet minister presiding over the summit, called the result a “fragile win.”
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For the last-minute deals and global development analysis from two weeks in Glasgow, check out Vince Chadwick’s wrap-up.
In at least one respect, the summit hosted by the United Kingdom fell short, Will Worley reports. NGO advocates say that in both the negotiated text and the conference itself, the rights of children were underrepresented.
Read: COP 26 fell short of delivering for children, say NGOs
If you build it
Stephanie Beasley, Devex’s philanthropy reporter, sat down with IKEA Foundation CEO Per Heggenes to find out how the Netherlands-based organization is working to align its funding with the Paris Agreement.
The IKEA Foundation focused its philanthropy “quite narrowly” in two areas: climate change and livelihoods, Heggenes says in the interview. Part of the foundation’s goal is to attract more foundation funding to climate change, which currently only receives 2% of philanthropic money, he says.
Q&A: Per Heggenes on how philanthropy can help mitigate climate change
For Pro readers, Stephanie digs into some of the major philanthropic climate initiatives that the IKEA Foundation recently jumped on board with, including a $1 billion push with The Rockefeller Foundation earlier this year to improve access to renewable energy.
During the first week of COP 26, it was also part of the launch of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, along with the Bezos Earth Fund and Rockefeller Foundation. That initiative, which kicks off with $10 billion in capital, aims to “unlock $100 billion in public and private capital” for three areas: reaching 1 billion people with renewable energy, averting 4 billion tons of carbon emissions, and creating or improving 150 million jobs.
Devex Pro: How a new $100B green energy alliance will work
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Good COP, Bad COP
If one COP wasn’t enough for you, good news!
The 9th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention for Tobacco Control — yes, COP 9 — wrapped up Friday. The all-virtual conference concluded with a declaration calling on countries to prevent tobacco industry interference and involvement in COVID-19 policies and actions, Jenny Lei Ravelo reports.
Read: COP 9 calls on countries to protect public health from tobacco industry
ICYMI: Tobacco industry 'preyed on' governments during COVID-19
Side effects
According to MSI Reproductive Choices, 11.5 million women in 26 countries have had their access to contraceptives disrupted due to climate change. MSI is warning that this number will rise over the next decade and is calling on governments to integrate sexual and reproductive health care and rights into their climate change commitments, Madalitso Wills Kateta reports for Devex.
Read: MSI calls for the integration of SRHR services in the climate response
Knowledge is power
MedAccess, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and SD Biosensor announced a new partnership today that aims to increase the number of pregnant women who know their syphilis status to decrease the number of stillborn and newborn deaths, Sara Jerving reports.
Read: Cheaper HIV/syphilis combo tests aim to reduce newborn deaths
+ For more content like this, sign up for Devex CheckUp, the must-read weekly newsletter for exclusive global health news and insider insights.
War of words
Pathfinder International posted an official response to a “low concern advisory” issued by Charity Navigator in the wake of a public dispute between the nonprofit organization and three former board members.
Pathfinder’s chief financial officer, Chad Snelgar, objected that the advisory — which is intended to flag potential concerns about a charity to prospective donors — was the result of “unfounded and inaccurate claims by a disgruntled former employee and former board members.”
ICYMI: 2 Pathfinder board members resign over transparency concerns
In other news
Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond, the first United Nations envoy for technology, is unlikely to continue in his role, following an investigation into allegations of workplace abuse and harassment. [Politico]
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged the Belarusian government to allow humanitarian agencies access to migrants and asylum-seekers stuck on its border with Poland. [Reuters]
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
