Alok Sharma, the president of the Cop26 climate summit, has called on global leaders to “banish ghosts of the past” and step up with new pledges to lower emissions as the world is running out of time to keep warming below 1.5° C.
As leaders prepared to fly in for the conference in Glasgow, Sharma could not say with certainty that the two-week event would end with a deal to keep that prospect alive. As host nation, the UK is responsible for overseeing the negotiations and trying to extract meaningful pledges from the representatives of almost 200 countries in attendance.
Sharma, a former UK business secretary, told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips: “That is what I’m driving towards and I think what I’ve always said is what we need to come out of Glasgow is saying with credibility that we have kept 1.5C alive. That 1.5C really matters.
“We know from the IPCC [the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] that we are already at global warming of 1.1C above pre-industrial levels.
“At 1.5° C, there will be countries in the world that will be under water and that’s why we need to get an agreement here on how we tackle climate change over the next decade.”
Today is the first day of the UN Climate Summit (#COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland! On Friday, November 5th, the youth are striking!
Join us to hold world leaders accountable and be as loud as possible about climate justice. Everyone is welcome & everyone is needed! #FridaysForFuture pic.twitter.com/N2mvz0OA6k
— Fridays For Future (@Fridays4future) October 31, 2021
An overheated world would lead to calamitous rises in sea levels, heatwaves of increasing intensity, and droughts of lengthening duration that would leave tens of millions of people without homes or food.
Delegates from almost 200 countries will be involved in hammering out an agreement to prevent such scenarios – though climate experts have warned they have very little room or time for maneuver. Global average temperatures have already risen by 1.1° C since the Industrial Revolution, and only stringent emission cuts will prevent that increase from topping 1.5° C.
However, developing nations – infuriated by the UK’s recent foreign aid cuts – are expected to clash with richer countries over the funding that the former say they should be given to help them introduce the green technologies needed to replace their coal- and oil-burning power stations.
At the same time, Arab states want to continue drilling for oil for as long as possible, while Pacific island states – who could soon be wiped out by swiftly rising sea levels – are seeking a rapid halt to the extraction of all fossil fuels. It will be the task of Boris Johnson and Sharma to ensure an agreement among these competing groups.
In a round of broadcast interviews, Sharma said all countries, particularly G20 ones, needed to do better on lowering emissions, when asked whether China and India in particular should be doing more.
In relation to the UK, he would not explicitly back the suggestion of George Eustice, the environment secretary, that there could be taxes on meat to reduce consumption. He said “on a personal level I believe in carrot rather than stick”.
Asked about the UK’s credibility on tackling the climate crisis if a new oilfield at Cambo to the west of the Shetland Islands is given consent, Sharma said experts had recognised that even a net zero economy would need some oil and gas supply.
However, the Cop26 president said the country would have to “wait and see” whether the oilfield is approved.
With the UK due to host 120 national leaders in Glasgow for a two-day event at the start of the summit, there have been worries that fractious diplomatic relations between Britain and France over fishing rights could derail progress.
Speaking from the G20 meeting in Rome ahead of the conference, the UK prime minister said the summit would be “the world’s moment of truth” and could mark “the beginning of the end of climate change”. Johnson added: “The question everyone is asking is whether we seize this moment or let it slip away.”
The most vulnerable and the most impacted countries of the world are doing the most to tackle the climate crisis.
And nearly half of all #G20 countries are not yet increasing ambition to tackle climate change.
See new report by @UNDP ahead of #COP26:
🔗 https://t.co/ohSZ0drQhb pic.twitter.com/pDOxwkBJgf
— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) October 28, 2021
Prince of Wales urges G20 to set aside differences and build sustainable economy
Cop26 is “the last chance saloon” to save the world from runaway climate change, Prince Charles has told world leaders in Rome ahead of the crucial climate summit in Glasgow, The Guardian reports.
Speaking to an audience including Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the gathering of the G20 group of industrialised nations, Charles said it was the moment to begin a green-led economic turnaround.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Cop26 begins in Glasgow tomorrow,” Charles said. “Quite literally, it is the last chance saloon. We must now translate fine words into still finer actions.
“And as the enormity of the climate challenge dominates people’s conversations, from newsrooms to living rooms, and as the future of humanity and nature herself are at stake, it is surely time to set aside our differences and grasp this unique opportunity to launch a substantial green recovery by putting the global economy on a confident, sustainable trajectory and, thus, save our planet.
