Camda Insights: Contextualising Covid-19 in Upcoming Reports (Sept 9, 2020)

Camda Insights: Contextualising Covid-19 in Upcoming Reports (Sept 9, 2020)

Camda Insights supports the coordinated communication of the impact of states, regions, cities, businesses, and investors in global climate action. If you have an announcement or update you would like to share with the Camda community through this newsletter, please contact Roisin Gorman at RGorman@theclimategroup.org.

Contents: – Contextualising Covid-19 in Upcoming Reports: FOR REVIEW: Template Statement to Address Covid-19; PLEASE ADD to the Registry of Publications; Key Takeaways from Call with Report Authors – Camda Stakeholder Call Notes – August 11 – Announcements: New Analysis by Data-Driven EnviroLab published; Net Zero Resources; and Research Aggregator

Contextualising Covid-19 in Upcoming Reports

PLEASE REVIEW: Template Statement for Addressing Covid-19

The below is the first draft of a template statement we are developing which report authors from the Camda community are encouraged to take and tailor for publishing ahead of your reports in this cycle. The statement aims to transparently indicate which actors the analysis in your report focuses on, whether it quantifies the impact of Covid-19 on climate action, and if so which impacts it assesses. In the statement, we also aim to indicate the importance of subnational and non-state climate action by highlighting the contribution states and regions, cities, businesses, investors, and ICIs can make to the green recovery process and how collaboration with national governments can support the enhancement of NDCs. As this is such a crucial year for climate action and with the added pressure of Covid-19, we want to ensure the Camda community is sharing one strong, unified message demonstrating the influence and power of subnational and non-state actors. We welcome all feedback to make this message as powerful as possible. Please review this statement and  leave your comments/edits directly into the Google Doc or send your feedback to RGorman@theclimategroup.org. Statement: This publication is one of several released in [2020/2021] that showcases the power and ambition of the climate action that states and regions, cities, businesses, investors, and international cooperative initiatives are taking globally. Amid a global pandemic and in this critical year for climate action, international cooperation and collaboration between actors is crucial. These publications demonstrate that the actions these actors are taking have the power to support green recovery from the Covid-19 disaster to create a better future for all, and when taken into account by national governments, can support significantly increased ambition of their Nationally Determined Contributions to expedite the peaking of global emissions and achieve global net zero by 2050. In this publication, we focus on [insert actor] to determine their potential and current impact on global greenhouse gas emissions and how they can influence the state of climate action at a national level and global level.   The emissions data and climate action data used in this publication dates from [insert year]. Our analysis therefore [takes into account/does not take into account] the impact of COVID-19 on GHG emissions [in the short term/medium term/long term].   In this publication, we have calculated the potential impact of Covid-19 on emissions through analysing [impact on GDP and economic growth; recovery measures/stimuli produced by governments[/other actors]; its impact on behaviour change; other]. The full methodology can be found […].

PLEASE ADD to the Registry of Publications 2020

Three new columns have been added to the 2020 Registry of Publications to help contextualise upcoming reports with respect to Covid-19. Please can all report writers review the registry and a) check your report is included in the registyry; b) check all the details pertaining to your report are correct and complete; and c) fill in the 3 extra columns. These will help to track what our reports are covering this year and will help report authors across different reports to connect for comparing/aligning methodologies.  The three new columns should be used to: indicate whether Covid-19 impact on emissions is quantified in your report; give a brief description of assumptions made in the methodology (particularly relevant for reports looking at Covid impacts); and which Covid-related impacts on emissions have been analysed (GDP, green recovery/stimulus, behaviour change, and/or other). There are comments in the headings to indicate what to include in each column. There is also a separate column for additional comments. If you have any questions or you are unable to make edits to the document, please contact RGorman@theclimategroup.org. The 2020 Registry of Publications aims to give an overview of all reports from Camda members due to be released this cycle to help coordinate efforts on methodology and messaging, and to enable us to support releases.

Call with Report Authors – Key Takeaways

The Climate Group recently hosted a call inviting report authors from the Camda community to discuss how to contextualise Covid-19 in our various upcoming climate action reports. The call was used to discuss how to account for the time lag in reported data (i.e. data used in reports being largely from 2019 or earlier and so not reflecting the impact of Covid-19) and therefore what messages we will present in relation to Covid-19 and climate action. Key suggestions from the call are as follows:The data time lag can be addressed in a statement ahead of a given report or publication – see above for the first draft of the template statement we are developing to publish ahead of reports this year, currently open for feedbackThe potential drop in the number of disclosers this year can be addressed in a similar wayKey themes coming through the reports this year are anticipated to be green recovery, (inter)national cooperation and collaboration, and net zeroFor reports that are assessing impacts of Covid on emissions and/or climate action, there are three key impacts of Covid-19 they may look at: economy/GDP, green recovery, and behavioural changeAny reports with data from 2020 should differentiate between emissions reductions due to economic downturn versus due to real climate action. We need to communicate the drop with caution as it is not guaranteed to continue to decline or be long-lastingAny opportunities for green recovery will need to be communicated with caution as ultimately Covid-19 has been an economic and health disasterView the full notes.

