Q&A: How can we build on COP 26 climate commitments?

At COP 26 last November, the U. S. Agency for International Development launched a suite of initiatives aimed at tackling climate change. This followed an announcement it would be developing a whole-of-agency climate strategy for release this year.

Such commitment from a government agency is significant, according to Paul Faeth, global technical director of climate and energy at global consulting and research firm Abt Associates, and one that’s helping to build momentum for climate action.

“For them to not just have climate be a relatively small program but to cover everything that the agency does and to link climate to all sorts of things that you might not think would have a climate angle, that's really a big deal,” he said.

USAID’s new climate strategy aims to see climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts ramped up while “[integrating] climate change considerations into international development and humanitarian assistance programs across all sectors.”

This and the other commitments made at COP 26 have set the stage for “an explosion of funding” from both private and public actors, Faeth added. This increased financing will allow for the development of more nature-based solutions and, for example, provide support in the fight against diseases that are seeing an increase in incidence due to climate change, he said.

Speaking to Devex, Faeth explained the link between health and climate change, how the current momentum can be used to make significant advancements in climate action, and how Abt Associates is supporting such work.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How can we harness the momentum and resources emerging from COP 26?

In the corporate world, there are a variety of initiatives that have started up. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, for example, has two separate programs, one on renewable energy and another on nature-based solutions. The market is expected to explode for these things, in part because of agreements that were made at COP 26.

There are a lot of ways that those resources can have a beneficial impact. Certainly, in the first case, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For example, by avoiding carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. Mitigation is a key aspect, and that’s drawing a lot of private money already. There's something like $600 billion a year locally that is going into addressing climate change. The vast majority of that is going towards negation or reducing emissions.

The second biggest chunk is looking at how to take greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide.

But the one thing that really is not drawing much money and needs more attention is in helping communities to adapt and be more resilient to climate change. That slice of the overall pie is very small, and it's appropriate for governments to invest in.

What specific solutions should governments be investing in?

Nature-based solutions. The idea here is to grow trees that then can be incorporated into the soil, that take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, incorporate it into plants that are growing in that way, take it out of the atmosphere, and help to reduce the concentration of gas.

What's interesting about nature-based solutions is that they can also help with mitigation as well as adaptation and resilience. For example, cover crops that are grown to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere also have the benefit of increasing soil organic matter. What that does is help the soil retain more water. That is adaptation that’s making agriculture more resilient. So some of these solutions have interesting benefits.

Another key way to help make people more resilient around the world is to improve access to health care.

Can you explain that link between health and climate?

There are a variety of ways in which climate change can impact people's health. The most immediate or intense are through storms, hurricanes, and drought. Another thing that we're seeing in Africa is the range of disease vectors, particularly mosquitoes that carry malaria. The range has changed, and some areas that did not have malaria in the past have malaria now. The seasonality of malaria is changing.

I also learned recently that as carbon dioxide concentrations go up in the atmosphere, the grains that we grow for human consumption become less nutritious and have more carbohydrates, less protein, and less nutrients. As the concentration of CO2 goes up — although this often has been cited as a benefit because plants use carbon dioxide as a type of fertilizer — those food crops become less nutritious. That's an issue.

Abt does a lot with regard to health care. Electrifying health centers is one way of providing a much higher standard of care so that when people do have malaria, heat stress, or other issues, they can get better access to health care and, in that way, become more resilient to climate change.

When it comes to tackling climate change as well as health, what would your call to action for the international community be?

We are seeing more responses like USAID's with governments taking a much broader view of what climate change actually means. For example, we're seeing the updating of flood maps. Having better maps that show, for example, which areas are likely to flood or what areas are likely to experience drought, can help in planning. Investment in the renewable energy market is also taking off [as well as those] looking at how to make people adapt and make people more resilient.

But I think the number one thing [we need] is to put a cap on greenhouse gases. That in itself will drive the industry to respond. That’s certainly something a number of countries have done, particularly in the European context. And it's happening at the state level in the United States, but hasn't really yet happened at the federal level.

What is Abt doing to kind of encourage this sort of action?

We have 40 offices around the world in low- and middle-income countries and work on health care and a variety of different mechanisms. For example, we work on malaria control and supply chain management. We are looking hard at these areas and, for our own programs and for the benefit of the folks in the countries that we work, we’re taking a look and making sure that we understand ourselves what the implications of climate change are and looking deeper into responses.

We are also putting together a new program to electrify health facilities in Africa and working on climate finance as a way of identifying where there are interesting public and private partnership opportunities to enhance the investment of private and public dollars in ways that can be collaborative. [The aim is to] get a better bang for the buck by working together. We think it’s important to maximize the overall impact of public financing.