“And, from what they tell me, the private sector is already there, eager to work with you and ready to play a hugely significant and gamechanging role. This is why I am so grateful to have this chance to talk to you here today, and to shine a light not just on how far we’ve come, but also on how far we still need to go.”
Charles’s intervention came as Johnson prepared to greet more than 120 world leaders at the start of the two-week Cop gathering on Monday, with the UK prime minister using much of his time at the G20 event to push home a similar message that concerted global action is required.
On his way to Rome on Friday, Johnson told reporters that the success of Cop remained in the balance, likening the world’s struggle against the climate emergency to a football team losing 5-1 at half-time.
In comments on Saturday, Johnson said a lack of progress in Glasgow could prompt “very difficult geopolitical events” including mass migration and global competition for food and water.
In his speech, Charles stressed what he called “our overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn”, saying he detected a change in attitudes and “the buildup of positive momentum”.
Highlighting the need for the private sector to also tackle the issue, Charles said it would need trillions of dollars of investment every year to limit warming to the target maximum of 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels.
“No government has those sorts of sums, which is why I have spent so much time over the past 19 months trying to form a global alliance amongst the private sector, as I have long believed it holds the ultimate key to the solutions we seek,” he said.
Governments in turn needed to provide long-term leadership on the issue, as well as regulatory and financial support, he added.
“Climate change is the existential threat to humanity. This is not hyperbole. It's real. And we have a moral obligation."
~ Joe Biden
Meanwhile, here’s Joe Biden’s car cavalcade in Rome for the G20 summit.#COP26
— James Melville 🚜 (@JamesMelville) October 30, 2021
G20 pledge to take climate action criticised for ‘lacking ambition’
Final communique agreed at summit in Italy contains no commitment to reach net zero by 2050, The Guardian states.
World leaders meeting at the G20 summit in Rome have agreed that countries must take meaningful action to keep the world from warming by no more than 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels, but face criticism for offering few concrete commitments in order to reach the target.
Sunday’s final communique did not include a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The G20 leaders instead agreed to wording that underlines the importance of reaching net zero by or around the middle of the century, phrasing that meets the positions of China and Saudi Arabia.
Greenpeace condemned the statement as weak and “lacking ambition and vision”, and said G20 leaders had “failed to meet the moment” before the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow. “If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for Cop26 then world leaders fluffed their lines,” said its executive director Jennifer Morgan.
Tom Burke of the E3G thinktank, however, praised the changes in the language agreed. “This is a shift from what they have previously said. The crucial words are on this decade. Previously they had only talked about 2050 which is too far away,” he said.
“This is an expression of a growing sense of urgency in the G20, driven by both events and science. This is a political signal that will add momentum to the Cop and help in reaching agreement at Cop. We were not expecting this language.”
The communique does set out plans to end overseas investment in coal this year – something China has agreed to do – and to take unspecific actions to limit domestic coal use. Objections from Turkey to the passage on coal were lifted early on Sunday morning, leading to a rare outbreak of cheers from exhausted drafting officials at their first large, in-person gathering since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The whole of the G20 summit was seen as a test of multilateralism’s durability after a period in which the world responded to the pandemic by looking inwards.
The communique said: “We will increase our efforts to implement the commitment made in 2009 in Pittsburgh to phase out and rationalise over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.”
A reference in an earlier draft to reducing carbon emissions significantly, which Turkey had opposed, was removed in favour of a phrase saying a reduction in fossil fuel use is “one of the most feasible, efficient and quickest ways to limit climate change”.
The Italian hosts were delighted by the outcome, saying they had done “the heavy lifting for Boris Johnson” and the British hosts in Glasgow.
The climate progress was matched by other agreements over the weekend on global taxation, ending the US-EU trade dispute and a commitment to vaccinate 40% of the world’s population against COVID-19 by the end of the year and 70% by the middle of next year.
The communique calls for countries “to update and advance where necessary” nationally determined contributions on carbon emissions this decade, and stresses the importance of fulfilling the commitment to provide $100bn (£75bn) to help poor countries adapt to climate change. The UK has acknowledged that Cop26 is not going to meet the hoped for $100bn pledge this year.
The language goes just beyond what was agreed six years ago in Paris, when the climate deal called for capping global warming at well below 2C, and ideally closer to 1.5C. Experts say it means halving carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. China, one of the world’s largest emitters, has said it will meet net zero by 2060.
