Now that it's all done and dusted - what was achieved?
Well first off, not every country turned up! Although 110 leaders were present, the absence of China and Russia was particularly notable especially as both are major contributors to CO2 emissions. Fossil fuel companies sent the largest delegation to the summit, with more than 500 reps.
Dettol, COP26’s hygiene partner, is owned by Reckitt which continues to use palm oil nor have they cut deforestation from their supply chain. Billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, also had a platform despite being heavily criticised for his high CO2 emissions and 10-minute trips into space.
Deforestation:
£14 billion was pledged to more than 100 countries representing 85% of the world’s forests agreeing to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. £1.27 billion was also pledged to support forest conservation efforts by indigenous groups and strengthen their land rights. However Indonesia – which has the world’s third-largest rainforest – began to renege days after signing the deal. The Environment Minister noted that it was ‘inappropriate and unfair’ to force Indonesia to commit to zero deforestation by 2030.
Net Zero:
India pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2070 with other developed nations by 2050. 20 nations promised to end public financing for fossil fuel projects overseas by the end of 2022 – coal, oil and natural gas will only be extracted if there is technology to capture the CO2 emissions. More than 40 countries agreed to move away from fossil fuels and fund clean, green technology and leaders signed up to slash heating gas methane by 30% by 2030.
Nevertheless an estimated 400 planes flew into Glasgow bringing delegates from around the world to the talks and neither the US nor China – two of the world’s most coal-dependent countries – signed up to quit coal.
US-China deal:
That said, the USA and China struck an unexpected deal to cut CO2 emissions in the next decade. They vowed to regulate decarbonisation, methane emissions and fight deforestation by meeting regularly. As two of the world’s largest CO2 emitters, this was viewed as a serious step forward however the deal is short on actual commitments to reduce heat-trapping gases and the details remain vague.
Climate finance:
Japan pledged to donate an extra £7.3 billion to climate finance over 5 years to enable developed, richer nations to hit their £73 billion ($100 billion) a year target sooner than predicted. This fund will help developing nations cut their CO2 emissions and adapt to extreme weather changes. Regrettably, developed countries are still a long way from reaching their target. Despite the UK government pledging £290 million, it’s coming from the ‘new funding’ taken from recent cuts to the foreign aid budget.
Health and well-being:
50 countries pledged to develop low carbon, sustainable health systems and a further 45 pledged to make their current systems more sustainable to withstand the impact of climate change. Unfortunately low and middle income countries already struggle to provide healthcare. Time is limited now to develop these systems - extreme weather often triggers health crises made worse by inadequate climate defences.
The pledges themselves are still a long way from meeting the UN”s target of a 1.5oC increase in the next 80 years according to Climate Action Tracker. It said: ‘[e]ven with all new Glasgow pledges for 2030, we will emit roughly twice as much in 2030 as required for 1.5oC. Therefore, all governments need to reconsider their targets.’ The main issue is that the pledges made aren’t even legally binding – at our current rate, the climate will increase by 1.8oC, a forecast echoed by the International Energy Agency. Greenpeace’s International Executive Director, Jennifer Morgan, described the final deal as ‘an agreement that we’ll all cross our fingers and hope for the best’.
Adapted from: Good COP Bad COP: Was The UN's Climate Summit Actually A Success? To read the article in full, click here
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