The high-profile COP 26 conference began here on October 31 and marked the participation of world leaders joining voices to prevent the world from climate change, reports Asian Lite News
Despite calling the deal reached at COP-26 a game-changing international pact, Prime Minister Boris Johnson voiced some dismay over the result of the conference.
“My delight at this progress is tinged with disappointment,” Politico quoted Johnson as saying after his government hosted the COP-26 climate conference in Glasgow
“Those for whom climate change is already a matter of life and death, who can only stand by as their islands are submerged, their farmlands turn to desert, their homes battered by storms — they demanded a high level of ambition for this summit,” Johnson said.
Today I spoke to teams at @COP26 to see what more we could do to keep the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees.
“While many of us were willing to go there, that was not true of everybody. Sadly, that is the nature of diplomacy.”
The high-profile COP-26 conference began here on October 31 and marked the participation of world leaders joining voices to prevent the world from climate change.
The participating countries reached an agreement on Saturday to strengthen their 2030 climate goals before the end of next year.
What was not delivered?
Developing countries wanted a clear plan for a loss and damage funding facility. This did not happen and focus will shift to Egypt next year to deliver this.
African nations spend up to 10 per cent of GDP a year on adaptation while impacts could deliver a 20 per cent hit to GDP in poor nations by 2050, says Christian Aid.
What else was agreed?
Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out as a measure for success for this COP action on coal, cars, cash and trees. There was a tsunami of deals delivered during COP.
Climate Action Tracker found that the methane, coal, forests and transport deals contain additionalA action which would close the emissions gap to a 1.5C path by nine per cent or 2.2 GtCO2e.
COP26 President, Alok Sharma, apologized for the last-minute change, and, holding back tears, that the revision “was vital to protect the package” of decisions, now called the Glasgow Climate Pact.
Responding to COP26’s real progress, Ulka Kelkar, Climate Programme Director, WRI India, told: “India will be affected by COP26 asking countries to phase out polluting coal power and withdraw inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
#COP26 | Are you looking for an overview of everything that happened at COP26? Come listen to @UlkaKelkar from @WRIIndia share key takeaways from this year’s conference and its significance for India.
“India will also have to join other countries to escalate emission reduction actions more frequently. This will not be easy for a lower-middle income country that is trying to lift millions of people out of poverty.
“India’s battle against climate change will be led by scaling up renewable energy, which will be the foundation of our net zero future; by industry, who will fight to stay competitive in the global economy; and by states and cities, who will need to urbanize with respect for nature.
“Now that COP-26 has finalised the rules of carbon trading, India will be able to sell more than a million carbon credits from previous years, and can also create a domestic market for carbon trading.”
Believing that there was nothing much, Manjeev Puri, Distinguished Fellow, TERI, said: “There is no real commitment on part of developed countries to move ahead with serious and urgent domestic action let alone in terms of global collaboration and truly significant climate finance for tackling climate change.”
Quite what it is at @COP26 'Accelerated action' but also glacial pace.Imbalanced, imperfect,uncomfortable but still least worst in the spirit of compromise!No money, no action,no trust but very good speeches. Let's roll over to Egypt and hope for miracles! @carboncopyinfohttps://t.co/in4WNUXI5F
Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, said, “The COP26 has definitely narrowed the gap for 1.5 and the processes which can be taken for future action. But the failure of the US and the EU to deliver on the promised $100 bn in climate finance remains urgent and central to any ambitious climate action. Blocking the establishment of even a modest fund to help vulnerable communities around the world with the massive loss and damage they are experiencing at the hands of the climate crisis is a serious blow.”
At COP26, CGIAR on Monday urged global leaders to ensure the 500 million smallholder farmers responsible for up to a third of global food production can adapt to climate change-induced loss and damage while curbing their greenhouse gas emissions…reports Vishal Gulati.
Rice is a staple crop in India as well as in many parts of Asia and Africa, but climatic extremes including rising sea levels — which causes inland salinisation — can seriously affect its production.