On the future of coal, the most contentious issue in framing the agreement, the communique reads: “We will put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021.” In terms of domestic coal use, the statement contains only a vague pledge to support those countries that commit to “phasing out investment in new unabated coal power-generation capacity to do so as soon as possible”.
The Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, who chaired the G20 summit, told the meeting: “The decisions we make today will have a direct impact on the success of the Glasgow summit and ultimately on our ability to tackle the climate crisis.
“We need to set long-term goals which are consistent with the objectives of the Paris agreement and make short-term changes to achieve them.”
Draghi said Cop26 “must signal the start of a permanent campaign. Every year we should ask ourselves if we have done enough to change course”.
“Around this room we have different views over how soon we must start to act and how fast we must change course,” he said. “Emerging economies resent how rich countries have polluted in the past and demand financial help to support them in this transition. They also wonder whether any commitments we take are indeed credible given our past failings.”
The agreements were reached despite the absence of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. In another sign of tension, Putin challenged the way carbon emissions are counted in a video address.
“We believe that G20 members should lead the world in creating universal, fair and, importantly, transparent rules for climate regulation when implementing climate and environmental initiatives,” he said.
“Such rules need to be based on mutually accepted models for counting and monitoring the emission and capture of greenhouse gases.”
Joe Biden arrives for the welcome ceremony on the first day of the Rome G20 summit.
The Italian hosts were pleased with an agreement on global taxation reached on Saturday that will now have to be cleared by the US Congress.
Putin and Xi each cited COVID-19 as their reason for not attending, and instead sent video messages and officials to negotiate on the text. Xi called for greater mutual recognition of other countries’ vaccines, and Putin said COVID-19 was here to stay and required a long-term strategy.
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, promised India would produce 5bn vaccine doses by the end of next year. There was no reference to a plan to lift vaccine patents, seen by some campaigners as the best way to ensure poor countries gain equitable access to vaccines.
G20 Leaders discussing climate change. pic.twitter.com/nAgyEcbt5V
— 🌹William John Mclellan🌹 (@williamjohnmcl3) October 31, 2021
***
G20 leaders offer little new on climate ahead of COP26
Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies agreed on a final statement on October 31 that urges “meaningful and effective” action to limit global warming but offers few concrete commitments.
The statement represented “half-measures” rather than “concrete urgent action”, one non-governmental organisation said, Reuters reports.
The result of days of tough negotiation among diplomats leaves huge work to be done at a broader UN climate summit in Scotland, to where most of the G20 leaders will fly directly from Rome, and disappointed climate activists.
The stakes are huge – among them the very survival of low-lying countries, the impact on economic livelihoods the world over and the future stability of the global financial system.
The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for an estimated 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
“This was a moment for the G20 to act with the responsibility they have as the biggest emitters, yet we only see half-measures rather than concrete urgent action,” said Friederike Roder, vice president of sustainable development advocacy group Global Citizen.
The final document says current national plans on how to curb emissions will have to be strengthened “if necessary” and makes no specific reference to 2050 as a date to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
“We recognise that the impacts of climate change at 1.5° C are much lower than at 2° C. Keeping 1.5° C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries,” the communique said.
The 1.5C threshold is what UN experts say must be met to avoid a dramatic acceleration of extreme climate events like droughts, storms and floods, and to reach it they recommend net zero emissions should be achieved by 2050.
Consequences of inaction
The leaders only recognised “the key relevance” of halting net emissions “by or around mid-century”, a phrase that removed the 2050 date seen in previous versions of the final statement so as to make the target less specific.
China, the world’s biggest CO2 emitter, has set a target date of 2060, and other large polluters such as India and Russia have also not committed to the 2050 target date.
U.N. experts say that even if current national plans are fully implemented, the world is headed for global warming of 2.7° C, with catastrophic consequences.
The final G20 statement includes a pledge to halt financing of overseas coal-fired power generation by the end of this year, but set no date for phasing out coal power, promising only to do so “as soon as possible”.
This replaced a goal set in a previous draft of the final statement to achieve this by the end of the 2030s, showing how strong the push-back from some coal-dependent countries is.
The G20 also set no date for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, saying they will aim to do so “over the medium term”.
On methane, which has a more potent but less lasting impact than carbon dioxide on global warming, they watered down their wording from a previous draft that pledged to “strive to reduce our collective methane emissions significantly”.
The final statement merely recognises that reducing methane emissions is “one of the quickest, most feasible and most cost-effective ways to limit climate change”.
G20 sources said negotiations were tough over so-called “climate financing”, which refers to a 2009 pledge by rich nations to provide $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries tackle climate change.
