✨ DECEMBER 2023

Hi everyone,

Happy holidays! We hope everyone is enjoying some well-earned rest. It’s been a race to the finish here in December, with a major cross-programmatic success at COP28, where we injected CATF’s expertise and thought leadership into the largest global climate stage. This included hosting more than 20 expert panels, high-level dinners, and the Global Methane Pledge Ministerial meeting. We also launched two new reports on developing and scaling nuclear energy and helped secure commitments to triple nuclear energy, decarbonize oil and gas, cut methane emissions, and more.

And as COP28 unfolded in Dubai, CATF’s experts outside of COP released new reports and issued impactful statements, fact sheets, and blogs almost every day, including a fact sheet, blog, and interactive map on Class VI Well permitting in the U.S. from the Carbon Capture team, a framework to help state officials with their Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program applications from the U.S. State Policy team, and an overview of why the EU Innovation Fund matters for net-zero technology funding from the EU Advocacy team. Plus: the Zero-Carbon Fuels and U.S. Advocacy teams secured a late-breaking win on the 45V hydrogen production tax credit – a critical step to ensuring climate-beneficial hydrogen production in the U.S. 

We congratulate you all and wish you a restful end of year. 

If last month’s newsletter got lost in your inbox, you can find a copy here. And if you have any comments, questions, or feedback, please reach out to Kara Hunt.

Leadership, HR, and Project Management News & Updates

Human Resources

❗Check out the staff directory! You can find your coworkers’ information by last name, team, or vertical.

Present Your Work!

Please sign up to present on your work at an all-staff watercooler! These presentations can range from overviews of your team’s work to deep dives into a specific solution, to an explanation of the policy landscape in a specific region, or anything else you think may be interesting to staff. They do not need to be long or formal. It’s all about sharing your expertise and work with the CATF community! The link to sign up can be found in the CATF Team General channel under the “Forms” tab, and please free to sign up well in advance of your planned presentation date.

COP Corner

Thank you to everyone who contributed to CATF’s COP28 presence. Please see our Week 1 and Week 2 roundup newsletters for updates on CATF activities from Dubai, as well as our press statement on the final text from COP. You can also check out full tracking of our COP28 editorial content, media coverage, media engagement, and analytics from our organic and paid digital content at COP in this COP28 Comms spreadsheet. 

Project Management

CRM/Salesforce for Programs 

• The development of trainings and go-live planning is underway with our new Salesforce consultant. Stay tuned for updates on our updated timeline and next steps!

Events & Meetings

What's Happening at CATF? 

Find out more by viewing the 2024 Events Master Calendar

• Reminder: Please add your speaking engagement, sponsorship, exhibit, webinar, or CATF-hosted event or meeting to the calendar. All staff should have access. 
• To start planning a new event or meeting, please review the Intake Form and FAQ. 

Upcoming Events

⚠️ The events tracker is on Monday.com! View it here.

• January 16: Pathway to Growth – The Forgotten Voter and the Politics of Decarbonisation in Europe (Virtual) 
• January 22-26: Methane Pollution Prevention Staff Retreat (Milan, Italy) 
• January 30 or 31: Bridging the Planning Gap – Are Europe´s NECPs fit for achieving the new 2030 climate and energy targets? (Virtual)

Upcoming CATF Holidays

See here for the full holiday lists for all countries.

• Monday, January 1: New Year’s Day 
• Monday, January 8: Constitution Day (Ghana) 
• Monday, January 15: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (U.S.)

