22 DEC 2023 · The agreement to operationalize a new fund for loss and damage was a key achievement of this year’s https://www.devex.com/organizations/united-nations-un-41567 Climate Change Conference, or COP 28. But key questions remain about how that fund will work to get financial resources to countries experiencing the impacts of climate change. It’s part of a broader conversation about climate vulnerability and resilience — how to measure it, how it relates to a country’s income status, and how to quantify the costs of climate change impacts. “These are things that will be with you forever — your entire trajectory, your entire life, your entire space has changed fundamentally and in a permanent way. So the solutions cannot be sliced and diced solutions,” argues Gene Leon, president of the https://www.devex.com/organizations/caribbean-development-bank-cdb-44108, in this episode of the Climate + podcast. Leon outlined how support for countries experiencing loss and damage due to climate change can help them regain their footing — and rediscover an economic growth trajectory on a changing planet. The Climate + podcast is supported by the https://www.devex.com/organizations/world-bank-group-38382.

22 DEC 2023 · The https://www.devex.com/organizations/united-nations-un-41567 climate change conference in Dubai, or COP 28, was a big moment for food systems. For the first time, COP included a day dedicated to food and agriculture, which many see as an important signal that silos between climate and food policy are starting to break down. Still, less than 5% of climate finance is invested in food systems, despite the massive need for financial support for priorities such as regenerative agriculture, reducing food loss and waste, and sustainable livestock management, says Ertharin Cousin, former head of the https://www.devex.com/organizations/world-food-programme-wfp-44564, in this episode of Devex’s Climate + podcast. “Ensuring that we are part of the finance dialogue is as critical as ensuring that we are part of the substantive dialogue around the actions,” Cousin said. It’s an urgent challenge, considering existing — and increasing — levels of food insecurity, and what a changing climate likely means for those unserved by the existing food system, says Ismahane Elouafi, chief scientist at the https://www.devex.com/organizations/food-and-agriculture-organization-of-the-united-nations-fao-44117. “It’s broken because it’s not nourishing us. It’s broken because it’s part of the climate crisis … and it’s broken because we haven’t been able to use agriculture, really, to uplift people from poverty,” Elouafi said. The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, check out the https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28.

21 DEC 2023 · The annual climate conferences, or COPs, have become much more than just a forum for technical and political negotiations. They’re also a convening space for representatives from the likes of civil society, academia, and the private sector. Corporations now have an increasingly significant role to play in shaping the climate conversation and — crucially — in ensuring their own operations are environmentally sustainable. For a global technology company like Microsoft, being present at COP is important not just because of the potential tools and solutions the company can offer, but also due to the implications of climate change for its business and operations, said Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft’s Chief Sustainability Officer. Joining the Climate + podcast from COP28 in Dubai, Nakagawa shared Microsoft's priorities around investing in carbon removal, using artificial intelligence to accelerate progress on sustainability, and improving sustainability reporting mechanisms and governance. “We want to make sure corporations are stepping up and doing what they can do to rapidly reduce emissions, and… to remove what they can't,” Nakagawa said. The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, check out the https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28.

15 DEC 2023 · The Paris Climate Agreement, established at COP 21 in 2015, calls for leaders and institutions across society to work towards reducing their carbon emissions with the aim of reaching net zero by 2050. Multilateral development banks, or MDBs, which have a critical role to play in the climate finance landscape, are in the process of figuring out what it means to deliver on their commitment to “Paris alignment”. “Delivery means really, for us, implementing what we have committed to do and working with the countries in which we invest in order to accompany them in this green transition,” said Odile Renaud-Basso, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, in the latest episode of the Climate + podcast. EBRD aims for 50% of its investments to be in support of the green transition by 2025, she added. Renaud-Basso joined Devex senior reporter Adva Saldinger to delve deeper into EBRD’s climate priorities, the bank’s approach and timeline for phasing out investments in fossil fuels, what MDBs can do to mobilize more private capital for climate investments, and how MDBs can work better together to support countries with their climate goals. This podcast episode was recorded with a live online audience as part of Devex’s wider Climate + event programming at COP 28. The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, check out the https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28.

