UNEP-CCC Season's Greatings

2022 has been a year of big changes. For our organization it was the year the UNEP DTU Partnership was transformed to become the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre administered by UNOPS. This new setting will facilitate stepping up our part in implementing the climate change part of the UNEP Medium Term Strategy.

2022 was also a year where the climate crisis once again made headlines around the world. Not only did we see the horrible consequences of extreme weather in Pakistan, heatwaves in Europe, droughts in many African countries and China, plus glaciers visibly melting at unprecedented speed.

UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre was very proud to contribute with experts and lead authors to the two IPCC reports on mitigation and adaptation earlier this year. In addition, we also delivered the Emissions and Adaptation Gap reports, both co-produced and co-edited by UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, setting the stage and underscoring the urgency of rapid transformation of our societies.

Looking at how this transformation can happen, we published the first Technology Progress Report, bringing clarity on what leads to successful tech implementation in climate action.

In this context, it is also worth mentioning that the Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) project this year hit an impressive milestone of 100 user-friendly policy briefs, detailing climate technology ready for implementation. Implementation of the GEF funded programme continues in 17 countries and is expected to expand in 2023 with a 5^th TNA programme.

With Article 6 of the Paris Agreement in place, 2022 saw the start of several initiatives to assist countries participate in global carbon markets for NDC implementation and raised ambitions, and to facilitate knowledge sharing.

With the energy supply crises in Europa and increasing fuel prices globally, energy efficiency has gained some of the recognition it has long needed. As SEforALL hub for energy efficiency, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre joined the new Mission Efficiency initiative in 2022, hosting a financing charette to accelerate investments in countries.

Assisting developing countries access finance for the necessary mitigation and adaptation action is an important area of work for UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre. Through the NDC Action project for example, where we work with 10 countries, we have helped develop a roadmap to finance the Colombia’s NDC.

Another crucial aspect of being able to reach the goals in the NDCs is data. Data is not only necessary to assess the most efficient climate actions, but also to attract finance, and track progress for mandatory reporting. In Zimbabwe, we have worked closely with the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) to enable the country to better collect this data. With funding from ICAT, we will continue to support transparency efforts in 38 countries.

2022 has also been a year of big changes for me personally. I have rejoined UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre as the director, and I am looking forward to facilitate implementation of the new institutional setting with UNEP and UNOPS, and to expand our work on new areas like loss and damage and Article 6 operationalization.

With these short and select highlights, I wish you all the very best for the holiday season.