Program & Regional Advocacy
Team Updates

Highlights

• The Advanced Nuclear Energy team released two reports at COP28 – A Global Playbook for Nuclear Energy Development in Embarking Countries: Six Dimensions for Success and Nuclear Energy at Scale: A new pathway to meet the climate and human development challenge. The global playbook is the result of a collaborative work between CATF, Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), and had the participation of the former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz, CEO of EFI and NTI. It provides an overview of the routes embarking countries may take to navigate this ecosystem and develop nuclear energy fleets of their own. Nuclear Energy at Scale provides solutions to address regulatory frameworks, financing accessibility, and project development challenges by the creation of international organizations to facilitate the scale-up of nuclear energy. 
• The Methane Pollution Prevention team participated in a number of high-level events at COP28, including hosting a Global Methane Pledge Ministerial meeting in collaboration with U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, and other leaders. The Global Methane Partners announced:  
  • Over $1 billion in new grant funding for methane action mobilized since COP27, more than triple current levels, which will mobilize billions in investment to reduce methane. 
  • New national commitments and legislation from top oil and gas methane emitters alongside decisive action on waste, food, and agriculture – including strong methane emissions standards for oil and gas from the U.S. and new methane regulations from Canada.   
  • Transformational data tools including the full launch of the Methane Alert and Response System, a new Data for Methane Action Campaign, and a new platform to better track waste methane emissions in cities around the world from CATF, RMI, and the Global Methane Hub. 
• Kasparas Spokas and David Yellen participated in a launch event at COP28 for the report, Pledges to Plans: Principles & Components of Durable Energy Transitions, which aims to guide the creation of planning processes to transform simple pledges and targets into reality and bring global climate targets within reach. 
• The Carbon Capture team published a number of new products this month, including:  
  • A new report that provides a rigorous engineering analysis of the air quality impacts of integrating carbon capture technology on two hard-to-decarbonize industrial processes and found a significant reduction in health-harming air pollutants along with reductions in carbon pollution. 
  • A fact sheet and blog on Class VI Well permitting in the U.S. to accompany the interactive map that tracks the progress of geological storage of carbon dioxide.  
  • A report, Building Market Demand for Low-Carbon Materials: How Market Demand can Accelerate Cement and Steel Decarbonisation in Europe, as well as a brief on decarbonising materials for the energy system transition. 
  • A blog that details progress on carbon capture and storage projects in Europe.  
  • An overview of the launch of the Carbon Management Challenge at COP28.  
  • A status update and look ahead blog on the carbon management ecosystem in the U.S., two years after passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 
• The Zero-Carbon Fuels and U.S. Advocacy teams got a major win this month with U.S. Treasury releasing necessary requirements to promote growth of a truly clean hydrogen market through the 45V hydrogen production tax credit. 
  • Hagan Han and Emily Kent from the Zero-Carbon Fuels team released a blog detailing the “Three Pillars” needed for the Inflation Reduction Act’s 45V hydrogen production tax credit to ensure projects protect the climate. 
• Frank Sturges and Jessi Eidbo from the Legal and Land Systems teams explored the opportunities to accelerate well-planned infrastructure siting and effectively manage carbon sinks on public lands in a new blog.  
• John Carlson and Jeremy Tarr of the U.S. State Policy team provided a framework to help guide state officials in designing competitive applications for the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, along with a fact sheet on how the framework could be used in the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sector.  
• Jakob Petutschnig and Codie Rossi provided recommendations for Europe’s Innovation Fund. The fund is now larger, more flexible, and has extended its scope to include sectors like maritime, aviation, road transport, and buildings – but it can go even further to support a faster and more-focused EU decarbonization strategy. 
• Malwina Qvist and Leslie Abrahams of the Energy Systems Analysis team make the case for a dynamic and iterative forecasting process that simultaneously looks behind us, around us, and ahead of us to robustly capture uncertainty and variability in underlying market mechanisms. 

All program & advocacy updates →

Full List of Publications This Month

Blogs

• Five things we learned from the EU’s third CCUS forum – Toby Lockwood 
• EPA’s oil and gas methane standards were worth the wait – Darin Schroeder 
• Forecast with caution: Decarbonized electricity cost projections vs reality – an offshore wind case study – Malwina Qvist and Leslie Abrahams 
• Improving clean energy infrastructure deployment on federal public lands – Frank Sturges and Jessi Eidbo 
• Hydrogen in your Hulu ads: Here’s why it matters – Hagan Han and Emily Kent 
• Turning pledges into action: COP28 Global Methane Pledge Ministerial 
• Why the EU Innovation Fund matters for net-zero technology funding – Jakob Petutschnig 
• The pore space race: Why the rapid development of geologic carbon storage is good for the climate – Sam Bowers 
• Climate Pollution Reduction Grants: A framework for planning and implementation – John Carlson and Jeremy Tarr 
• Curbing climate change one landfill at a time: CATF’s mission in Africa – Mohammed Dahiru Aminu and Ioannis Binietoglou 
• World leaders recognize carbon management as essential climate tool at COP28 launch of Carbon Management Challenge – Eadbhard Pernot 
• The power of philanthropy: How nonprofits are uniquely positioned to catalyze transformative clean energy technologies – Ann Garth and Terra Rogers 
• Two years of IIJA: An overview of carbon management implementation to date – Jess Wymer and Sam Bowers   
• 2023 wins and trends in state energy and climate policy – Jeremy Tarr
• CATF in 2023: Ambition to action

