COP26, officially known as the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, started the 31st October. It was the 26th event and held in Glasgow, Scotland. It had been delayed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In advance of the summit, Glasgow pledged to plant 18 million trees during the next ten years. 200 countries represented by 25,000 delegates attended and approximately 120 heads of state. Bill Gates called for a ‘Green Industrial revolution to beat climate change. Prince Charles also addressed the opening ceremony. Among the many other speakers, was David Attenborough, the English broadcaster and natural historian.
Non-attendees, were the Prime Ministers or heads of state of South Africa, Russia, Iran, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey and the Vatican City did not attend the China, also did not attend but a written message was delivered on their behalf.
The Paris agreement of 2015
A sign of how slow progress can be, is that it was not until Saturday 13th November of this year, that the world agreed to the outstanding rules of the 2015 Paris agreement.
There had been concerns over the creation of carbon emission markets, known as Article 6, which was so technical, that there couldn’t be an accord on its wording and substance. One way to offset greenhouse gases is by paying countries with large forest cover to not log their trees. Trees can absorb and lock away large amounts of carbon. The good news is that the rules were finally agreed. The new rules allow countries to trade carbon credits with each other, known as Article 6.2. With this level of certainty it will encourage new investments to control climate actions, which will include halting deforestation and promote other natural climate solution.
Previous COP agreements have not mentioned coal, gas or oil or even fossil fuels in general, as a major cause of climate change, making the Glasgow Climate Pact the first ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce coal. The wording in the agreement refers to an intention to “phase down” use of coal, rather than cut it out completely.
- The number of countries that pledge to reach net-zero emissions passed the 140. This includes 90% of the global emissions.
- More than 100 countries, including Brazil pledged to reverse deforestation by 2030.
- New pledges for financial help for climate change mitigation and adaptation were also announced.
Deforestation
100 countries leaders around the world, who have 85% of the globe’s forests, including Canada, Russia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the USA agreed to end deforestation by the year 2020. This is an improvement on a similar agreement made in 2014, with this time including Brazil and Indonesia. Signatories on the 2014 agreement, promised to half deforestation by 2020 and to end it by 2030. Regrettably however from 2014 through to last year, deforestation increased.
Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Indonesia’s Environment Minister said that ‘forcing Indonesia to zero deforestation in 2020 was clearly unfair.
Climate Action Tracker
On the 9th November, this described the results as follows:
- The global temperature will rise by 2.7°C by the end of the century with current policies, before the Glasgow summit.
- The temperature will rise by 2.4°C if the pledges for 2030 will be implemented, by 2.1°C if the long-term targets will be implemented and by 1.8°C if in addition all the targets discussed are fully followed through
Coal South Africa is set to receive $8.5 billion to end its reliance on coal, but details are scant regarding capping mines, exports and local community support for workers in the industry.
Other countries including Chile, Poland, Ukraine, South Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam also agreed to phase out coal in the 2030s and the 2040s for poorer nations. However, this does not include the world’s largest users of the fuel, China, India and the United States.
Methane
The Us and many other countries agreed to methane emissions. More than 80 countries signed this pledge, agreed to cut emissions by 30% by the end of the decade. Both the US and European leaders say talking the potent greenhouse gas is crucial to keeping warming limited to 1.5°C. Other countries did not sign the pact, but it is hoped more will later.
End Result
On 13 November 2021, the participating 197 countries agreed a new deal, known as the Glasgow Climate Pact, aimed at staving off dangerous climate change. The final agreement explicitly mentions coal, which is the single biggest contributor to climate change.
COP27 WILL TAKE PLACE NEXT YEAR IN EGYPT.
Sandy McInnes
MPL Newsletter Editor
