RSB at COP 28 – recap
This month, we were in Dubai, UAE, for the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28), as part of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference. As countries agreed to a deal calling on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels, we were proud to share some of the work RSB is doing to deliver transformative climate action – participating in two exciting sessions during the course of our time there, and also launching SAF-now.org with Alaska Airlines and Microsoft.
See below for a quick review.
Trade tools for climate action
On 4th December, RSB was represented by Hannah Walker as we joined Gold Standard‘s Margaret Kim, Bonsucro‘s Danielle Morley and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil‘s Joseph D’Cruz for our first session: the 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 side event, which was also supported by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, Better Cotton and ISEAL.
In this session, Hannah discussed how sustainability standards – like those underpinning RSB’s Principles & Criteria – can drive climate action in forest, land and agriculture sectors. She also shared insights on fresh approaches to measuring and verifying GHG emissions, innovative public-private partnerships, and financial incentives tailored for farmers to take climate action.
How can SAF help you action your net-zero strategies?
On 6th December, RSB’s Executive Director Elena Schmidt was at the FAB Pavilion to engage in another interesting panel discussion: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐀𝐅 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐭-𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬? The session also featured Bain & Company‘s Akram Alami, Neoteric Energy & Climate‘s Kim Carnahan, SkyNRG‘s Theye Veen and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)‘s Suhail Bin Tarraf, and was moderated by Volans’ Louise Kjellerup Roper.
Elena spoke about RSB’s work developing the highest standard of certification for sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, and the role it plays in helping net zero-aligned corporates action their ambitious decarbonisation strategies. She especially focused on how important trust is throughout this whole process, which was wholeheartedly supported by her fellow panelists.
Official launch of ‘SAF-now.org’
The highlight of COP 28, however, was the official launch of SAF-now.org – a microsite designed to empower decision-makers with information on topics most relevant to choosing SAF – developed by RSB, and powered by Alaska Airlines and Microsoft.
“SAF-now.org serves as a valuable resource for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of sustainable aviation fuel and its role in delivering climate action, and I am so proud that we can now share this work to key decision-makers and the wider public, for free,” said Elena.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at COP28 and look forward to participating next year in Azerbaijan at COP29, where we hope to connect and engage with even more members and stakeholders, who too want to deliver transformative climate action.
If you would like to work with RSB at these or any other events, contact RSB Outreach & Engagement Director, Hannah Walker.