15 DEC 2023 · The United Nations climate conference, or COP 28, kicked off with a great deal of optimism as the loss and damage fund was established and countries made their first pledges to contribute. However, concerns remain on whether money channeled through the scheme will really reach its intended recipients. An alternative model to this is the one utilized by GiveDirectly, the U.K. charity that provides direct cash transfers to vulnerable households. To find out more about the organization — including how they might help people in areas prone to climate disasters — Devex Executive Vice President and Executive Editor Kate Warren sat down with GiveDirectly’s vice president for partnerships, Yolande Wright, for this episode of the Climate + podcast. During the conversation, Wright highlights the effectiveness of lump sum cash transfers in helping households build resilience to climate change by investing in livelihoods and improving homes, as well as their ability to address systemic issues — such as infrastructure and gender equality — to support long-term sustainable development. They also dug into the importance of having access to good data and how the rise of artificial intelligence will enable cash transfer targeting to become more efficient. “I think there’s been a tendency of development experts to spend a long time designing and consulting on programs and deciding how best donor money should be spent,” Wright points out during the conversation. She argues that people facing the challenges of climate change in the global south “are best placed to make their own decisions about how they invest their money.” The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, check out the https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28.

11 DEC 2023 · For too long, Indigenous peoples were sidelined from the climate negotiations process, despite being among the most directly affected by climate change. That changed at COP 26 in Glasgow, when for the first time in the history of the UN climate conferences, indigenous representatives https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/society-watch-indigenous-peoples-fear-being-overshadowed-after-cop26-moment-sun-2022-11-08/ to engage directly and share experiences with governments. Indigenous leaders, however, argue that there is still a long way to go towards having their rights sufficiently recognized. “We see that at least we have some spaces that we occupy, and mechanisms which allow better participation, but we still have to do much more at the national levels,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in the latest episode of Climate +. Tauli-Corpuz said she and other Indigenous representatives are calling for Indigenous peoples’ rights, territories, and knowledge to be recognized in countries’ national climate mitigation plans (known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs). Tauli-Corpuz, who is a member of the Kankanaey Igorot people of the Cordillera Region in the Philippines, also shared her own experiences of being targeted by the government as an environmental defender, why direct access to climate finance is still a pain point for Indigenous communities, and what needs to happen to safeguard Indigenous peoples’ rights in the face of the renewable energy transition. The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28

7 DEC 2023 · Although it’s now widely recognized that they must be tackled together, the goals of poverty alleviation and climate action haven’t always been seen as interlinked. In fact, some development advocates continue to worry that a focus on addressing climate change will come at the expense of immediate human needs, especially in the most low-income and fragile countries. These debates have also played out within multilateral development institutions such as the https://www.devex.com/organizations/world-bank-group-38382, whose mission was https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2023/10/13/world-bank-president-on-ending-poverty-on-a-livable-planet from “ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity” to “ending poverty on a livable planet” by the bank’s new president, Ajay Banga. “What I think Ajay Banga shifted in this conversation is recognition of the fact that poverty and environment in many domains are deeply intertwined. That a commitment to eliminating poverty is almost impossible without an equal commitment to preserving the planet,” said Richard Damania, chief economist of the Sustainable Development Practice Group at the World Bank, in this episode of Climate +. Formerly a professor of economics at the University of Adelaide, Australia, Damania has been at the World Bank for over a decade and has witnessed how the bank’s thinking has evolved during this time. “Over time now, it's just become completely mainstream. No one would wink an eyelid if you start talking, for example, about the [economic] impacts of climate change,” he said. Damania joined Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar for a special episode of Climate + sponsored by the World Bank. In addition to the bank’s new mission, they discussed how to measure the economic effects of climate change, how climate change is affecting the water cycle, and the damaging impacts of subsidies for agriculture, fishing, and fossil fuels. The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28 Join Devex on Dec. 7 on the sidelines of COP 28 in Dubai or online from anywhere for the Climate + summit. Register https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-cop-28.html

