Impact Insights #10

Welcome back to the ESGI Horizon Newsletter! Today, we’ll look at the main takeaways of the 2024 Global Climate Highlights Report from Copernicus. We’ll also cover the EU Commission’s “Omnibus“ package, the EV transition in Pakistan, breakthrough at the UN COP16 Biodiversity Conference in Rome and the falling child mortality in Asia. Finally, we’ll wrap up with the latest impact deals improving food security and driving a more transparent mining supply chain.

Let’s dive in!

Global Climate Highlights 2024:

The Copernicus Climate Change Service released its much-anticipated Global Climate Highlights 2024 report. Here are the main takeaways:

1. Record-Breaking Global Temperatures
   

   2024 marked the first year global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, with 11 months surpassing this threshold. While the Paris Agreement aims to keep the increase in global average temperature well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, it refers to long-term averages, not single years. However, the current warming rate of over 0.2°C per decade suggests that crossing this limit permanently is increasingly likely within the 2030s.

   

2. Persistent Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies
   

   The annual average sea-surface temperature reached a record 20.87°C, 0.51°C above the 1991–2020 average, highlighting the ocean’s continued heat absorption from greenhouse gases. Monthly temperatures in 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally high, even with a relatively weak El Niño.

   

3. Alarming Sea Ice Decline

   Throughout 2024, Antarctic sea ice remained at historically low levels, second after 2023, with November reaching its lowest extent since satellite records began. In the Arctic, sea ice stayed near the 1991–2020 average until June but declined sharply afterward, ranking September as the fifth lowest on record.

   

4. Escalation of Extreme Weather Events

   
   Extreme events in 2024 significantly impacted human health, ecosystems, and infrastructure. Record global temperatures fueled more frequent and intense heatwaves, floods, droughts, wildfires, and storms, highlighting the direct consequences of rapid climate change.
   

5. Heat Stress
   

   Rising global temperatures in 2024 intensified heat stress, with more frequent and prolonged heatwaves impacting health, agriculture, and infrastructure. Urban areas faced heightened risks due to the heat island effect, while extreme temperatures drove record energy demand for cooling. On July 10, a record 44% of the globe experienced at least ‘strong’ heat stress, 5% above the average annual peak, with many regions seeing more days than usual of ‘extreme’ conditions.

   

6. Water Vapour
   

   Higher global temperatures contributed to increased atmospheric water vapour levels (7% more water vapour per additional degree Celsius), amplifying the greenhouse effect and intensifying extreme weather. This is known as the ‘temperature-water vapour feedback’. Elevated humidity worsened heat stress, reduced nighttime cooling, and fueled stronger storms and heavy rainfall, leading to more severe flooding.

   

The 2024 Global Climate Highlights from Copernicus underscore the accelerating pace of climate change. Surpassing the 1.5°C threshold, record sea-surface temperatures, and shrinking sea ice signal an urgent need for action. Carbon dioxide and methane levels hit all-time highs at 422.1 ppm and 1897 ppb, with CO₂ reaching its highest concentration in at least 2 million years and methane in 800,000 years.

News & Trends

• 🇪🇺 The European Commission’s “Omnibus“ package proposes to roll back corporate sustainability disclosure rules. The revised Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive would limit tracking to direct suppliers, excluding broader supply chains. Major changes to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) would raise the company size threshold from 250 to 1,000 employees. These changes would exempt 80% of companies from CSRD requirements and delay reporting by 2 years, aiming to ease regulatory burdens, especially for SMEs and mid-sized firms. The proposals now await approval from the European Parliament and the Council.

  

• 🔋 🦜Pakistan accelerates its EV transition, aiming for a 30% share of new electric vehicles by 2030 and 90% by 2040. The government is subsidizing electric scooters and rickshaws, while leading rickshaw maker Sazgar Engineering is partially shifting its production to electric rickshaws. In August, Chinese EV giant BYD announced it would set up its first South Asian factory in Pakistan.

  

  E-rickshaws

• 🦜 🎈At the UN COP16 Biodiversity Conference in Rome, nearly 200 countries approved a financing plan for nature conservation. They pledged $200 billion annually by 2030, including $30 billion in transfers from wealthy to poorer nations, double the 2022 total. COP16 president Susana Muhammad declared the agreement a major step in strengthening the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework. Signed in 2022, the framework aims to protect 30% of the planet’s land and seas by 2030, though funding sources remain uncertain.

  

• 🎈 Child mortality in Asia has fallen sharply, with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Nepal seeing declines of over 50% since 2000. India’s rate fell from 9% to 3%, and China’s from 4% to 1%, saving millions of young lives. Key factors include better nutrition, clean water, sanitation, vaccinations, and poverty reduction.

  

Latest Impact Deals

• The European Commission has raised €5 billion through its latest NextGenerationEU Green Bond, part of an €11 billion EU-Bond transaction. The 25-year bond saw overwhelming demand, with bids exceeding €69 billion, an oversubscription rate of 14 times. Proceeds will fund green projects within national Recovery and Resilience Plans.

• British International Investment (BII), alongside Swedfund and Norfund, have announced a joint $85 million investment in AgDevCo to support high-impact agribusinesses to increase productivity and improve food security in rural areas.

• Islamic finance invests $20 million into Minexx, a digital mineral sourcing platform. It leverages AI for price risk management while ensuring ethical trade practices through AI-driven compliance validation, enabling a more transparent, efficient, and responsible mining supply chain.