IGU’s COP 24 activities

IGU’s COP 24 activiti

An important part of IGU’s work and influence is engaging with the annual UN Climate Change Conferences.

COP 24 in Katowice, Poland Introduction

In a major achievement, the nearly 200 nations attending the 2018 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 24), which was held December 2-14, agreed upon universal, transparent rules that will govern efforts to cut emissions and curb global warming and enable countries to put into action the commitments they made in the 2015 Paris climate accord. From 2024 onwards, there will be common binding minimum standards for reporting by nations on their greenhouse gas emissions or other climate protection measures.

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z IGU President JooMyung (Joe) Kang addresses IGU’s urban air quality event at COP 24.

c Michał Kurtyka, Secretary of State in Poland’s Ministry of Energy and the President of COP 24, celebrates what was achieved at the conference.

However, despite the agreement over the rule book, negotiators delayed decisions on two key issues until later in 2019: the mechanics of an emissions trading system; and the setting of more ambitious targets in light of recent science showing a worsening trend in climate change including a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warning of dire consequences if the temperature rise is not held within 1.5ºC. In addition, poorer nations vulnerable to climate change did not receive greater clarity on how an already agreed $100 billion a year of climate finance by 2020 will be provided, and on efforts to build on that amount further from the end of the decade.

IGU participation

IGU hosted an excellent urban air quality event at the Korea Pavilion and participated in a similar panel hosted by Charter Member PGNiG at the Polish Pavilion.

IGU also partnered with the New Energy Coalition and Ecofys to stage an event in the EU Pavilion on global developments in renewable, synthetic and hydrogen gas. Speakers included Camilla Palladino, Executive Vice President Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations at Snam, and Piero Gattoni, President of the Consorzio Italiano Biogas (CIB).

Ms Palladino presented the Gas for Climate Initiative involving several major European gas TSOs and two biogas associations which have developed a vision on how to achieve a net-zero emissions EU energy system. Gas for Climate sees an important role for renewable gas alongside renewable energy.

Mr Gattoni’s presentation was on how 600 Italian farmers organised in CIB are redesigning their farming systems to produce food and bioenergy in a circular model generating rural synergies. The nationwide movement is called “BiogasDoneRight”.

COP 25

The 2019 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) will be held in Santiago, Chile, November 11-22. In the next issue we will have details of IGU’s participation.