The adoption of ‘climate-smart’ rice has led to significant increases in yield in climate change stress-affected areas, including those inhabited by the most impoverished farming communities. The drought-tolerant Sahbhagi Dhan variety is specifically deployed in India.
At the ongoing 26th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in this Scottish city, CGIAR Managing Director (Research, Delivery and Impact) Claudia Sadoff talked exclusively to IANS in the context of how to help farmers to become “climate smart”, improving productivity and resilience while reducing emissions.
She said large-scale flooding is occurring with greater frequency in South Asia with many of the region’s most vulnerable people, who live in vast agrarian belts within the Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra-Meghna river basins, being the worst affected.
Index-Based Flood Insurance (IBFI) designed by CGIAR researchers combines satellite imagery with mathematical modeling to calculate flood damage and verify claims, avoiding the need for costly field visits and thus keeping premiums affordable and giving smallholders a valuable lifeline.
As another example, she said that a CGIAR project in Gujarat led to 3,500 farmers gaining access to solar irrigation offering excellent mitigation potential where the majority of irrigation pumps are diesel.
“Farmers also have a 25-year agreement with the local power utility to buy back surplus power, thus increasing energy access and alternative income while incentivising smart groundwater use and reducing carbon footprints.
— Canada's Ambassador for Climate Change (@CanAmbClimate) November 5, 2021
“The success of the pilot inspired a multi-billion-dollar government of India initiative to promote solar irrigation,” she said.
CGIAR is the largest global research partnership working towards sustainable and resilient agriculture and technology it has developed has helped yields triple in Europe and North America.
At COP26, CGIAR on Monday urged global leaders to ensure the 500 million smallholder farmers responsible for up to a third of global food production can adapt to climate change-induced loss and damage while curbing their greenhouse gas emissions.
Innovations are needed that can both reduce the contribution of global agriculture to climate change, and adapt to its increasingly evident consequences while also supporting livelihoods, nutrition and equality.
The call comes as the UK pledged $55 million over two years to boost commitments to CGIAR research from a steadily growing global coalition to surpass $1 billion.
The new pledges will contribute to an accelerating of research and innovation to confront rapidly intensifying climate challenges that could upend the global fight against hunger and poverty.
The first week at COP26 delivered significant support for climate innovation for farmers across the developing world. Pledges to CGIAR came from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and countries including the US, Canada, Sweden and Belgium, and now the UK.
Sadoff told that Indian rice farmers face a heavy toll from flooding just after crop sowing.
Recurring impacts of floods in India necessitate improving farmers’ knowledge of adaptation and coping methods along with improving flood-resilient infrastructure to reduce the damaging impacts on farming communities.
Swarna-Sub1, a submergence-tolerant rice variety developed within CGIAR, could play an important role in minimising the effect of flood on rice production. A recent study shows that the variety could be most beneficial for flood adaptation in districts of Bihar, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh, she said.
On the rice stubble burning in northern India that has long been a major cause of air pollution, she said CGIAR research has made a significant difference toward efforts to stop the harmful practice of rice straw burning, by providing a more ecologically friendly alternative.
“Zero tillage provides farmers with a mechanised alternative to burning and tilling land between the rice harvest and wheat planting season.
“The approach instead offers a way to sow wheat directly into unplowed paddies and rice straw, using innovative machinery and attachments that can chop the leftover rice stalks, spread the residue evenly as mulch, and plant seeds into the soil — all without the need for clearing.”
According to her, the climate crisis is exacerbating the degradation of food, land, and water systems, impacting productivity, viability and resilience.
“Business as usual will mean that zero hunger will be an unattainable goal. Food value chains that exploit natural resources beyond planetary boundaries, resulting in waste generation, deforestation, water pollution, ecosystem destruction, and biodiversity loss are a global problem.
“Combined, these impacts increase the vulnerability of the people whose lives and livelihoods depend on them — to extreme events and other shocks such as Covid-19.”
A key objective of CGIAR is to increase the resilience of smallholders who are on the frontline of climate change and there are many examples of climate smart innovations that have already been developed and many more in the pipeline.