Camda Stakeholder Call Notes – August 11

Thank you to those who attended the last Camda Stakeholder call which was used to share details on the Race to Zero Campaign and on upcoming reports, update Camda members on plans for the upcoming stakeholder consultations, and for members to give updates on the impact of Covid-19 on data disclosure this year. Key points from the call are as follows:Currently, over 50% of the global economy is covered by net zero emissions, with around 25% of CO2 emissions covered. The Race to Zero Campaign aims to increase that to 70% and 40-50%, respectively, by COP26.Three reports are planned for release in September around Climate Week NYC 2020:A pre-release of the net zero aggregation report with the full report to be published later in the yearThe report on the assessment of finance-sector climate action commitmentsA limited report from America’s Pledge focussing on Covid-19’s impact on climate action in the USStakeholder consultations for the progress metrics and visualisations developed by Camda will begin taking place in September via webinars. Wider Camda stakeholders will be invited to input.The progress metrics and visualisations will then be presented to higher-level stakeholders via a virtual meeting during the November dialogues – date TBDCovid-19 has not significantly impacted number of states and regions, cities, and businesses disclosing data this yearYou can view the full notes from the call here.

Announcements

New Analysis on Mitigation by European Cities published by Data-Driven EnviroLab

A new analysis from Data-Driven EnviroLab, published in Nature Climate Change, provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of cities’ progress towards their climate goals.    Our findings show that over 60% of the more than 1,000 European cities that have monitored their performance are on track to meeting their climate target.    The study investigates what factors – such as the type of climate action cities pursue, and the ambition of their targets – influence progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and what lessons these results hold for subnational climate governance.   Available from: Hsu, A. et al. (2020) Performance determinants show European cities are delivering on climate mitigation, Nature Climate Change, doi:10.1038/s41558-020-0879-9

Net Zero Resources and Research Aggregator in Development

The University of Oxford is developing “Net Zero Climate”, an Aggregator of Tools & Solutions for Achieving Net Zero. This global, independent, non-profit initiative is led by the Environmental Change Institute, the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environmental and the Saiid Business School, in partnership with other leading global research institutions and environmental non-profits. The mission of the aggregator is to bring together resources from academics, policy-makers and businesses to inform, connect and scale solutions for achieving net-zero. Net Zero Climate will provide a free, interactive, online library of the latest available tools, interventions, and best practices for achieving net zero.     The project is looking for key resources, case studies, tools and reports which may enable governments and businesses to meaningfully set and achieve net zero targets.  These are being collected through the following form: https://forms.gle/PhpvaeVPRwsw2TSYA, which you are invited to fill out with information regarding resources that you have produced or are working on.  Please feel free to share this form with colleagues to ensure a diverse and powerful free service to facilitate the net zero transition.   If you have any questions please contact Kaya Axelsson, project lead, at Kaya.Axelsson@ouce.ox.ac.uk or netzero@ouce.ox.ac.uk.

Thank you to all organizations involved, including:, America’s Pledge, Bloomberg Philanthropies, BSR, C40, California Air Resources Board, CDP, Ceres, CIFF, ClimateNexus, ClimateWorks Foundation, Climate Bonds Initiative, Climate Strategies, Data-Driven EnviroLab, German Development Institute, European Commission, Global Covenant of Mayors, Global Climate Action Summit, Global Strategic Communications Council, Grantham Research Institute, GreenFaith, ICLEI, IDDRI, The Mission 2020 Campaign, New Climate Economy, NewClimate Institute, Regions4, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Principles for Responsible Investment, Rocky Mountain Institute, The Climate Group, The Stanley Foundation, UNEP DTU Partnership, UN Environment, United Nations Climate Change, University of Maryland, University of Oxford, We Mean Business, World Resources Institute, and WWF.

Have an announcement or update to share with the Camda community? Contact Roisín Gorman at RGorman@theclimategroup.org to submit to the Camda Insights newsletter.

The Mission 2020 Campaign – The Climate Group – ClimateWorks – United Nations Climate Change

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