COP28 Final Takeaways / IFAD 13 Replenishment Meetings
PLUS A personal update on my book's pre-launch event in early 2024, plus the latest breakdown of the EU's budget negotiations and how they impact our work.
Dear Friends and Supporters,
As we end the last few weeks of the year, we remain focused on several key end-of-year trends, including IFAD 13 replenishments and the next steps on COP28 takeaways. I discuss these and more below. I hope you all enjoy this iteration of the newsletter.
On a personal note, some of you have inquired about events for the launch of my book next year. I'm excited to share that there will be a small pre-launch gathering on January 30th here in New York. If you're in town and interested in attending, please email me. I’m thrilled with the reception it’s been receiving, including this wonderful endorsement from former Australian Government minister and current Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Melissa Parke:
"A naturally quiet yet determined person, Michael Sheldrick leads by example, inspiring everyone he meets including Prime Ministers, Presidents, philanthropists and rock stars, with his clear goals and strength of purpose. And in the book, Michael insists that what he has done others can do. He clearly explains the 'how' of policy entrepreneurship, giving examples and stories to illustrate.
At a time of global polycrisis, Michael gives us more than reasons to be hopeful; he actually tells us how to go about effecting meaningful change in our world."
A reminder that you can already pre-order one of 100 signed copies here. Reflecting on COP28, it underscores that conference negotiations can only take us so far. What truly makes a critical difference is sustained advocacy, lobbying for good, and policy entrepreneurship—alongside technology entrepreneurship—throughout the year on our shared priorities!
COP28 Final Takeaways
COP28 is still fresh as we move from policy discussions and negotiations to advocacy efforts. While the deal to transition from fossil fuels was certainly encouraging, our main takeaway is that no clear goals or targets accompanied this announcement, and perhaps more critically, no further concrete action was taken to limit warming to the 1.5°C target agreed on at Paris in 2015.
CoP28 also failed to acknowledge the role of environmental defenders and their contributions to the pursuit of climate action and the threats, risks, and intimidation they suffer and to call for a stop to these practices. A siloed approach between human rights and climate negotiations continues to be evident. Despite the general mentions of human rights in the final text, the right to participation and the ability of citizens to demand results is absent. The word “accountability” does not exist in the text.
Looking ahead, our role is to ensure this accountability for the historic financial agreements made at this year’s conference, including the revamped Loss and Damage fund, task force on taxation led by Kenya and France, and World Bank Debt Pause Clauses. This event proved Global Citizen’s worth as a force multiplier and convener, as our team on the ground (and afar) held meetings with key stakeholders and used its platform to push for more at the negotiating table.
Read Global Citizen’s recap of the event here and additional analysis from my colleague Friederike Röder, who provided critical updates to our team throughout the conference. I provide some additional thoughts on carbon market analysis via X here.
IFAD 13th Fundraising Efforts Ongoing
Replenishment consultation meetings for IFAD's 13th fundraising round occurred this week in Paris, and the GC team is tracking incoming commitments. IFAD is one of the most important organizations supporting farmers on the frontlines of the climate crisis! In light of the recently concluded COP28 and the critical tie between food security and climate change, IFAD is more important than ever to receive a full replenishment. Global Citizen Europe Board Chair Sabrina Elba is on-site and noted how critical IFAD projects are in helping communities adapt to climate change.
We are encouraged by the leadership of the governments of France and Norway, who have already made a combined $240M in commitments to IFAD at this year’s Global Citizen Festival. We’ve also seen the Government of Rwanda step up with a tripling of their commitment, and Ireland came through with an additional $27M for the fund. Over $1B has been raised for IFAD so far for this replenishment.
75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
As I noted last week, December 11-12 commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At a time when human rights continue to be threatened, it was the right time to bring attention to this foundational document.
Global Citizen collaborated with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, not only in releasing a series of videos, but also by bringing the UDHR to our audience's attention through explainers, and an action challenge. We were also thrilled to co-sponsor a side event on women's human rights defenders at the Palais des Nations in Geneva in collaboration with the governments of Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and Chile and Open Society Foundations.