They have failed to meet the pledge, generating mistrust and a reluctance among some developing nations to accelerate their emissions reductions.
“We recall and reaffirm the commitment made by developed countries, to the goal of mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020 and annually through 2025 to address the needs of developing countries,” the G20 statement says.
The leaders “stress the importance of meeting that goal fully as soon as possible”.
World leaders will kick start COP26 on November 1 with two days of speeches that could include some new emissions-cutting pledges, before technical negotiators lock horns over the rules of the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Any deal is likely to be struck hours or even days after the event’s November 12 finish date.
#COP26, which begins on Sunday, "can be a turning point towards a safer, greener world" – UN Chief @antonioguterres at #G20.
But: "On all our climate goals, we have miles to go. We must pick up the pace." https://t.co/9c9anQA8mZ
— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) October 30, 2021
***
COP26: World will try again to avert climate disaster
The United Nations COP26 summit that starts in Glasgow this week has been billed as a make-or-break chance to save the planet from the most calamitous effects of climate change.
Delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 -19 pandemic, COP26 aims to keep alive a target of capping global warming at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels – the limit scientists say would avoid its most destructive consequences.
“We need to come out of Glasgow saying with credibility that we have kept 1.5 alive,” Alok Sharma, COP26’s president, said on October 31 as delegates began arriving in the Scottish city.
“We’re already at global warming at 1.1° С above pre-industrial levels,” he told Sky News television. “At 1.5 there are countries in the world that will be underwater, and that’s why we need to get an agreement here on how we tackle climate change over the next decade.”
Meeting the 1.5° C goal, agreed in Paris to much fanfare in 2015, will require a surge in political momentum and diplomatic heavy-lifting to make up for the insufficient action and empty pledges that have characterised much of global climate politics.
The conference needs to secure more ambitious pledges to further cut emissions, lock in billions in climate finance, and finish the rules to implement the Paris Agreement with the unanimous consent of the nearly 200 countries that signed it.
But there is huge work to be done.
At a summit in Rome, leaders of the Group of 20 major economies agreed on a final statement on Sunday that urges “meaningful and effective” action to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius but offers few concrete commitments.
The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for an estimated 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
A new pledge last week from China, the world’s biggest polluter, was labelled a missed opportunity that will cast a shadow over the two-week summit. Announcements from Russia and Saudi Arabia were also lacklustre.
The return of the United States, the world’s biggest economy, to U.N. climate talks will be a boon to the conference, after a four-year absence under President Donald Trump.
But like many world leaders, President Joe Biden will arrive at COP26 without firm legislation in place to deliver his own climate pledge as Congress wrangles over how to finance it and new uncertainty about whether U.S. agencies can even regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Existing pledges to cut emissions would see the planet’s average temperature rise 2.7C this century, which the United Nations says would supercharge the destruction that climate change is already causing by intensifying storms, exposing more people to deadly heat and floods, killing coral reefs and destroying natural habitats.
Shadow of COVID-19
Adding to the challenging geopolitical backdrop, a global energy crunch has prompted China to turn to highly polluting coal to avert power shortages, and left Europe seeking more gas, another fossil fuel.
Ultimately, negotiations will boil down to questions of fairness and trust between rich countries whose greenhouse gas emissions caused climate change, and poor countries being asked to de-carbonise their economies with insufficient financial support.
COVID-19 has exacerbated the divide between rich and poor. A lack of vaccines and travel curbs mean some representatives from the poorest countries cannot attend the meeting.
Other obstacles – not least, sky-high hotel rates in Glasgow – have stoked concerns that civil society groups from the poorest nations which are also most at risk from global warming will be under-represented.
COVID-19 will make this U.N. climate conference different from any other, as 25,000 delegates from governments, companies, civil society, indigenous peoples, and the media will fill Glasgow’s cavernous Scottish Event Campus.
All must wear masks, socially distance and produce a negative COVID-19 test to enter each day – meaning the final-hour “huddles” of negotiatiors that clinched deals at past climate talks are off the table.
World leaders will kick start COP26 on Monday with two days of speeches that could include some new emissions-cutting pledges, before technical negotiators lock horns over the Paris accord rules. Any deal is likely to be struck hours or even days after the event’s Nov. 12 finish date.
Outside, tens of thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets to demand urgent climate action.
Assessing progress will be complex. Unlike past climate summits, the event won’t deliver a new treaty or a big “win” but seeks to secure smaller but vital victories on emission-cutting pledges, climate finance and investment.
