For every dollar pledged to tackle the climate crisis, four dollars are spent on fossil fuel subsidies, boosting Europe’s green transition and employment impact from the pandemic worse than expected. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector:
For every dollar pledged to tackle the climate crisis for the world’s poor, four dollars are spent on fossil fuel subsidies that keep the climate crisis alive according to new UNDP research
The world spends an astounding US$423 billion annually to subsidize fossil fuels for consumers – oil, the electricity that is generated by the burning of other fossil fuels, gas, and coal. This is four times the amount being called for to help poor countries tackle the climate crisis, one of the sticking points ahead of the COP26 global climate conference next week, according to new UN Development Programme (UNDP) research released.
The amount spent directly on these subsidies could pay for COVID-19 vaccinations for every person in the world, or pay for three times the annual amount needed to eradicate global extreme poverty. When indirect costs, including costs to the environment, are factored into these subsidies, the figure rises to almost US$6 trillion, according to data published recently by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Instead, UNDP’s analysis highlights that these funds, paid for by taxpayers, end up deepening inequality and impeding action on climate change.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed outdated aspects of the global economy. It includes the fact that the world continues to spend billions of dollars on fossil fuel subsidies, while hundreds of millions of people live in poverty and the climate crisis accelerates. Against this backdrop, we must ask ourselves: is subsidizing fossil fuels a rational use of public money?” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator.
Fossil fuel subsidies are both inefficient and inequitable. Across developing countries, about half of the number of public resources spent to support fossil fuel consumption benefits the richest 20 percent of the population, according to the IMF.
Boosting Europe’s green transition: Commission invests €1.5 billion in innovative clean tech projects
The Commission is launching the second call for large-scale projects under the Innovation Fund, one of the world’s largest programs for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies, financed by revenues from the auction of emission allowances from the EU’s Emissions Trading System. With a budget of €1.5 billion, it will finance breakthrough technologies for renewable energy, energy-intensive industries, energy storage, and carbon capture, use, and storage.
Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: ‘The Innovation Fund helps to scale up technological solutions necessary for the green transition. With this call, we will support innovative projects, speeding them up, and bringing them to the market as quickly as possible. This investment will support the decarbonization of Europe’s economy, paving the way to climate neutrality in 2050, and reinforcing European technological leadership on a global scale.”
Taking into account the significant oversubscription in the first call and the strong project pipeline, the Commission simplified the application process, which now consists of only one stage. This will reduce significantly the lead time from application to grant award.
Projects will be evaluated according to their potential to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, their innovation potential, their financial and technical maturity, their potential for scaling up, and their cost-efficiency. The call is open for projects from all EU Member States, Iceland and Norway until the 3rd of March 2022.
For projects that are promising but not sufficiently mature for a grant, there will be project development assistance by the European Investment Bank.
Employment impact from the pandemic worse than expected
The loss of working hours in 2021 because of the pandemic will be significantly higher than previously estimated, as a two-speed recovery between developed and developing nations threatens the global economy as a whole, says the International Labour Organization.
The ILO is now projecting that global hours worked in 2021 will be 4.3 per cent below pre-pandemic levels (the fourth quarter of 2019), the equivalent of 125 million full-time jobs. This represents a dramatic revision of the ILO’s June projection of 3.5 per cent or 100 million full-time jobs.
The eighth edition of the ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work, warns that without concrete financial and technical support, a “great divergence” in employment recovery trends between developed and developing countries will persist.
In the third quarter of 2021, total hours worked in high-income countries were 3.6 per cent lower than the fourth quarter of 2019. By contrast, the gap in low-income countries stood at 5.7 per cent and in lower-middle-income countries, at 7.3 per cent.
From a regional perspective, Europe and Central Asia experienced the smallest loss of hours worked, compared to pre-pandemic levels (2.5 per cent). This was followed by Asia and the Pacific at 4.6 per cent. Africa, the Americas and Arab States showed declines of 5.6, 5.4 and 6.5 per cent respectively.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
What is climate justice?
As the signs of climate crisis are becoming increasingly visible worldwide and this topic is very high on the political agenda, climate justice has also been seen more often on the table especially when it comes to climate adaptation and mitigation in developing states. Countries with low- or middle-income cannot mitigate the impacts of climate changes without external assistance.
Digital gender gap induces financial losses in developing countries
Thirty-two low- and middle-income countries have lost about US$1 trillion from their GDP due to the exclusion of women from the digital world. Although the digital gender gap has recently been decreasing worldwide, the gap has not narrowed sufficiently to minimize economic losses. The Alliance for Affordable Internet (a global coalition of businesses, governments, and civil society actors aiming to limit the digital gender gap) reached these conclusions and also assessed that in some countries men are 50% more likely to be online than women.
Carbon emissions by country
Our planet is heating up at an alarming rate with the last decade being the warmest recorded and the global average temperature reaching 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. In 2019, the atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher than at any time in at least 2 million years with China, the United States, India, and Russia being the largest emitters of CO2. This article discusses some of the most important trends in climate change and presents the top 10 countries that emit the most CO2.
