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COP Presidency Publishes Climate Finance Delivery Plan The UK COP26 Presidency yesterday published the long-awaited Climate Finance Delivery Plan (the Delivery Plan) led by Canadian Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and German State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth. The Delivery Plan seeks to provide clarity on the commitment by developed countries to provide $100 billion in climate finance per year. The Delivery Plan is informed by recent OECD analysis to 2025, which indicates that by 2023 the $100 billion per year goal will be met and the mobilization of funds for climate finance is likely to surpass $100 billion each year afterwards. The Delivery Plan provides ten key actions that should be taken by developed countries to deliver on the $100 billion pledge, including: Increasing the scale of climate finance; Increasing finance for adaptation; Prioritizing grant-based financing for the poorest and most vulnerable; Addressing barriers in accessing climate finance; Strengthening the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement; Working with multilateral development banks to increase and improve climate finance; Improving the effectiveness of private finance mobilized; Reporting on collective progress transparently; Assessing and building on lessons learned; and Taking into account the broader financial transition needed to implement Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement (making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low GHG emissions and climate-resilient development). In 2009, developed countries first pledged to mobilize $100 billion in climate finance annually by 2020. This goal was reaffirmed under the Paris Agreement in 2015. In June 2021, Canada pledged to double its international climate finance commitment to $5.3 billion. Germany has pledged to increase its climate finance to €6 billion per year by 2025. RBC Releases Canada Net-Zero Transition Report RBC recently released a report titled “The $2 Trillion Transition: Canada’s Road to Net Zero” (the Report), which analyzes the opportunities and…

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recently announced the 33 “Members of the Taskforce”, including senior executives from financial institutions, corporates, and market service providers. The Taskforce is working on developing a TFND risk management and disclosure framework, to be released in 2023, for organizations to report and act on nature-related risks. The TNFD is built on seven principles/themes: (1) market usability; (2) science-based; (3) nature-related risks; (4) purpose-driven; (5) integrated and adaptive; (6) climate-nature nexus; and (7) globally inclusive. The TNFD is assisted by more than 100 institutions, including the following Canadian institutions: BMO Financial Group, CPP Investments, the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, Mining Association of Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and WSP Global Inc. For further information or to discuss the contents of this bulletin, please contact Lisa DeMarco at lisa@resilientllp.com.

The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced climate adaptation and resilience plans for more than 20 federal agencies. The plans were developed by each agency and are available through the Whitehouse website. The agency plans focus on: Safeguarding federal investments by identifying programs and missions most at risk from climate change. Identifying leadership and accountability by identifying senior leadership and creating accountability structures to ensure top-down adaptation and resilience leadership. Developing a more resilient supply chain by updating supply chain policies and operations to create a more climate-resilient system. Enhancing protections for workers and communities by providing for implementing better support for workers vis-à-vis the impacts of climate change. Building a more equitable future by providing for actions that support President Biden’s environmental justice objectives. The Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Building are seeking public comments on the plans. Interested parties can submit comments online until November 6, 2021. For further information or to discuss the contents of this bulletin, please contact Lisa DeMarco at lisa@resilientllp.com.

U.S. Senator Chris Coons and House Representative Scott Peters, both Democrats, earlier this week unveiled the “Fair, Affordable, Innovative, and Resilient (FAIR) Transition and Competition Act” (the Act), which, if enacted, would establish a border carbon adjustment (BCA) to be imposed as a fee on imports, starting on January 1, 2024. This follows the recent release of climate and emissions reduction proposals by the European Commission which also include BCAs for imports into the European Union. This bulletin briefly outlines the key provisions of the Act. Sectors. The Act would apply to industrial facilities that produce the following products: Steel; Aluminum; Cement; Iron; and Any product which is composed of over 50 percent of any of the above products. Determination of domestic environmental cost incurred. The Act would empower the Secretary of the Treasury (the Secretary) to annually determine the domestic environmental cost incurred for each sector or the average cost to produce a covered fuel (natural gas, petroleum, and coal), to comply with federal, state, regional, or local law, regulation, policy or program which, inter alia, is designed to limit or reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including cap-and-trade systems, carbon taxes, and fees. Border carbon adjustment. The Secretary would administer the BCA through regulation and guidance. The Secretary of State and the United Stated Trade Representative would engage with other countries to reduce global GHG emissions and ensure fairness in the application of the emissions-based tariffs. A fee would be applied to any covered good (either a covered fuel or product produced within a sector) to be determined based on the domestic environmental cost incurred multiplied by the production of GHG emissions of the product or the upstream GHG emissions of the covered fuel. The BCA would not apply to (i) countries on the Least Developed Countries list of the OECD and (ii) countries that…

Bill C-12, the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, (the NZ Bill) passed third reading in the House of Commons late yesterday evening. The NZ Bill was introduced last November, and if enacted will require national targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050. This bulletin provides a brief overview of the NZ Bill and next steps:   Emissions reduction targets and plans. The NZ Bill provides for emissions reduction targets to be set by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change (the Minister) every five years, starting in 2030. The Minister must also establish an emissions reduction plan for each milestone year, indicating how Canada will meet the corresponding target. Each plan must also, inter alia, provide a description of relevant sectoral strategies, how international commitments are taken into account, and emissions reduction strategies for federal government operations; and provide projections of annual GHG emission reductions for each economic sector that Canada includes under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.  Net-Zero Advisory Board. The NZ Bill would establish the Advisory Board to provide independent advice to the Minister on achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and each five-year milestone. The Advisory Board will provide advice on GHG emissions targets; GHG emissions reduction plan, including measure and sectoral strategies that the government could implement to achieve GHG emissions targets; and any other matter referred to it by the Minister. The Advisory Board is to be composed of members with expertise in, or knowledge of climate change science; Indigenous knowledge; relevant physical and social sciences; climate change and climate policy at the national, subnational, and international levels; energy supply and demands; and relevant technologies. Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. At least every five years, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development will be required to examine and report on the government’s implementation of measures to…