U.S. government special envoy for climate, John Kerry, the Bezos Earth Fund and the Rockefeller Foundation announced during the U.N. Climate Summit (COP27) in Egypt, a process to promote the acceleration of the energy transition with the potential to catalyze private capital toward the intensified use of clean energy in emerging and developing economies.

The initiative, which on another front announced more than US$11 million in incentives for ten organizations that expand indigenous and regenerative agriculture practices around the world, is to gather information and knowledge from people and institutions with know-how and networks for projects that produce verified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions —which participating jurisdictions will have the option to issue as credits marketable carbon dioxide.

This funding aims to help scale the development, data analysis, funding and education around regenerative farming practices, which can improve global food systems and mitigate the global food crisis.

Credits could then be purchased by companies, including through advance purchase agreements, which would create a predictable financial flow to reduce risk and leverage other forms of financing. The process will focus on a methodology designed to operate on a broad or jurisdictional scale while directing carbon financing to separate projects.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world needs $4.2 trillion in clean energy investments, half of which is needed in developing and emerging economies. The initiative aims to design a new type of high-quality carbon credit framed by robust barriers to channel private sector investment – important for the global goal of eliminating fossil fuels and accelerating renewable energy.

"If we're going to eliminate fossil fuels in our energy systems, we believe that voluntary carbon markets have a role to play," said Andrew Steer, president of the Bezos Earth Fund. "They should have high standards on both the supply and demand side, with appropriate environmental and social safeguards. The purpose of the proposed scheme is precisely to design and agree to these standards, then move on to implementation. The need is urgent, and we must bring people together to move the needle forward," he said.

Burning fossil fuels for power generation in emerging and developing economies accounted for 9.8 billion tons of CO2 emissions by 2020, double the annual emissions of the United States. Without sufficient investment to reduce these emissions, it will be impossible to avoid the worst of the climate crisis. A fair energy transition, the initiative points out, offers the opportunity to connect billions of people to reliable and renewable electricity – many for the first time.

"The world must come together in new ways and behind innovations like this initiative, which can, for the first time, unlock the true potential of carbon markets to scale the resources needed for clean energy transitions. Our teams will work next year to answer the difficult questions needed to reimagine what is possible," said Rajiv J. Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation.

The Bezos Earth Fund, Rockefeller Foundation and U.S. government added to the announcement at the U.S. pavilion at COP27 the companies SEforALL, EDF, PepsiCo and Microsoft, as well as the Government of Nigeria. Other initiatives, including RMI, C2ES, CPI, Global Optimism and the Government of Chile, also participated.

Over the next year, partners will engage with developing countries, political leaders, climate advocates and experts to design the actions. The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), the Voluntary Carbon Markets Initiative (VCMI), the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) and the WRI for the Greenhouse Gas Protocol will be consulted to ensure broad alignment with best environmental practices and carbon market standards.

Source: Um só Planeta