In a pivotal meeting, heads of state and ministers from 197 countries will meet in Glasgow the first two weeks in November to begin implementing the Paris Climate Agreement. The goal of the meeting is to secure commitments from each country on how they will achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less. This will be the 26th meeting of the Council of Parties, or COP26.
Little progress has been made at the past 25 global climate summits. Parties haven’t been able to come to agreement on major issues like establishing a carbon market, and how to pay for losses and damage caused by climate change around the world.
But this summit holds promise. For the first time, every country is required to submit a 5 year action plan towards meeting the Paris net zero goals. These commitments are called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and are expected to be updated every five years. Plans have never been required before. The process is moving from talk to (at least some) action.
UN scientists have sounded a warning call, that we only have a few years left to contain global warming in order to avoid catastrophic effects. One in three people have personally experienced floods, fires, storms or other effects of the climate crisis. President Biden has rejoined the Paris Accord and US Climate Envoy John Kerry is working hard to prepare for this summit. All of these facts point to real action in Glasgow.
Kerry reports that many of the largest emitters—Britain, Canada, the US, Japan and the EU countries—have submitted plans that will achieve the Paris targets. But 89 plans from other countries are far below what’s needed, limiting emissions only by 12%. Kerry hopes to pressure these countries to be more ambitious, perhaps trading climate relief funding for more aggressive goals.
China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has not yet submitted it’s plan as of this writing. Earlier this year, China announced an immediate end to overseas coal financing, and said it will start cutting coal consumption by 2026, which is a start. But China’s President Xi is not expected to attend COP 26, because according to Reuters, “it does not want to be seen as yielding to international pressure for more ambitious goals”. President Biden and India’s President Modi, representing the second and third largest emitters, have both committed to attending.
The COP 26 summit agenda is ambitious and important to our future. Here’s the official UN agenda:
- Secure Global Net Zero Emissions by 2050
Countries are required to come forward with ambitious emissions reductions targets, based on the Paris goals. These are expected to be implemented by:- Accelerating the phase out of coal
- Curtailing deforestation
- Switching to electric vehicles
- Encouraging investment in renewable energy.
- Adapt to Protect Communities and Natural Habitats
- Protect and restore ecosystems
- Build warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and lives.
- Mobilize Finance:
1. A commitment to provide $100 billion annually to developing nations for loss and damage due to climate change was made in 2015. But not a penny has been paid.
2. Creation of a program to mobilize public and private funds to meet this commitment is a key agenda at COP 26. - Work Together to Deliver
- Finalize the Paris Rulebook, which contains the detailed rules to make the Paris agreement operational.
- Accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis through collaboration between governments, businesses and civil society.
How You Can Get Involved
As always, decision makers need support in order to take bold action. There will be marches, protests and events in Glasgow, during the negotiations. Friends of the Earth Scotland and the COP26Coalition are planning events throughout the two week summit. See below for details for how you can attend virtually.
- Global Day of Action for Climate Justice: Nov 5-Nov 6: https://cop26coalition.org/gda/
- People’s Summit for Climate Justice: Virtual conference, Nov 7-10: https://cop26coalition.org/peoples-summit/
It is critical that significant progress be made at COP26. As John Kerry has said, “It is the starting line of the race of the centuries, and the race of this decade. All countries have to sprint and join together to understand that we are all in this together”.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/xis-not-there-cop26-hopes-dim-chinese-leaders-likely-absence-2021-10-26/
https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-environment-and-nature-europe-milan-scotland-bbc844e43127ef3de1edc462127fe47e
https://cop26coalition.org/about/understanding-cop/: COP26Coalition, UK
https://foe.scot/campaign/climate-action/un-climate-summit-glasgow-2020-cop26/getting-involved/