Posted on 02 November 2021
No-one is happy with COP26 right now, from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Maori activist India Logan Riley.
'COP is at serious risk of failing' because countries are still not promising enough to restrict global temperature rises to below 1.5C, Boris Johnson warned, as the Glasgow Summit got underway.
Only 12 of the G20 countries have pledged to reach net zero emissions he said in the UK Guardian, “by or around 2050”. Several key nations – China and Saudi Arabia – are only formally pledging to meet that goal by 2060.
Global Citizen call for five things that will make a difference, including $100 billion for climate funding for developing countries.
Maori activist, India Logan Riley gave a speech in te reo Māori, and told G-20 leaders that it is imperative they listen to young indigenous peoples and support their fight for a better future.
The 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) is scheduled to take place in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12, under the co-presidency of the United Kingdom and Italy.
Brookings Institute scholars weigh in what they think will happen.
"The world is looking to China — by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases — to lay out bold new measures and targets for carbon reduction. But it is difficult for the government to make concrete commitments as long as its immediate energy crisis continues," writes David Dollar of the Thornton China Centre.
"India, with others, will argue that we cannot entirely ignore equity issues. This is likely to come up in contentious issues like Article 6, which will set the rules for markets, transfers, and offsets. A number of (developing) countries are banding together for negotiations," writes Rahul Tongia from the Energy, Security and Climate Initiative.
For an analysis of why 25 previous climate change summits have failed to deliver lasting results, Bloomberg goes back to the first climate change conference in 1995.
"The answer lies in the age-old challenges of forging major international agreements — and it may be more hopeful than you think."
"Individual nations are deeply divided on how to proceed. This is best exemplified by the split between the Group of Seven major advanced economies — which together have accounted for about 53% of historical carbon emissions — and the Group of 77 developing nations," writes David Fickling.
Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Mark Brown, had a message for #COP26 in his address to our conference last week. See video clips here and here.