Getting from pledges to action: Lessons from Devex’s COP 28 summit

Devex’s Climate + summit, which took place last week at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 28, in Dubai, explored the intersection between climate and a range of development priorities, including food, health, energy, and finance. Here are some of the highlights. Serving the most vulnerable The legacy of Saleemul Huq, the renowned climate scientist who championed the cause of loss and damage before his sudden passing in Dhaka, Bangladesh, lived on at COP 28. Huq, who was the director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development, or ICCCAD, was key in ensuring the most vulnerable countries were heard at the annual COPs, but he also convened important conversations that got past the problems of hollow pledges and broken promises. For example, Huq founded Development & Climate Days, an annual gathering that happens on the sidelines of COP, which allows for the kind of honest dialogue that is often lacking in the formal processes. “I’m not very optimistic about the official process of negotiations,” said Mizan Khan, who worked with Huq as deputy director of ICCCAD, at Devex’s Climate + event in Dubai on Thursday. Instead, Khan recognized the value of more informal gatherings in order to bring together leaders who can ensure that funds make it to the people who can benefit most. “His soul will rest in better peace if this money goes to the most vulnerable, for whom he fought for his whole life,” Khan said of Huq in a conversation honoring his legacy. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?si=h_I-vVvjlCZph6zx&amp;list=PL9aeTr7AGyAbnACff3c5ReCCGiedd9mXf" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe> Click on the playlist icon in the upper right corner of the video above to watch the rest of the sessions at the Devex Climate + summit. Addressing fossil fuels Alok Sharma fought back tears when, as the COP 26 president in Glasgow, he announced that China and India had diluted a hoped-for pledge to “phase out” coal to “phase down.” Two years on, the former United Kingdom cabinet minister, now a climate and finance fellow at The Rockefeller Foundation, revealed that he remains unhappy with the slow pace of fossil fuel wind down. COP 28 negotiators have to be prepared to deal with the issue of fossil fuels, or there will be a big gap in what needs to be done, Sharma said. He also had strong words for those who argue that “tech will save the day” through widespread deployment of carbon capture and storage. “Let’s not kid ourselves. It is not cheap enough, it is not deployed enough across the world, to make the difference where we will be making a big cut in emissions by 2030 just relying on tech,” Sharma said. “We have to address the issue of fossil fuel production and usage.” Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar asked whether COP 28 can deliver where COP 26 fell short. “It has to, it really has to. We are basically out of time,” Sharma said. “I get so frustrated because we hear all the right words coming out of the mouths of leaders, but where’s the action, where’s the delivery? That’s what’s missing.” Read more from Devex’s U.K. correspondent Rob Merrick in Newswire, and watch At a decisive moment for climate action, can COP 28 deliver? Embracing technology Climate change is threatening progress on health gains, with the world likely to face the worst dengue year on record due to rising temperatures. But the tools to combat diseases are also improving, said Martin Edlund, CEO of Malaria No More. “While the challenge is getting a lot harder due to climate change, and other factors, the solutions are getting better,” Edlund said. “I've been at this for 17 years, and there's never been a moment in those 17 years where there's been simultaneously such kind of risk and peril and promise, and it's because of the technology pipeline and some of the innovations we're seeing.” One example is seasonal malaria chemoprevention. It’s a $1.50 pill that a child takes once a month, and it can bring a 75% reduction in clinical malaria cases. Another is the release of mosquitos infected with Wolbachia, a naturally occurring bacteria, that can reduce Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever cases. Don’t miss Devex Senior Reporter Jenny Lei Ravelo’s rundown on health at COP 28 in Devex CheckUp, our weekly newsletter on global health, and watch Emerging responses to the climate health threat. Supporting farmers Still, technology does not always reach the people who could benefit most. For example, despite the role smallholder farmers play in global food systems, they receive only 0.3% of climate funding, even as they are hit hardest by climate shocks like floods and drought. Farmers in poor countries often lack access to research and innovation that could improve their yields, or even if they’re aware of it, they can’t afford it, said Ismahane Elouafi, the new managing director of CGIAR, the world’s largest agricultural research network. Due