I’ll admit, I’m a massive cynic.
Able to find the bad in anything good. Always looking at a half empty glass.
So, when COP26 rolled around I found myself strangely optimistic… an unusual sensation.
With a background in Biology and now studying a Masters in Ecological Management, a huge amount of my time over the last few years has been spent learning about the awfully one-sided relationship between man and Earth. Ignoring it or turning a blind eye – call it what you want, we’ve let our problems develop and fester.
But there has been a seriously slow change in the perception of the environmental and sustainability problems we face, seemingly now reaching the point where everyone can see the scale of the challenge in front of us.
The widescale coverage of COP26 seems to be representative of this – with world leaders seemingly committing to throwing their weight behind solutions.
But is this truly the case, or should we all be being a bit more cynical…?
COP26 – Explained
Throughout November of this year, representatives from over 200 nations came together to try and agree upon a strategy to tackle climate change. This annual conference for the United Nations was hosted in Glasgow and ended on the 13th of November.
Now that the dust has settled, and everyone has returned to their respective nations – what now? What was discussed and agreed upon? What decisions were made? Will they actually affect us, and if so – how? In this article we’ll take a quick look at some of the most important COP26 decisions from a UK public point of view and some of the controversy surrounding the decisions.
What is COP26?
COP26 is the abbreviation used for the ‘26th Conference of the Parties’ which follows on from the Paris Agreement of 2016. The conference is attended by representatives from countries that have signed up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994. As well as many notable world leaders in attendance, there were also famous faces from the business world, charities, faith groups, and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs).
The hundreds of nations in attendance came from 27 EU member states, the United States, Canada, Australia, India, Colombia, Ghana, Nigeria, South Korea, and even the Democratic Republic of Congo. The summit has been the largest of its type ever, with over 30,000 attendees. The main goal for the climate conference was to address the biggest ecological crises facing the planet – namely the climate crisis and creating more global infrastructure geared towards sustainable living.
How did COP26 end?
COP26 representatives worked towards agreeing on some clear resolution for tackling world problems (while also trying to look out for their own countries best interests). These resolutions are to be taken around the world and implemented.
The main takeaway that has been covered by world news outlets is the clear stance of tackling fossil fuel usage head-on. The admission of the central role of fossil fuels towards perpetuating the world climate crisis is a welcome change after years of avoidance.
However, some outspoken critics have let it be known that they are frustrated by the lack of a more decisive stance on coal use – and understandably so. Following a late objection from Indian delegates, the language used for the commitments towards coal were changed from ‘phasing out’ to a more gradual ‘phasing down’ with a reduction in inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Even now at this late stage, politicians are worried about semantics.
Unfortunately, most of the action on the central issue of phasing down fossil fuels will be put on the back burner until COP27 hosted by Egypt. However, there were several decisive actions agreed upon under the ‘Glasgow Climate Pact’.
What are the main decisions?
There was some disappointment from key environmental groups that more decisive actions were not agreed upon. Nonetheless, the committee did decide upon several priorities to go about reducing the impact of climate change. Although nations are not legally bound to take action – the US climate envoy John Kerry told CNN that the nations in attendance would be bound instead to commitments;
“…public scrutiny that holds you accountable to your own promises… That’s a huge level of accountability, frankly.”
Time will tell if this is truly the case – it’s too early to write off the commitments, but certainly understandable to be sceptical. The main decisions and commitments made under the Glasgow Climate Pact are as follows:
Fossil fuels: Many were pleasantly surprised when explicit reference was made to the role of fossil fuels (in particular coal) towards exacerbating climate change – with the burning of coal alone responsible for about 40% of world carbon dioxide emissions. As already mentioned, the language of the commitment was changed last minute and there was an included commitment to end fossil fuel subsidies.
Deforestation: Trees are known to absorb and sequester vast quantities of CO2 and as such are integral to the prevention of further climate change. It was thus a brilliant thing to see that over 100 countries established to contain over 85% of the world forest between them have pledged to end deforestation by 2030.
Again, this move is not without its critics. There are warnings that similar initiatives have come and go with very little meaningful impact – climate change expert Professor Simon Lewis has stated that the world has
“…been here before.”
The basis for this claim is a previous declaration made in 2014 regarding deforestation has so far had very little meaningful impact. There are also concerns over how a commitment like this would ever be policed.
Limit global warming to 1.5C: The President of COP26, Alok Sharma, has expressed gratitude to delegates for working to keep the 1.5 degree target alive and reachable. This is in reference to the previous Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This figure has been deemed essential to preventing a climate collapse and preventing the increasingly frequent and intense heat waves and storms across the globe.
The method of achieving this is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, globally. The estimated figure of reductions needed to reach this goal?
About 27 billion metric tons per year…
What are the next steps for the UK?
So, what does this mean directly for the UK government, to achieve our own commitments? The most important are as follows:
- Doubling down on our commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050
- Working harder to reduce greenhouse emissions
- Investing heavily in clean energy infrastructure
- Working with the automotive industry to hasten the phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles
How can the climate conference change our lives?
The decisions made during COP26 will influence everyone in the UK, changing our day-to-day lives in a whole host of ways. As much as the commitments made are a massive leap towards achieving our climate goals, everyone still has to play their part. Some of the ways in which lives can be expected to change subtly in the near future are as follows:
Greener homes: Homes can be made to be more sustainable in a range of ways – small things like switching to a green energy supplier can make a massive difference to household carbon footprint. The UK government is also looking at new ways to incentivise green methods of heating homes using alternative methods beside fossil fuels. Although the Green Homes Grant was scrapped earlier in the year, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme could further help to offset the cost of installing ground and air source heat pumps, biomass boilers, and solar water heaters.
Electric vehicles: The government announced the intention to make the manufacture and sale of new petrol and diesel cars illegal by 2030. Further announcements have been made to start phasing out fossil fuel powered vehicles starting from as early as 2024 – so far £620 million pounds has been dedicated to offering targeted grants making electric vehicles more affordable for UK citizens.
Paying more for shopping: The worldwide pledge to end deforestation will place some limitations on foreign imported animal agriculture products and the palm oil industry, which are among the leading causes of deforestation. Some types of meat, dairy products, and processed foods may be set to rise.
Pension and investments: Finally, over 400 massive financial institutions have committed to providing financial funding backing green technology. Keep an eye on your pension, as it is likely much more if it will be invested into green tech.
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