Ultimately success will be judged on whether those deals add up to enough progress to keep the 1.5° C goal alive.
Since the Paris accord, scientists have issued increasingly urgent warnings that the 1.5° C goal is slipping out of reach. To meet it, global emissions must plummet 45% by 2030 from 2010 levels, and reach net zero by 2050 – requiring huge changes to countries’ systems of transport, energy production, manufacturing and farming. Countries’ current pledges would see global emissions soar by 16% by 2030.
G20 leaders release watered-down final statement on climate commitments ahead of COP26 https://t.co/A2hzq0yGqy pic.twitter.com/Q30GWVpZ81
— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) October 31, 2021
G20 leaders call for effective action to cap global warming at 1.5°C – official
Leaders of the Group of 20 rich countries called for “meaningful and effective” action to limit global warming at 1.5° C in a final communique seen by Reuters on October 31 ahead of its publication.
However, the communique contained few concrete actions and made no reference to a specific 2050 date to achieve net zero carbon emissions that scientists say is vital to stave off disastrous climate change.
The final document says current national plans on how to curb emissions will have to be strengthened “if necessary” and includes a pledge to halt financing of overseas coal-fired power generation by the end of this year.
“We recognize that the impacts of climate change at 1.5°C are much lower than at 2° C. Keeping 1.5°C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries,” the communique said.
***
G20 leaders offer little new on climate ahead of COP26
Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies agreed on a final statement on Sunday that urges “meaningful and effective” action to limit global warming but offers few concrete commitments.
The statement represented “half-measures” rather than “concrete urgent action”, one non-governmental organisation said.
The result of days of tough negotiation among diplomats leaves huge work to be done at a broader UN climate summit in Scotland, to where most of the G20 leaders will fly directly from Rome, and disappointed climate activists.
The stakes are huge – among them the very survival of low-lying countries, the impact on economic livelihoods the world over and the future stability of the global financial system.
The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for an estimated 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
“This was a moment for the G20 to act with the responsibility they have as the biggest emitters, yet we only see half-measures rather than concrete urgent action,” said Friederike Roder, vice president of sustainable development advocacy group Global Citizen.
The final document says current national plans on how to curb emissions will have to be strengthened “if necessary” and makes no specific reference to 2050 as a date to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
“We recognise that the impacts of climate change at 1.5°C are much lower than at 2°C. Keeping 1.5°C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries,” the communique said.
The 1.5C threshold is what UN experts say must be met to avoid a dramatic acceleration of extreme climate events like droughts, storms and floods, and to reach it they recommend net zero emissions should be achieved by 2050.
Consequences of inaction
The leaders only recognised “the key relevance” of halting net emissions “by or around mid-century”, a phrase that removed the 2050 date seen in previous versions of the final statement so as to make the target less specific.
China, the world’s biggest CO2 emitter, has set a target date of 2060, and other large polluters such as India and Russia have also not committed to the 2050 target date.
U.N. experts say that even if current national plans are fully implemented, the world is headed for global warming of 2.7C, with catastrophic consequences.
The final G20 statement includes a pledge to halt financing of overseas coal-fired power generation by the end of this year, but set no date for phasing out coal power, promising only to do so “as soon as possible”.
This replaced a goal set in a previous draft of the final statement to achieve this by the end of the 2030s, showing how strong the push-back from some coal-dependent countries is.
The G20 also set no date for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, saying they will aim to do so “over the medium term”.
On methane, which has a more potent but less lasting impact than carbon dioxide on global warming, they watered down their wording from a previous draft that pledged to “strive to reduce our collective methane emissions significantly”.
The final statement merely recognises that reducing methane emissions is “one of the quickest, most feasible and most cost-effective ways to limit climate change”.
G20 sources said negotiations were tough over so-called “climate financing”, which refers to a 2009 pledge by rich nations to provide $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries tackle climate change.
They have failed to meet the pledge, generating mistrust and a reluctance among some developing nations to accelerate their emissions reductions.
“We recall and reaffirm the commitment made by developed countries, to the goal of mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020 and annually through 2025 to address the needs of developing countries,” the G20 statement says.
The leaders “stress the importance of meeting that goal fully as soon as possible”.
World leaders will kick start COP26 on Monday with two days of speeches that could include some new emissions-cutting pledges, before technical negotiators lock horns over the rules of the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Any deal is likely to be struck hours or even days after the event’s November 12 finish date.
