The science behind Texas’ catastrophic floods
At least 95 people died in the flash floods. The disaster has the fingerprints of climate change all over it.
Last month in Dakar, Senegal, Woodwell Climate Associate Scientist Glenn Bush and Forests & Climate Change Coordinator Joseph Zambo facilitated a high-level workshop with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Director of Climate Change, Aimé Mbuyi, lead scientist on the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) reporting process, Prof. Onesphore Mutshaili, and project consultant Melaine Kermarc. The goal of the workshop was to begin generating a clear set of priorities for the next 5 years for stepping up the ambition of the country’s NDCs, and to discuss strategies for monitoring and reporting on emissions.
Under the Paris Agreement, each country is required to submit to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change a detailed description of their emissions reduction commitments and then regular reports on progress. Currently, DRC has pledged to reduce emissions by 21% by 2030, focusing on reform in their energy, agriculture, forestry, and other land use sectors. While NDCs are intended to represent a country’s highest possible ambition, DRC is looking to step up further. Officials are at work developing a plan to reach net-zero emissions, which would place the country among the leaders of climate policy in Africa.
In order to do this, DRC needs a reliable framework for measuring and monitoring emissions, so that progress can be accurately reported on. At the workshop, Bush, Mbuyi, Zambo, Kermarc and Mutshaili discussed ways to strengthen the NDC reporting process. Among the top needs identified was stronger institutional scientific capacity, increased coordination and data sharing, and more funding and awareness of the process at local and provincial levels.
“High quality data is essential to building a high integrity NDC,” says Bush. “Improving the scope and quality of data available to monitor carbon will not only help the country meet the highest tier of reporting standards, but also access performance-based payment mechanisms to help finance the transition to a low emissions economy.”
Through their conversations about challenges and opportunities, the group identified three areas for intervention that will help the country navigate towards a stronger emissions reduction plan. These recommendations were outlined in a report on the workshop proceedings.
- Improved governance and policy management: Establishing a National Climate Change Council to better integrate climate policy into national development plans.
- Science-backed carbon accounting and budgeting: Developing credible data standards for measuring emissions and ecosystem services to support transparent and effective reporting on climate performance.
- Cross-sectoral integration: Promoting emissions reductions across all sectors through collaborative partnerships, particularly in the field of climate-smart agriculture and carbon payment mechanisms.
Mr Aimé Mbuyi, Head of the Climate Change Division (CCD) at the DRC’s Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, declared that “these recommendations reflect an important set of practical steps to move from aspiration to operational reality in order to increase the financing and impact to conserve our forests and stimulate sustainable development in the DRC”.
Woodwell Climate Research Center has been a long time partner of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. The Center is assisting the ministry in laying the technical foundations to support the NDC improvement process and helping build in-country scientific capacity to make a net-zero emissions plan a reality. This and other partnerships will be essential in transitioning the DRC to a low-carbon economy.
“We appreciated the long-standing trust that has developed over years of formal and informal collaboration on climate policy,” said Mbuyi. “The scientific partnership with Woodwell is invaluable to us at CCD, providing actionable information that has proven essential to advancing the climate mitigation and adaptation agenda.”
While the annual climate Conference of Parties (COP) each fall is the largest and most visible event of the global climate effort, international climate action happens all year long. Each June, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holds a preparatory conference in Bonn, Germany. These summer climate meetings, often referred to in shorthand as “Bonn,” bring together up to 7000 delegates for the nitty gritty work of international cooperation.
At Bonn, government delegations negotiate the full range of issues surrounding global climate collaboration, scientific organizations present their latest findings, civil society groups advocate for climate action, and diverse coalitions showcase their efforts. The June meetings lay the groundwork for decisionmaking and collaboration at the upcoming COP, and often give a clear indication of the challenges to come in the fall negotiations. This year, from June 16 to 26, conversations at Bonn spanned topics including the development of indicators for global resilience, clarifying how the world should pursue the global energy and forestry related targets agreed on at COP 28, mobilizing climate finance, increasing countries’ ambition for emissions reduction, and ensuring a just global transition away from fossil fuels.