In a joint statement issued by members at Glasgow, it was highlighted that despite the tremendous developmental challenges and pressures of poverty eradication, BASIC countries continue to lead from the front on climate change actions, reports Asian Lite News
Brazil, South Africa, India and China—all members of BASIC, have pledged their full support to the United Kingdom COP26 presidency for a successful conference, which delivers an ambitious and balanced outcome, including the completion of the Paris Agreement Work Programme to facilitate the full implementation of the Paris Agreement and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
In a joint statement issued by these members of BASIC in Glasgow in UK, it was highlighted that despite the tremendous developmental challenges and pressures of poverty eradication, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the BASIC countries continue to lead from the front on climate change actions.
Ambitious climate change targets announced by BASIC are testimony to the seriousness that BASIC countries accord to tackling climate change, noted the joint statement.
At COP 26, Minister of the Environment of Brazil reassured the country’s full commitment to being part of the global response to tackle climate change by supporting the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.
Brazil also announced new climate goals: (i) 50% of emissions reductions by 2030; (ii) zero illegal deforestation by 2028; (iii) restore and reforest 18 million hectares of forests by 2030; and (iv) achieve, in 2030, the participation of 45% to 50% of renewable energies in the composition of the energy matrix.
South Africa has submitted an updated and significantly more ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement ahead of COP26. The updated NDC brings forward the peaking of South Africa´s emissions by a decade and contains detailed information on adaptation and the enabling means of implementation support required from the international community.
The NDC presents a target emission range from 398 – 614 MtCO2e in 2025 and 350 – 420 MtCO2e in 2030. From the upper end of the range of the first NDC, this represents a 17% reduction for 2025 and a 32% reduction for 2030. South Africa has progressed from an original target against business as usual, to a fixed target emission range.
The lower end of the 2030 updated target emission range is consistent with a 1.5-degree pathway, while the upper end of the range is consistent with a 2-degree pathway, the joint statement maintained.
While India is amongst the few countries whose NDCs are already compliant with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced further enhancements to India’s Climate ambitions at the World Leaders’ Summit at COP 26 in Glasgow.
Prime Minister Modi called for a global mass movement for environmentally sustainable lifestyles and consumption. India announced five new and updated targets viz. (i) increasing non-fossil fuel installed electricity capacity to 500 Gigawatts by 2030; (ii) achieving 50% of cumulative electric power installed capacity from renewable energy by 2030; (iii) reducing total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tons between now and 2030 (iv) reducing emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030; and (v) achieving net zero emissions by 2070.
China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. For 2030, China will lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by over 65 percent from the 2005 level, increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 25 percent, increase the forest stock volume by 6 billion cubic meters from the 2005 level, and bring its total installed capacity of wind and solar power to over 1.2 billion kilowatts, the joint statement said.
XI Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China addressed at the World Leaders Summit at COP 26 in written statement and pointed out that we need to uphold multilateral consensus, focus on concrete actions and accelerate the green transition, it added.
China is formulating and successively releasing the “1+N” policy framework for delivering carbon peak and carbon neutrality and has already communicated China’s updated NDC and LTS. Moreover, China will strictly control coal-fired power generation projects and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad, it added.
BASIC Ministers highlighted that the BASIC and other developing countries have made the first move, coming forward with high ambition despite not bearing historical responsibility for causing climate change.
They now expect developed countries to show leadership and respond with a matching progression of effort. The positive sentiments expressed in the COP26 Summit should now be transformed into action and infuse the negotiating positions in the formal UNFCCC process.
In this regard, Ministers are concerned that climate finance provided by developed countries has fallen short of the USD 100 billion per year commitment by 2020 and that finance tends to be provided with unilateral conditionality and eligibility criteria, as well as in the form of loans, rather than grants, which aggravates the debt crisis.