to supply chain logistics, fertilizer is more expensive in Africa than in Europe, making it out of reach for many farmers. “All of these processes and initiatives, unless they reach people and change people's lives, then they're not going to make any difference,” said Zitouni Ould-Dada, deputy director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. “That's the final test of everything we do in these negotiations.” Read more from Lauren Evans, devex assistant editor, in Devex Dish, Devex’s weekly newsletter on food systems, and watch What are the most important fixes for the food systems of the future? Investing in Africa There are three key things that need to happen to avoid human catastrophe between now and the end of the century, said James Irungu Mwangi, founder of the Climate Action Platform for Africa. The world must protect, restore, and expand carbon sinks, decarbonize every sector of human production and consumption, and remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. With the right investments, including in technology, Africa is well positioned to play a meaningful role in each of these three areas, Mwangi argued. “We’re currently building renewable energy in the wrong places,” he said, explaining the lack of solar deployment in Tanzania versus Germany. “That’s humanity being stupid. Not just because the Tanzanias could use light in their rooms, but we’re getting a lot less energy for the industry and the transformation we need by virtue of going where we used to do stuff which feels like the right place to do it, rather than where we should be doing stuff.” Watch How Africa can become a hub for climate action, listen to the latest episode of This Week in Global Development, featuring James Mwangi, here, and check out this Devex profile of Mwangi’s work. Delivering climate justice Climate finance is about climate justice, said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International. He is a vocal critic of a dynamic he describes as high-income countries dragging their feet while the most vulnerable countries and communities pay the price. The reason the world is facing a climate emergency is because climate finance is not being delivered, Singh told Devex. “We are coming here because a bunch of countries and corporations are responsible for the climate crisis. We are here for climate justice, we are not here for an expo. If you need to only have conversations and share learning, we can do it anywhere, you don’t have to come to COP,” he said. “COP is about justice.” Watch The future of climate finance: Can leaders make good on past promises? And check out our weekly newsletter on development finance, Devex Invested, for more coverage of climate finance at COP 28. Plus, listen to our interview with Harjeet Singh for Climate +, our podcast leading up to and following COP 28. Financial reform But climate justice cannot be delivered without reform of the global financial system. For example, many countries that are considered too wealthy for development finance are seeing significant poverty impacts when they’re hit by natural disasters. “You have to assess countries based on their vulnerability,” said Racquel Moses, CEO of Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator. “You can't just say, well, your GDP per capita is high, because one hurricane can come through and wipe out everything.” She said many countries try and fail to borrow money to build their resilience, then when they’re hit by natural disasters, they’re asked what they need to recover, when having that money before disaster strikes would prevent damage and cost less in the end. Watch Lessons from the Caribbean, where building resilience is a matter of survival, and subscribe to our Climate + podcast to catch an upcoming episode featuring Caribbean Development Bank President Hyginus 'Gene' Leon. Protecting women workers Reema Nanavaty, the director of India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association, spoke on behalf of the 3 million women workers she serves. She described a construction worker working in extreme heat conditions, who fainted and fell down, and salt workers who cannot work after 9:30 in the morning, because it’s too hot. “This is the reality, and therefore an urgency,” she said, urging leaders gathered at COP 28 to focus not just on adaptation and mitigation but also on building the resilience of workers in the informal sector. “Innovation is their survival and coping strategy,” she said of women workers. “It’s no longer a luxury.” The question moving forward is how the pledges made at COP 28, including commitments to the loss and damage fund, are made available not only to governments and multilaterals but also to the women she represents, “the ones who are dealing with loss and damage, every hour, every day.” Watch From Adversity to opportunity: Developing climate solutions that work for women and make sure you’re subscribed to Devex Newswire for continued coverage of COP 28 and the intersections of climate and development.