Press Statements

• Carbon capture can help clean up harmful air pollution from critical industrial applications, finds new CATF report 
• 22 nations join Net-Zero Nuclear Initiative at COP28, committing to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050 
• U.S. strengthens methane emissions standard for oil and gas, marking a pivotal move forward in tackling emissions from new and existing sources   
• Methane finance and decarbonization breakthrough in first week of COP28 
• CATF supports White House initiative to advance fusion energy through international partnerships 
• New global Playbook for nuclear energy outlines pathways to scale up new projects 
• Canada reaffirms commitment to curb methane emissions with proposed oil and gas standards 
• CATF hosts COP28 Global Methane Pledge ministerial meeting, challenging leaders to take more action 
• EU moves closer to unlocking carbon capture and storage for industrial decarbonisation 
• New CATF report proposes solutions to reimagine global ecosystem for nuclear energy deployment 
• Energy planning overhaul needed to meet climate targets – new report 
• CATF expands California state advocacy, welcomes Ashley Arax as senior policy manager with decade of experience and deep ties to California 
• Final COP28 text reflects complexities of global climate action, breaks ground with new, pragmatic approach 
• New Treasury tax credit guidance for sustainable aviation fuels enhances carbon intensity assessments, better accounts for indirect land use change emissions 
• “Not yet sufficient” – European Commission releases assessment of updated NECPs 
• New Treasury tax credit guidance for clean hydrogen production includes necessary requirements to promote growth of truly clean hydrogen market

Reports

• Air Pollutant Reductions From Carbon Capture 
• A Global Playbook for Nuclear Energy Development in Embarking Countries: Six Dimensions for Success 
• Pledges to Plans: Principles & Components of Durable Energy Transitions 
• Nuclear Energy at Scale: A New Pathway to Meet the Climate and Human Development Challenge 
• Building Demand for Low-Carbon Materials: How Market Demand can Accelerate Cement and Steel Decarbonisation in Europe 
• Decarbonising materials for the energy system transition 

FACT SHEETS

• Class VI Well Permitting 
• Climate Pollution Reduction Grants: A Holistic Approach to Emissions Reductions in the Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Sector 

Comms Corner

How to Create Presentations that Work

The comms team has put together a helpful guide with six ways to make a great presentation. This guide can be used for events, demonstrations, and large and small meetings. Check it out here!  

CATF in the News

• A Heatmap story on COP28 and COP29 includes quotes from Lee Beck on geopolitics and the importance of regionally tailored approaches. 
• Lily Odarno provided perspective in African Arguments on the outcomes of COP28 and a reality check that climate talks don’t happen in a vacuum.   
• Sehila Gonzalez was featured on two Age of Mirales podcast episodes – Why Fusion May Finally be Closer than you Think and Who Will Win the Fusion Race? 
• Jonathan Banks highlighted progress on the Global Methane Pledge in an article from Reuters on COP28 pledges.  
• The Wall Street Journal quoted Jonathan Banks in a story on the newly released U.S. EPA methane standards on the oil and gas industry, and Darin Schroeder provided commentary for Grist.   
• Theo Humann was featured in a FranceTV segment on documenting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector in France.  
• Jonathan Banks participated in an Environmental Insights podcast on analyzing COP28.  
• Alejanda Muñoz Castañer was quoted in Politico Pro on Europe's National Energy and Climate Plans, with additional coverage from Euractiv, ENDS Europe, and Nouvelles du Monde.
• Eadbhard Pernot was featured in a Politico story on Europe's carbon capture and storage progress and challenges. 
• Ben Longstreth spoke with Bloomberg on the incentive-only approach for carbon capture projects within the U.S.   
• Jonathan Lewis and Emily Kent provided background for a New Yorker story on decarbonizing aviation.  
• Power Magazine covered the launch of CATF and RMI’s WasteMAP – a platform to track methane emissions from the waste sector.

View all press coverage →

Staff Pet Photo of the Month

Peso is European Communication Manager Julia Kislitsyna’s six-month-old Chihuahua. Tiny but mighty, Pesiño is bursting with love for everyone he meets, challenging every Chihuahua stereotype out there. This little guy knows just what he wants: to eat well, play joyfully (with occasional epic zoomies), nap frequently, and stay cozy.  

If you have a pet you’d be willing to share, please submit a pet photo for the newsletter! You can do so by filling out this Teams Form.

That’s all for this month. If you made it this far — thanks for reading!