Ministers underlined that developed countries must urgently step forward to fulfill their obligations and mobilize at least USD 100 billion per year from 2021 to 2025, and initiate, at COP 26, deliberations on a formal, transparent and open process for setting a new collective quantified goal on finance under the Paris Agreement, including through an inclusive forum for deliberation with a detailed roadmap outlining milestones for adopting a goal no later than 2023.
The new collective quantified goal must build from a floor of USD 100 billion per year, be significantly publicly funded with greater transparency and predictability and take a balanced approach towards mitigation and adaptation in light of the needs and priorities of developing countries.
Ministers expressed concern that Adaptation is not being accorded the balanced and substantive attention they deserve in the UNFCCC process. It is essential to develop a work programme to operationalize the Global Goal on Adaptation under the CMA.
Ministers emphasized that trust amongst Parties is central to the success of a multilateral process and that climate change can only be successfully addressed through a collective multilateral response. The history of negotiations and the past commitments must not be forgotten or erased.
In this spirit, it must be ensured that the discussions on pre-2020 action and support are not relegated to the background in this COP. The progress on the pre-2020 agenda should be the key benchmark of success of COP 26.
The developed countries must honour their pre-2020 commitments regarding mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation, without transferring any burden and responsibility to developing countries. Developed countries are required to take urgent actions to close the pre[1]2020 implementation gaps by 2023, which can be a useful input for facilitating discussions on progression of current commitments in the first Global Stock Take (GST)
Ministers underscored the importance of concluding the discussions on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, in accordance with the mandates and principles set out in the Paris Agreement and the accompanying decision. Ministers emphasized the importance of keeping a balance of the mechanisms under Article 6.2 and Article 6.4 and that share of proceeds should be collected under Article 6.2, to contribute to the Adaptation Fund.
A decision on Article 6, including its governance would preserve the integrity and credibility of multilateral process, provide additional and predictable resources to the Adaptation Fund, and send a strong message to the private sector on their engagement and crucial role in achieving the objectives of the Agreement.
Excellent discussion with Chilean President @sebastianpinera at Downing Street today. As Chile passes the baton of the @COP26 Presidency to the UK, I look forward to continuing to work together to drive forward ambitious climate action ahead of November’s summit. 🇬🇧🇨🇱 pic.twitter.com/O5R4muFaBp
Any unilateral measures and discriminatory practices, such as carbon border taxes, that could result in market distortion and aggravate the trust deficit amongst Parties, must be avoided.
Ministers underscored the need for an Enhanced Transparency Framework that delivers a balanced outcome to strengthen the transparency within the UNFCCC, while providing much-needed flexibility for developing countries in accordance with their national circumstances and capabilities.
It is crucial to guarantee that all the efforts of developing countries to comply with their new transparency obligations will receive adequate technical and financial support.
Ministers emphasized that developed countries need to further enhance the transparency of climate finance and highlighted that providing information on support by developed countries, especially the flow of climate finance including its predictability, is a key component of the Enhanced Transparency Framework.
Ministers underlined that COP 26 should achieve a balanced ambitious outcome reflecting all three priorities of the Paris Agreement namely mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation and emphasize the following: a) Preserve the nationally determined nature of NDCs corresponding to their highest possible ambition in the light of different capacities and national circumstances; b) Reflect Equity and the principle of Common.
But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), in the light of different national circumstances, stated in Article 2.2 of the Paris Agreement; c) Conclude the negotiations related to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement; d) Send a strong signal to developed country Parties to fulfill their obligations without further delay and provide specific information on the provision of technical, financial and capacity building resources to developing country Parties representing a progression beyond previous efforts; recognize the significant role of public funds and cater to needs and priorities of developing country Parties; e) Promote climate justice by recognizing the fundamental equality of all people to pursue economic growth and sustainable development.
BASIC Ministers reiterated their support for Guinea, as the Chair of the Group of 77 and China, with a view to strengthening the unity of the Group of 77 and China and advancing the common interests of the developing countries.
