"COP28 Latest: Bankers start talks with all options on the table"

" COP28 Latest: Bankers start talks with all options on the table \r\n\r\nThere\u2019s a growing consensus building at COP28 talks that the voluntary carbon offset market is ripe for a meaningful overhaul to fight greenwashing and restore credibility.\r\n\r\nRostin Behnam, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said the CFTC will later today announce proposed voluntary carbon markets guidance. Behnam stressed the plan was consistent with voluntary efforts to improve the integrity and credibility of carbon markets.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe proposal does represent, in my view, the most significant step of the US financial regulator to support widespread adoption of principles for high integrity markets,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nFiguring out how to tackle weaknesses in the voluntary carbon market is a key goal of this year\u2019s COP summit. The VCM has been hit by a string of scandals that have raised serious questions as to the validity of the offsetting claims made by those buying carbon credits.\r\n\r\nRead More: World\u2019s Biggest Carbon-Offset Seller Says CEO Steps Down\r\n\r\nDiscussions on how to overhaul the voluntary carbon market come as executives from the world\u2019s biggest banks and investment firms explore new funding structures and partnerships, as they use finance day at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai to devise viable pathways to a low-carbon economy.\r\n\r\nNever before has the finance industry attended a United Nations Conference of the Parties in such vast numbers. They\u2019ll be rubbing shoulders with numerous oil executives, which is another notable feature of this year\u2019s talks.\r\n\r\nSultan Al Jaber, president of the COP28 summit and head of the Abu Dhabi national oil company, Adnoc, has said he wants as many interests as possible represented to ensure a \u201csuccessful\u201d outcome. Against that backdrop, Darren Woods just became the first ever Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO to attend a COP since the summits started in the 1990s.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, Al Jaber has had to defend himself following a report that he questioned the science around the link between phasing out fossil fuels and hitting the Paris Agreement target of 1.5C. Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, reminded Al Jaber of his commitment to making the temperature target the \u201cnorth star\u201d of the summit\u2019s negotiated outcome.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re here to hold him to that,\u201d she said on a panel on Monday. \u201cIt has to include a phase out of fossil fuels. That is what the science has said.\u201d\r\n\r\nFossil Fuels Have \u2018Role to Play,\u2019 UAE Climate Minister Says (11:55 a.m.)\r\n\r\n\u201cFossil fuels have a role to play, a much smaller role to play,\u201d UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment Mariam Almheiri said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Monday. The \u201cphasing up\u201d of renewables should be the focus, she said, adding that the building of renewable energy systems itself required energy.\r\n\r\nHer comments addressed controversy surrounding COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber\u2019s statements that there were no indications \u201cthat the phase out of fossil fuel is what\u2019s going to achieve 1.5.\u201d\r\n\r\nRussia Can No Longer Manipulate EU\u2019s Energy Market, Simson Says (11:50 a.m.)\r\n\r\nKadri Simson, EU energy commissioner, said Russia no longer has the \u201cleverage\u201d to manipulate the bloc\u2019s energy market after the region fast tracked the green transition in the wake of Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. She said Europe was already seeing Russia attack Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure going into the winter.\r\n\r\nTalks at COP28 need to emphasize the urgency of hitting peak emissions as soon as possible; \u201cbusiness as usual is not possible,\u201d Simson said on Bloomberg Television.\r\n\r\nStanChart, Macquarie CEOs Calls for Better Data to Boost Green Investment (10:45 a.m.)\r\n\r\nThe bosses of Standard Chartered Plc and Macquaire Group Ltd. said better data around emissions and the viability of green projects \u2014 particularly in emerging markets \u2014 was essential to unlock more investment for green projects.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt all starts with data,\u201d Bill Winters said at the Bloomberg Green Festival from the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.\r\n\r\nHis comments were echoed by Macquarie\u2019s Shemara Wikramanayake, who also underlined the need to tailor climate solutions to different parts of the world.\r\n\r\nBoth CEOs emphasized the importance of co-operation between governments, financiers and organizations like the World Bank to create projects that pension funds can invest in.\r\n\r\nCiti Executive Warns of \u2018Lack of Bankable\u2019 Projects (9:46 a.m.)