5 DEC 2023 · This year’s U.N. Climate Conference has already been a historic one in the nearly 30-year timespan of the COP process because it’s the first time there’s been a day dedicated to the linkages between climate change and health. Health advocates are drawing attention to the growing public health emergency surrounding the burning of fossil fuels, especially in the wake of controversial comments made by COP 28 President Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber in which he said there is “no science” that says phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to keep global warming in check. “Fossil fuel phase-out is the most effective and the most important public health intervention of our times,” said Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown on climate change and health. Romanello joined Devex global health reporter Jenny Lei Ravelo on the ground at COP 28 for the latest episode of the Climate + podcast. “We heard from Dr. al-Jaber talking that there’s no scientific evidence — that's absolute nonsense,” Romanello said. “There’s more than enough scientific evidence showing us that we absolutely are in trouble, that we absolutely must phase out fossil fuels.” The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28 Join Devex on Dec. 7 on the sidelines of COP 28 in Dubai or online from anywhere for the Climate + summit. Register https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-cop-28.html

1 DEC 2023 · The United Nations Climate Change Conference known as COP is an imperfect forum for achieving progress on climate change. The discourse that unfolds there is dominated by the global north. Any action agreed upon is nonbinding. It’s heavily attended — and influenced — by lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry. It may not be the forum we need, but it’s the forum we have, Kumi Naidoo, a climate activist and the former executive director of Greenpeace International, told Devex on the most recent episode of our Climate+ podcast. “The way I see COP is it's about getting the best out of the really bad system,” he said. COP’s strength lies in its power to shape the narrative around climate change, which up until this point has failed to engage both citizens and governments on the scale that it needs to. According to Naidoo, the climate movement needs to go beyond data and facts in its messaging — it needs to appeal to emotions, too. Breaking climate out of its silo and recognizing its interconnectedness with human rights, development, and economic systems is the only way forward, and COP has the potential to get that message broadcast on a large scale. "The reality is that we are seeing, on a weekly basis now, around the world, extreme weather events which are clearly climate-induced events, which are taking lives, damaging infrastructure, destroying livelihoods, and so on,” he said. “Being able to draw attention to those things using the COP as a communicative opportunity is what activism needs to do." The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28 Join Devex on Dec. 7 on the sidelines of COP 28 in Dubai or online from anywhere for the Climate + summit. Register https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-cop-28.html

29 NOV 2023 · There was a time when world leaders and climate activists mostly spoke about climate change within the framework of mitigating its impacts by taking actions such as reducing fossil fuel consumption and the flow of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses. Little was said about how to help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change. Data is consistently showing us that climate change will most heavily affect the global south through extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts, and flooding. Nevertheless, there is room for optimism. Devex Senior Reporter Stephanie Beasley sat down with Enock Chikava, who leads thehttps://www.devex.com/organizations/bill-melinda-gates-foundation-b-mgf-44525’s agricultural development program, for the fifth episode of Devex’s Climate + podcast to find out about the initiatives the philanthropic organization is supporting to help the agricultural sector in the global south adapt to a changing climate. In addition to providing insights on the work being done already — such as the breeding of chickens that thrive in tropical conditions, as well as the development of an artificial intelligence-powered platform to match local crops with consumer needs — Chikava also stressed the importance of involving women in decision making and policymaking in agriculture and the need for climate finance to flow to those who need it most. Despite the positive stories, Chikava believes it is critical for the world “to realize and understand that there is a climate injustice” to help make decisions at COP 28, the U.N. climate summit, that support agricultural stakeholders in low- and middle-income countries in the face of the climate crisis. The Climate + podcast is supported by the World Bank. To learn more about efforts to end poverty on a livable planet, check out the https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-world-bank-at-cop28. Join Devex on Dec. 7 on the sidelines of COP 28 in Dubai or online from anywhere for the Climate + summit. https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-cop-28.html