BASIC meeting, held on Wednesday in Glasgow on sidelines of COP26, was chaired by Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav was attended by Joaquim Leite, Minister for the Environment of Brazil, XIE Zhenhua, China Special Envoy for Climate Change, ZHAO Yingmin, Vice Minister, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, and Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment of South Africa.
In stage two, the four new tracking devices could pass over deep ocean trenches, across major migratory routes for marine mammals and birds, possibly beaching on distant shores…reports Vishal Gulati.
On the penultimate day of COP26, scientists have deployed plastic pollution tracking devices into the ocean around Scotland.
The devices will help scientists understand how plastic bottles move in the ocean and their interaction with climate change impacts, wildlife and weather patterns.
The ‘Message in a Bottle’ tracking project is being run by — Arribada Initiative, The University of Exeter, The University of Plymouth and the Zoological Society of London with support from #OneLess and OneOcean.
Designed to mimic a single-use plastic drinks bottle, the devices will respond to currents and winds as real bottles do. Stage one of the project launched on World Ocean Day June 8 during the G7 in Cornwall, and has already seen seven devices travel hundreds of miles over the past five months.
In stage two, the four new tracking devices could pass over deep ocean trenches, across major migratory routes for marine mammals and birds, possibly beaching on distant shores.
A recent study released by ZSL (Zoological Society London) and Bangor University revealed links between the global climate crisis and plastic pollution, including the impact of extreme weather worsening the distribution of microplastics into pristine and remote areas.
With all eyes on the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 nearing its completion in Glasgow, the four devices have been named “Heat”, “Acidity” “Deoxygenation” and ‘Pollution’ to draw attention to the need to adequately address these ocean crises in tandem and to ensure that a recurring ocean climate dialogue is fundamental to future COPs.
Heather Koldewey of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and University of Exeter, lead scientist on the project and Director of the #OneLess campaign said, “Through our research we’ve seen that plastic and climate change are fundamentally and intrinsically linked.
“Plastic is made from fossil fuels, generating greenhouse gasses at every step of its life cycle and the impact of both plastic pollution and climate change are both prevalent around the world. These crises are truly interconnected. There is only one ocean and by tracking the flow of plastics we are trying to demonstrate the connectedness and the wide-reaching impact that humans are having on our planet. There is an urgency to acknowledge that the climate crisis is the ocean crisis.”
Mirella von Lindenfels, Director of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), said: “The ocean regulates our climate and buffers us from the full force of climate change by absorbing our excess heat and over a third of our CO2 emissions. Any irreversible and significant changes to the ocean could have profound economic and ecological consequences.”
Over 359 million tonnes of plastic is produced annually and production has been predicted to double in the next 20 years.
These are projects that risk taking the world well beyond climate limits and becoming stranded assets, with little or no economic value…reports Asian Lite News.
Amidst climate justice groups installing oil barrels at COP26 to say “no fossil fuels — not here, not anywhere”, a new analysis by Carbon Tracker released on Wednesday found the proposed deepwater Cambo oil field off Scotland is uneconomic and its future exploitation is incompatible with the Paris goal of maintaining warming at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Carbon Tracker founder and executive chairman Mark Campanale said: “Cambo is uneconomic and would not be financially competitive in a well-below 2 degrees C world. Moreover, COP26 is showing the world the urgency of the climate crisis and if we are to ‘keep 1.5 alive’, this means this project is clearly amongst the first to fall by the wayside.
“The world has a great many existing oil projects that are lower cost and lower risk than Cambo and that are ahead in the financial pecking order. The IEA has said that ‘no new oil, coal or gas is needed’ in a 1.5C scenario and Cambo is blatantly one of those projects.”
The thinktank utilises oil demand using different IEA scenarios — linked to specific temperature policy goals — to understand oil and gas supply. A cost-curve approach is used based on data from Rystad Energy, allowing those oil and gas projects which fall outside of a given temperature outcome to be identified.
These are projects that risk taking the world well beyond climate limits and becoming stranded assets, with little or no economic value.
Based on Carbon Tracker’s modelling, the multi-billion-dollar Cambo oil field off Shetland has a breakeven oil price significantly higher than the marginal oil price under the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS, 1.65C).