This year’s summer meetings proved a tough one for governments attempting to move forward on nearly every issue, though delegates did manage to achieve clarity on the decisionmaking agenda for the upcoming COP30, to be held in Belém, Brazil in November. In the science realm, the UNFCCC launched a systematic mapping of what research needs are currently being met by the scientific community and where there are still gaps in actionable information.
Beyond the intergovernmental negotiations the conference included a wide range of events and activities by observer organizations. A Woodwell Climate delegation was in attendance again this year, taking part in some of the key activities of the conference. Here are 3 highlights from The Center’s engagement at this year’s June climate meetings.
- Reporting and Transparency: One of the linchpins of the Paris Agreement is its extensive reporting regime. Every two years, each country party to the Paris Agreement is required to submit a report outlining their national climate actions. These reports have to be reviewed by technical experts to ensure accountability to stated goals. On the first day of the June meetings, Woodwell Climate officially launched a partnership with UN Climate Change to train reviewing experts on adaptation action and reporting. The collaboration will encompass virtual and in-person workshops, as well as intensive academy-style sessions to provide practitioners with the skills and knowledge needed to uphold transparency.
- The 17th Annual Research Dialogue: This is the biggest event for scientists at the UNFCCC meetings. It is an opportunity for science organizations and experts to present their latest findings and learn from governments about knowledge gaps and needs. Woodwell’s Director of Government Relations – International, Dr. Matti Goldberg, presented research from a recent study led by Woodwell Climate and the Environmental Defense Fund that showed how climate-driven emissions, like those from increased wildfire and thawing permafrost, threaten the viability of the Paris Agreement.
- Side Events: Every year, swirling around the main agenda of the June meetings, is a host of side events that tackle important topics. This year, Woodwell Climate Assistant Scientist Dr. Ludmila Rattis and Fundação Dom Cabral organized an official side event to discuss the creation of an index for measuring the sustainability of agriculture based on soil health, the presence of forests, and diverse crop systems.
On top of substantive agenda items, participants tried to grapple with the logistical issues arising around the conference in Belém, with affordability and accessibility being particularly acute concerns for non-governmental organizations and Global South participants. Despite the questions remaining on this front, the outcomes from this June’s climate meetings have built the foundations for a pivotal COP30 agenda— at a time when ambitious climate action couldn’t be more important.
Brazil wants to scale up regenerative tropical agriculture model (Portuguese)
Model developed by Brazilian entities was presented at a conference in Germany preceding COP30
Brazilian researchers presented this Saturday (21/6), in a parallel event to the Bonn Conference in Germany , a new sustainable model for the development of regenerative tropical agriculture. The initiative is led by the Dom Cabral Foundation, but brings together private companies and civil society entities as partners.
The business model designed to accelerate the transition from traditional systems to regenerative agriculture in the planet’s tropical belt includes pillars such as production diversification, soil health, use of biological inputs and a focus on the socioeconomic development of producers.
Between land and water: Tribal relocation and resistance
Climate change is altering the land we live on, and Indigenous communities are on the frontline. In this episode, we bring you to Alaska, where rapid permafrost thaw is threatening the Native village of Nunapitchuk. Then, we head to Louisiana, where the Pointe-Au-Chien Indian Tribe is watching their land disappear underwater due to sea level rise. These threats are forcing these tribes to make the difficult decision: to stay and adapt, or to leave their ancestral home.
Read more or listen on Sea Change.
Woodwell Climate Conversations: Enduring Impact
Max Holmes, President and CEO of Woodwell Climate, and Dr. John Holdren, Former Chief Science and Technology Advisor to President Obama, on adapting with purpose and the lessons learned from political turbulence.
Learn more about our Climate Conversations series.