How countries can signal climate cooperation needs

Following my recent meeting with Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, whose country will hold the COP29 Presidency in Baku this November, I have prepared a thought leadership piece for the upcoming intergovernmental discussions. To align countries in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, I have defined all global economies into three categories, which I named the 'ENS Economies': 1. Enablers: Actively pursuing net-zero emissions, these economies lead in adopting green technologies, policies, and innovative financing methods that support the green transition. They also make it difficult to finance carbon-producing projects. 2. Slow Movers: Reluctant to accelerate the energy transition due to: • High Capital Costs: Investment needed for a greener economy can lead to “green inflation,” making the status quo more appealing in the short term. • Dependency on Carbon Economy: Economies reliant on carbon income face economic challenges in transitioning, potentially reducing GDP growth and competitive advantage. • Income from Taxation: Governments prefer carbon taxes, which generate revenue, over costly financial subsidies for the green transition. Only affluent nations can offer industry incentives like the US's Inflation Reduction Act, impacting energy transition investments. 3. Non-Movers: Struggling due to poor conditions and low credit ratings, these economies face challenges in: • Accessing capital • Acquiring technology and expertise • Developing infrastructure for the energy transition Aligning these streams is challenging. It requires identifiable benefits for all parties and fairness in the process. One solution is developing an international, globally accepted carbon trading market. The international community has become more protectionist, hindering trade, cooperation, and alignment. Countries should be able to trade carbon credits across borders without barriers. A clear and equitable system is needed to align global efforts on carbon emissions. This system could use a scoring method considering each country's historical emissions since industrialisation. The heavier carbon producing and emitting economies would assume greater economic responsibility by contributing into an international carbon reduction fund. This fund would be managed by multilateral banks. The fund would support poorer economies in achieving net zero with defined targets. Countries providing financial and technical innovation and resources to enable net zero should benefit by receiving discounts on their financial contributions to the international fund. I would advocate COP29 should adopt this framework to reach international alignment. This is an extract of a more detailed article: if you would like to receive the full article please email: contact@stirlinginfrastructure.com #COP29 #EnergyTransition #NetZero

Climate Coalitions for carbon pricing in heavy industry: Analysis towards COP30 initiative I participated in the Global Climate Policy Project working group on climate coalitions. We have released our flagship report, Building a Climate Coalition: Aligning Carbon Pricing, Trade, and Development. The report lays out a practical blueprint for countries to cooperate on carbon pricing and trade—starting with heavy industries like steel, cement, aluminum, and fertilizers, which together account for more than 20% of global emissions. The analysis shows that: ✅ A coalition could cut emissions 7x more than current policies. ✅ It could raise nearly $200 billion per year in revenues, mostly from domestic carbon pricing. ✅ Price impacts on key materials would be modest, with minimal consumer effects. ✅ A graduated approach would allow low- and middle-income countries to join fairly, backed by technology transfer, finance, and capacity-building. Brazil may make this a signature initiative at COP30. The moment is ripe for countries to move from fragmented carbon border adjustments to a cooperative framework that advances climate, trade, and development together. Read the full report here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gZFAY_vz #ClimateAction #CarbonPricing #Trade #COP30 #ClimateCoalition

The Breakthrough Agenda Report 2024 is now online: https://lnkd.in/er-rchJS Looking back over the past year, we see that in some areas, countries are working together to solve the practical problems of the low carbon transition. - sharing of learning from demonstration projects of deeply decarbonised power systems; - agreeing measurement methodologies and mutual recognition for certification schemes for low carbon and renewable hydrogen; - committing to increase the efficiency of new air conditioners by 50% by 2030, underpinned by minimum energy performance standards; - piloting digital passports for sustainability and traceability in battery supply chains; - coordinating the installation of charging infrastructure for heavy duty electric vehicles along international road freight corridors. Those are a few highlights, from among a huge number of collaborative efforts involving governments, businesses, and civil society organisations. There are just as many areas where more could be done. Two overarching priorities include: - Spreading progress in the transition to more countries, through greater use of concessional finance, risk guarantees, and technical assistance to developing countries; - Getting the transition started in more sectors, by coordinating policy to create demand for (near)zero emission products and technologies. This is important in sectors such as steel, cement, and hydrogen. As the report has said in previous years, without international cooperation, the global transition could be delayed by decades; with it, transitions can be faster, less difficult, and lower cost. But realising that potential requires countries to invest seriously - financially, politically, and with time and attention - in the process of diplomacy focused on practical problem-solving. The world has already agreed net zero targets. Cooperation to solve the practical problems on the way to reaching those targets can no longer be seen as a side-event. It should be the central focus of climate change diplomacy from now on - along with an equally practical approach to resilience.