Put another way, the project is only financially viable if the world fails to limit global temperature rise to well below 2C.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson outside the front of No10 Downing Street with the National Grid COP26 installation ahead of the start of COP26 in Glasgow. Picture by Andrew Parsons No 10 Downing Street
On the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26, climate justice groups and grassroots groups brought oil barrels to oppose fossil fuel extraction.
Speakers at the venue talked about the dirty energy struggles around the world — from the Cambo oil field and new coal mine in Cumbria in the UK, to the LNG export project in Mozambique, to oil export facilities in the US and more.
They said that wealthy countries need to get their act together and come up with credible plans for concrete action to cut emissions, end reliance on fantasy techno-fixes and support a just transition away from fossil fuels.
The Cambo oil field is located about 125km to the west of the Shetland Islands, and contains more than 800 million barrels of oil.
The companies involved in its development are Siccar Point and Royal Dutch Shell, which was recently forced by a court ruling in the Netherlands to slash oil production in line with its net zero goals.
If approved by the Oil and Gas Authority, drilling at Cambo could start as early as 2022. And the field is expected to produce oil and gas for approximately 25 years.
”We need to keep building on this support to close the climate finance gap and meet the Paris Agreement’s goal to increase all countries’ resilience to the very serious challenges that climate change will bring.”…reports Vishal Gulati.
In a show of support for those most at risk from climate change, 12 donor governments on Tuesday pledged $413 million in new funding for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) during the COP26 climate summit.
The LDCF, hosted by the Global Environment Facility, is the only dedicated source of climate resilience funds for the 46 Least Developed Countries, which have contributed the least to carbon emissions and face some of the highest risks from the effects of climate change.
The pledges from Belgium, the Belgian region of Walloonia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US were announced in Glasgow, where signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) are discussing ways to close the climate finance gap and meet the commitments made in the Paris Agreement in 2015.
“I am delighted at the strong show of support to the Least Developed Countries Fund, which stands alone as a source of support to the world’s most vulnerable countries. The pledges made today will make an immediate difference in the places where climate change risks are most acute,” an official statement quoting GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodriguez said.
“We need to keep building on this support to close the climate finance gap and meet the Paris Agreement’s goal to increase all countries’ resilience to the very serious challenges that climate change will bring.”
“The LDCF has a special place in the hearts of Least Developed Countries, as it is the only climate change adaptation fund that is designed to meet our unique needs and priorities. We are 46 of the world’s most vulnerable countries, and the science indicates that our climate risk exposure will only increase,” said Sonam Phuntsho Wangdi, Chair of the LDC Group at the UN climate negotiations.
“Support from the LDCF enables us to take action and prepare for trouble ahead. We are pleased about the generous new contributions to the LDCF announced today and sincerely hope that additional donors will follow suit given how meaningful this source of support is to us.”
A true moment of culmination yesterday speaking for the @UN at @COP26 on Climate Resilience.
I can see at COP26 these delegates are in an impossible situation. I hope one day they can join the people who are already truly climate resilient in order to learn from them.#COP26pic.twitter.com/8h40TCZRVJ
The LDCF is the only climate resilience fund that exclusively targets the Least Developed Countries. Since 2001, it has provided $1.7 billion for projects that have reduced the climate vulnerability of more than 50 million people and strengthened the climate resilient management of six million hectares of land.
The LDCF also supports countries’ planning processes to reduce their medium and long-term vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation into relevant policies, programmes, and activities.
Over 100 countries have agreed to cut their emissions of methane by 30 per cent by 2030…writes Vishal Gulati.
With the second and last week at Glasgow pivotal for world leaders who are hard at work on climate priorities — to keep global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as required by the 2015 Paris Agreement, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging countries to keep up the momentum on the fight against climate change at the COP26 summit.
The first week of the 26th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) under the UK Presidency came to a close on Sunday, which saw around 120 leaders gather for the World Leaders Summit as well as negotiators, officials and ministers come together to make progress on the shared goal of limiting global temperatures to 1.5 degrees.