\r\n\r\nJason Channell, head of sustainable finance at Citi Global Insights, said a \u201clack of bankable projects\u201d is holding private capital back from investing in climate projects in emerging markets. \u201cThe capital is there, the need is there, but the capital isn\u2019t getting through,\u201d he said. At the same time, the need for finance is six to seven times greater than is currently getting through, he said citing research published on Monday.\r\n\r\nTo date, talks around how to approach blended finance have been inefficient, Channell said. Governments must bring projects instead of concepts, and there\u2019s a need for better, more transparent data to help investors price the risks they face, he said.\r\n\r\nThe finance industry also needs to explore innovative blended-finance structures and engage with sovereigns to ensure they\u2018re assessing risk in the right way, he said. It\u2019s about \u201chow they can get skin in the game,\u201d Channell said.\r\n\r\nIEA Wants 60% Emissions Reduction from Big Oil by 2030 (9:37 a.m.)\r\n\r\nFatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, wants oil companies to commit to reducing their Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 60% by 2030, he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Monday.\r\n\r\n\u201cI need a 2030 number, not a 2050 number,\u201d Birol said. This is a \u201cmoment of truth.\u201d\r\n\r\nIncreased investment in clean energy technologies should be another major commitment from fossil-fuel companies at COP28, Birol said, adding that the rhetoric from oil and gas executives around green energy pales in comparison to actual investments. They speak \u201c80%-90% of the time about clean energy, but when you look at their numbers, which we do at the IEA, only 2.5% of their own investment goes into clean energy.\u201d\r\n\r\nBirol said he expects global oil demand to peak before 2030, driven by clean energy and slowing demand from China, without elaborating on relations between the IEA and OPEC.\r\n\r\nMia Mottley Pitches Overhaul of \u2018Imperial\u2019 Financial Order (9:05 a.m.)\r\n\r\nBarbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley pitched her vision for overhauling the global financial system to provide more support for countries hit hardest by the climate crisis. Mottley said insurance is inadequate for citizens in Barbados, who were hit by a wave of extreme weather over the summer. Debt-pause clauses are needed to provide the fiscal leeway to recover, she said.\r\n\r\nWhile she welcomed agreement on a loss and damage fund, Mottley said the total \u2014 around half a billion dollars \u2014 was nowhere near sufficient. By comparison, a 1% financial services tax would yield $420 billion, while a similar levy on global shipping could provide $70 billion. She also pitched an idea for a $5 dollar climate surcharge on domestic flights and a $10 for international transfers.\r\n\r\nExisting international finance institutions were established in the \u201cold imperial order\u201d and are no longer fit for purpose, Mottley said during a keynote speech in Dubai on Monday. \u201cThe reality is unless we change our paradigm completely, we\u2019re just going to be playing catch up.\u201d\r\n\r\nAttracting Private Finance Is Key Goal (8:35 a.m.)\r\n\r\nFiguring out ways to attract more private finance for climate action is among the key goals of this year\u2019s COP, according to Sonja Gibbs, head of sustainable finance at the Institute of International Finance, in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Monday.\r\n\r\nHigher interest rates and record debt levels pose a challenge for capital flows, she said, adding that \u201cthe financial sector can\u2019t do it on its own.\u201d Governmental policy and regulation are crucial to address \u201chard to abate sectors,\u201d she said.\r\n\r\nWhen it comes to climate finance, the approach needs to be \u201cpro-growth,\u201d Gibbs said. And if climate policies fail to achieve a so-called just transition, it may lead to political backlash, she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the risk in a year when we have something like 40 elections coming up,\u201d she said.\r\n\r\nCCS Could Come with a $30 Trillion Price Tag, Report Says (12:01 a.m.)\r\n\r\nResearchers from the University of Oxford found that if carbon capture and storage is used to mitigate 50% of emissions on a pathway to net zero by mid-century, it would cost approximately $30 trillion more than a low-mitigation scenario. The estimate may even understate the ultimate cost, the scientists warned.\r\n\r\nThat said, CCS investment is necessary, with the researchers pointing to a 13-fold scale-up by 2030. The technology \u201cwill likely be needed for some industries and perhaps for negative emissions,\u201d said Richard Black, one of the authors of the study. \u201cBut seeing it as a way to compensate for ongoing fossil fuel burning is economically illiterate.\u201d\r\n\r\nBloomberg Philanthropies regularly partners with the COP Presidency to promote climate action. Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, parent company of Bloomberg News, is the UN secretary general\u2019s special envoy for climate ambition and solutions.\r\n\r\nBloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, partners with South Pole to purchase carbon credits to offset global travel emissions."

"COP28 Latest: Bankers start talks with all options on the table"

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