Zeroing in: November in the Race to Zero

By Climate Champions | December 16, 2023

This newsletter will be short and sweet because in November, Race to Zero was preparing for COP28 and the release of our Race to Zero Progress Report. We also hosted our first joint Partner & Accelerator meeting of the year, which was hugely successful. You can see our COP28 plans below and we look forward to our next monthly bulletin being a recap of COP28 and how Race to Zero continues to mobilize non-state actor climate action.

In the spotlight: Health

Ambitious climate action is imperative to protect health. That’s why COP28’s ‘Health Day’ and first climate-health ministerial on 3 December marked an important acknowledgement on the climate calendar — acknowledging that health is among the most critical sectors for adaptation and resilience, and that the transition to cleaner energy will not only cut emissions, but will also save lives.

In the Race to Zero, Health Care Without Harm has onboarded 77 health care institutions (ranging from provincial health departments to private health systems to public hospitals), representing the interests of thousands of hospitals and health centres, from 28 countries. This year, the first healthcare institution (PureHealth) from the MENA region joined the Race to Zero. These institutions have fully committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, with corresponding interim targets.

Find out more

Celebrating progress against the 5Ps

• PLEDGE: In a collective effort to combat climate change, 367 financial institutions and multinational companies, with a combined value of US$33 trillion, are supporting the Science-Based Targets (SBT) Campaign by CDP, an international nonprofit that runs the global environmental disclosure system. On Tuesday,  21 November, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) launched the Buildings Science-Based Target-Setting Guidance and Tool Drafts for Pilot Testing to inform the development of robust, clear and practical resources.
  

• PLAN: The Transition Plan Taskforce has just released its latest guidance for sectors, with seven ‘Sector Deep Dives’. These are currently out for consultation until 29 December 2023. Race to Zero has also demonstrated the progress on transition plans from our community in our latest blog –  read more here.

• PROCEED: Race to Zero Accelerator Business in the Community (BITC) kicked off their Green Skills Lab with a cohort of built environment businesses, a recycling waste management institution and an education institution to build blueprints for achieving a Just Transition to a net zero and resilient future.

• PUBLISH: We are looking forward to publishing important insights on Race to Zero member activity with our upcoming Progress Report, stay tuned!

• PERSUADE: We are seeing the 5th P (Persuade) in action ahead of COP28. You can see a summary of activities below.

Sector spotlight: Built Environment

Since COP27, over 70 built environment organizations — representing over $45 billion of combined revenue — have joined the Race to Zero. As of October, this included 34% of major real estate asset managers and owners. Their commitment to cut emissions across scopes 1, 2 and 3 includes the embodied and operational emissions of the $1.4T AuM.

Race to Zero members also include:

• 48% of major architects and engineers
• 19% of major construction companies
• 27% of cities

Events

APAC Climate Week

Race to Zero hosted a successful online event (with 40+ attendees) on Climate Policy Engagement / the 5th P (Persuade) during Asia-Pacific Climate Week, run collaboratively with We Mean Business Coalition, InfluenceMap and The Climate Group. With a keynote from Ulka Kelkar from WRI, we were pleased to hear insights and examples of how in India, non-state actors are actively engaging in climate issues. The challenges of political realities and effective, targeted strategies to engage national governments came up repeatedly during the interactive parts of the webinar. Watch the recording here (passcode: Q4t@^JJ1). Race to Zero in collaboration with WRI India also hosted two significant side events at APAC week.

Read more here

14 November: Discussions at “Leveraging Carbon Markets for Energy Transition in Emerging Economies” highlighted carbon markets as key to financing emission reductions and promoting ambitious clean energy transitions in emerging economies. Participants addressed the necessity for solid carbon market frameworks to ensure just and fair decarbonization, with insights from policymakers, experts, and practitioners on overcoming challenges in the Asia Pacific.

17 November: The “Implementing NDCs through Subnational Climate Finance” session aimed to clarify financial mechanisms for subnational climate objectives, enhancing global financial mechanism access. It included debates on improving governance, leveraging campaigns like RacetoZero, mainstreaming climate issues into subnational finances, and utilizing multilateral finance for sustainable development. The outcomes focused on regional climate finance strategies, governance challenges, and innovative financial mobilization for climate action.

Other 

• Tessa Ferry participated in Accelerator edie’s Big Net-Zero Debate on business ambition on Nov 22nd.
• Tessa Vincent spoke at an event with the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, on net zero policy and regulation.
• Tessa Vincent attended the Giki Employee Race to Zero award ceremony – congratulations to all of the participants!
• Tessa Vincent attended the edie Net Zero Awards, having judged three categories.
• On 22 November, Planet Mark hosted the Understanding the Net Zero Policy Landscape ahead of COP28 with the British Standards Institute for this free session unravelling the complexities of current and forthcoming net zero regulations.