In the first week good progress has been made so far, including new commitments to net zero by middle of the century, which means 90 per cent of the world economy is covered, triple the figure when the UK took on the COP Presidency.
More than 120 countries, covering 88 per cent of the world’s forests, have agreed to end and reverse deforestation. Countries representing more than 70 per cent of the world’s economy are committed to delivering clean and affordable technology everywhere by 2030 in the most polluting sectors.
Over 100 countries have agreed to cut their emissions of methane by 30 per cent by 2030.
Also the past week saw new commitments to increase finance to support developing countries to deal with the impacts of climate change and implement ambitious emissions-reductions plans.
More than 20 countries have made commitments for the first time to phase out coal power, including five of the world’s top 20 coal power-using countries, and at least 25 countries and public finance institutions commit to ending international public support for the unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022.
Forty-five nations have pledged urgent action and investment to protect nature and shift to more sustainable ways of farming, as well as over 100 countries now signed up to protect at least 30 per cent of the global ocean by 2030.
The views of over 40,000 young climate leaders have been presented to ministers, negotiators and officials.
Marking this halfway point in the summit, Prime Minister Johnson said: “There is one week left for COP26 to deliver for the world, and we must all pull together and drive for the line.
“We have seen nations bring ambition and action to help limit rising temperatures, with new pledges to cut carbon and methane emissions, end deforestation, phase out coal and provide more finance to countries most vulnerable to climate change.
“But we cannot underestimate the task at hand to keep 1.5C alive. Countries must come back to the table this week ready to make the bold compromises and ambitious commitments needed.
“Attention turns to negotiations this coming week. These negotiations are incredibly complicated, and notoriously hard. Teams from the UK and 195 other countries plus the EU will work to reach collective agreement on more than 200 pages of text.
“They will be negotiating the issues left open by the Paris Agreement in 2015, like the process for tracking how all countries are keeping their climate commitments and how we create a fairer global system so no nation is disadvantaged by being more ambitious on cutting emissions.
We've made good progress at the @COP26 World Leaders Summit, but the work is just beginning.
“Everyone has to agree, or nothing is agreed. But the progress in the first week of COP has put us in a strong position.”
The UK’s COP26 Presidency programme continues this week, with the spotlight put on transport, adaptation, gender, science, and cities and regions.
The UK has been leading the way and setting a high bar for other countries to follow — including being the first major economy to commit in law to net zero, setting one of the most ambitious targets to cut emissions by 68 per cent by 2030, phasing out coal power by 2024, ending the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, halting deforestation by 2030, and providing 11.6bn pounds in finance — with an extra 1bn pounds if the economy grows as forecast — to countries on the frontline of climate change.
Krishani Dhanji, a political producer with Australia’s SBS News, shared the video footage on Twitter, saying, “A faux pas from the PM?”…reports Asian Lite News.
A video clip of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison making a mistake during a COP26 speech has gone viral on social media, with Twitter users saying it was a “Freudian slip”.
Morrison, supposed to say “global momentum to tackle climate change”, mistakenly said “tackle China” during his address at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, reports Xinhua news agency.
Krishani Dhanji, a political producer with Australia’s SBS News, shared the video footage on Twitter, saying, “A faux pas from the PM?”
A faux pas from the PM? Scott Morrison appears to say "global momentum to tackle 'China'" instead of 'climate change' before correcting himself, in his address to #COP26@SBSNewspic.twitter.com/LDz4iPracQ
To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees, the global transition to clean power needs to progress four to six times faster than at present, reports Asian Lite News
The end of coal — the single biggest contributor to climate change — is in sight thanks to the UK securing a 190-strong coalition of countries and organisations at the UN climate negotiations (COP26), with countries such as Poland, Vietnam, Egypt, Chile and Morocco announcing clear commitments to phase out coal power.
Wednesday’s commitments, brought together through UK-led efforts, including the new ‘Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement’, encompass developed and developing countries, major coal users and climate vulnerable countries.