Will the Taliban takeover trigger a new refugee crisis for Europe? | Experts’ Opinions
Fear, disappointment, uncertainty these are just a few of the words heard among the Afghan people after the Taliban takeover. America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has also caused fears of a repeat of Europe’s 2015 migration crisis when more than a million people from the Middle East fled to the continent and resettled there. Will the Taliban takeover trigger a new refugee crisis for Europe? Check out some expert opinions below.
Here’s what else has happened
WFP and Russia: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Tajikistan handed over 1,485 tons of fortified wheat flour and around 61 tons of vegetable oil to the Ministry of Education and Science of Tajikistan during a ceremony this week. The food will cover the needs of the national School Feeding Programme in the Districts of the Republican Subordination (DRS), Khatlon Region, and the Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO).
European Union: The European Union has contributed EUR 4 million to help the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) respond to the rising humanitarian needs in Myanmar. Over 370,000 people in Chin, Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan states have received life-saving food and nutrition support since the beginning of 2021, thanks to their generous contribution.
COP26: From 1 to 12 November, the European Commission will take part in the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow, UK. On 1-2 November, President von der Leyen will represent the Commission at the World Leaders Summit which officially opens COP26. Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans will lead the EU negotiating team. Commissioner Kadri Simson will also attend COP26, and the EU will host over 150 side events at the EU Pavilion.
Australia: Australia is supporting people affected by some of the most severe humanitarian crises across the world, including those related to, and exacerbated by, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reports
Green industrial policies key for developing countries to adapt to climate change
The second part of UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report 2021 released on 28 October calls for a transformative approach to climate adaptation, with large-scale public investment programs to adapt to future as well as current threats, and green industrial policies to drive growth and job creation.
AIIB report: Green infra critical to global value chain competitiveness
As the world grapples with supply chain disruptions brought about by the pandemic, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has highlighted the need for inclusive and green infrastructure for global value chains (GVCs) to meet fundamental challenges, including the net-zero transition.
In its latest Asian Infrastructure Finance (AIF) report entitled “Sustaining Global Value Chains,” AIIB highlights the role and evolution of GVCs and the urgent shifts necessary to decarbonize along the supply chain or risk the GVC becoming unsustainable.
Updated climate commitments ahead of COP26 summit fall far short, but net-zero pledges provide hope
New and updated climate commitments fall far short of what is needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, leaving the world on track for a global temperature rise of at least 2.7°C this century, according to the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) latest Emissions Gap Report 2021: The Heat Is On.
Events
Expand Your Impact by Becoming a Global Development Consultant | Webinar
📅 4 November 2021 🕒 4 PM (Brussels Time)/ 10 AM (Washington DC Time)
Virtual
Have you ever considered entering or stepping up your career in the development sector? DevelopmentAid is here to assist you on this journey!
Join us for an exclusive webinar to learn how to format your professional profile, expand your network, develop strong proposals, and land individual assignments funded by international donor organizations. Our speakers, Irina and Dan, will provide practical tips on how to enter the global development sector and succeed in it.
Speakers:
Dan Maxwell Jr. International Capacity Development Specialist.
Dan brings over 11 years of experience in the development sector having high-level practice working on projects initiated and funded by UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNOPS, USAID, AfDB, IFC, Word of Life, UNESCO, etc. Dan is a multi-skilled professional with extensive experience leading teams and managing development projects involving Organizational Capacity Assessment and Capacity Building. As a Certified Executive Coach, Dan is currently focused on supporting emerging leaders and mid-career professionals to enter and succeed in the international development sector.
Irina Bondarenco
, Career Center Director at DevelopmentAid.
Irina is the Director of the Career Center at DevelopmentAid for more than 10 years. Together with her team, Irina assists individual consultants to create winning CVs, connect with potential employers, and identify short- and long-term projects in the development sector. She’s an expert in the DevelopmentAid platform and in all the career aid tools that can help experts secure international projects.
APEC CEO Summit 2021| Virtual
📅 11 – 12 November 2021
Virtual
A virtual gathering of the world’s most powerful CEOs, business leaders, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, prime ministers, and presidents of APEC economies. Delegates will attend the Summit online as it is hosted using an immersive stage and the latest digital technologies and broadcast from the Aotea Centre in central Auckland on 11 and 12 November 2021 (NZT).
The APEC CEO Summit 2021 will focus on five themes:
- The state of the world with and post-Covid: economic recovery, trade, and protectionism.
- The Digital Disruption Opportunity: digital transformation, technology and innovation, and the importance of digital equity.
- The Primacy of Trust: ESG (environmental, social, governance) – the next focus for business, and business as a force for good.
- The Future of Energy: clean technology, renewable energy, and energy transition including hydrogen.
- The Sustainability Imperative: sustainable growth, climate change, food sustainability, and provenance.