European Budget Negotiations To Pick Up Again in January
This week, the President of the European Council announced that an agreement on revising the EU's budget has been postponed to early January. However, 26 member states agreed on the revision's contents–with Hungary's vetoing – which has been published.
If confirmed, the deal would slash new funding for external action proposed by the European Commission and supported by the European Parliament by prioritizing investment in migration management. This would be financed through fresh funding and shifting existing funds away from development and health programs.
You can see GC’s joint reaction with 10 civil society groups here.
We do not expect significant changes to this package in the new year, but we will keep pushing and monitoring how the situation evolves. It certainly does not bode well for our collective chances of seeing EU leadership and funding for global priorities until 2027, and it is a reality check and preview of what we can expect when negotiations on the next budget cycle start following European elections next year.
For those interested, a more detailed analysis is below:
A €7.6 BN increase to the EU’s external funding (H6) for migration management. Of this, €4.5 comes from committed & freed-up funds – i.e., money that could have been carried over and used for climate, global health, education, food security, etc, but is instead repurposed for migration management – de facto shrinking other priorities in the EU’s main development instrument (NDICI – Global Europe).
No top-ups to the emergency cushion, which leaves very little money for future unforeseen crises until 2027.
Redeployment of €1 billion from the health budget (EU4 Health), to fund Ukraine (€50 billion, of which €17 in grants) and migration.
The only beam of light comes from top-ups of €2 billion to the Flexibility Instrument, an unallocated pot of money for unforeseen events. Still, we compete with every other priority externally and internally to access these funds.
Thank you again for supporting GC’s open letter to European leaders!
Gates Foundation End-of-Year Partner Panel
On Thursday, I joined colleagues from Africatalyst, the United Nations Foundation, and the Paris Peace Forum at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's end-of-year Partner Panel to discuss key development and advocacy trends ahead of 2024. In my remarks, I reiterated the power of the Global Citizen platform. I highlighted key moments for our team in the coming year, including key replenishment conversations and the expansion of the Move Afrika brand. Thank you to our partners at Gates for hosting an insightful discussion!
Accenture’s Sustainability Innovation Challenge - Ep. 7
This week, GC’s corporate partnerships team launched the seventh episode of an 8-part video series highlighting Global Citizen’s Global Partner, Accenture, and their Sustainability Innovation Challenge - a six-month program that empowers Accenture employees and students worldwide to build knowledge, leverage tools, and pressure-test ideas for real-world solutions to address sustainability challenges.
Our seventh episode features Stacey Chassoulas, Innovation Lead of Corporate Citizenship at Accenture, who discusses the evolution of the Accenture Sustainability Innovation Challenge (ASIC) program. The program has expanded from a nuanced lens of solving environmental challenges to adopting a holistic approach in tackling global challenges through the lens of sustainability and social impact.
This episode can be found on YouTube - have a watch, and let us know what you think in the comments on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter!
My Weekend Reading List
Kendrick Lamar concert in Kigali kicks off drive to put Africa on the global gig circuit
Is solidarity possible in Israel / Palestine? (I highly recommend this read from our friends Jonathan and Hassan at Global Nation, who produced the 2023 Global Solidarity Report)
US lawmakers grapple with border security deal details linked to foreign aid
Hungary's Orban blocks aid for Ukraine, says he can still halt EU accession
Middle East in Crisis & Conflict (I've previously shared this great analysis from my friend Taufiq Rahim. He's now revised and updated it once again. I highly recommend it!)
A final fun Holiday season fact. This year marks 100 years since the National Christmas Tree first was placed outside the White House. The original came from Vermont while Calvin Coolidge was president.
As always, if you’re enjoying the weekly newsletter format, and want even more, you can subscribe to my Substack here where I publish reviews, lists and articles on a regular basis.
Til next week,
Mick