This includes 18 countries committing for the first time to phase out and not build or invest in new coal power, including Poland, Vietnam, and Chile, marking a milestone moment at COP26 in the global clean energy transition.
This statement commits nations across the world to: end all investment in new coal power generation domestically and internationally; rapidly scale up deployment of clean power generation; phase out coal power in economies in the 2030s for major economies and 2040s for the rest of the world; and make a just transition away from coal power in a way that benefits workers and communities.
This is on top of China, Japan and Korea, the three largest public financiers of coal, committing to end overseas finance for coal generation by the end of 2021, announced in 2020 during the UK’s incoming COP26 Presidency.
Agreements at the G7, G20 and OECD to end public international coal finance send a strong signal that the world economy is shifting to renewables. This could end over 40GW of coal across 20 countries, equivalent to over half of the UK’s electricity generating capacity.
Business and Energy Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Today marks a milestone moment in our global efforts to tackle climate change as nations from all corners of the world unite in Glasgow to declare that coal has no part to play in our future power generation. Spearheaded by the UK’s COP26 Presidency, today’s ambitious commitments made by our international partners demonstrate that the end of coal is in sight. The world is moving in the right direction, standing ready to seal coal’s fate and embrace the environmental and economic benefits of building a future that is powered by clean energy.”
To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees, the global transition to clean power needs to progress four to six times faster than at present.
With coal being the single largest contributor to climate change, phasing it out and delivering a rapid, inclusive transition to clean energy is essential if we are to keep 1.5 degrees alive.
Twenty-eight new members on Wednesday signed up to the world’s largest alliance on phasing out coal, the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) launched and co-chaired by the UK.
Chile, Singapore and Durban joined over 150 countries, sub-nationals and businesses, including finance partners NatWest, Lloyds Banking, HSBC and Export Development Canada. This accounts for more than $17 trillion assets now committed to PPCA coal phase-out goals.
There has also been a 76 per cent cut in the number of new coal plants planned globally over the last six years which means the cancellation of 1,000GW of new coal plants since the Paris Agreement, roughly equivalent to around 10 times the UK’s total peak generating capacity.
Responding to the UK government securing coalition with commitments to phase out coal power, Jonathan Sims, Carbon Tracker Senior Analyst, said: “Fresh country pledges to end the construction of new coal plants, which is vital if long-term climate goals are to be achievable, send a strong signal that coal is out for the count.”
Dave Jones, Ember’s global lead, said: “Today’s commitments will help to shift whole continents on their journey to phase out coal. This is such a big moment because by far the biggest gap in ambition to get to 1.5 degrees is a rapid collapse in coal generation i.e. for major economies to phase-out coal power by 2030 and the rest of the world by 2040.”
Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor Chinese President Xi Jinping were at the summit….reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden has criticised the leaders of China and Russia for not turning up to the UN COP26 climate summit currently underway in Glasgow, the BBC reported.
In a speech on Tuesday night, Biden said climate was “a gigantic issue” and China “walked away” – adding it was the “same thing with Russia and Putin”.
Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor Chinese President Xi Jinping were at the summit.
Both countries however have sent delegations to the talks, which are due to run for two weeks until November 12.
China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, followed by the US. Russia is the fifth largest after the EU and India, the report said.
More than 120 leaders turned up at the conference in Scotland’s largest city.
Both China and Russia are signatories of the pledge to reverse deforestation.
Before Biden’s speech, Putin virtually addressed a meeting on forest management at the COP26 summit on Tuesday, saying that Russia takes the “strongest and most vigorous measures to conserve” woodlands, according to a Kremlin press release.
The US president made his comments when asked about the role that other countries, including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, have played in talks so far.
“The fact that China is trying to assert, understandably, a new role in the world as a world leader – not showing up, come on,” Biden said, adding that Xi’s absence was a “big mistake”, the BBC report said.
He said the same about Putin, saying that Russia’s wilderness was burning and their president “stays mum” about the issue.
