By: Sophia Rathleff
Week 2:
Monday 8th November - Adaptation, Loss and Damage
Monday started with a global connection, having talks coming in from around the world. World leaders focused on how to support poorer and less adapted countries and talk ensued on how productive standoffs over funding are for larger nations.
Things to take away from today
One, African nations asked for $1.3 trillion a year from wealthier countries, which is 13-fold of what they were asking for by 2020, which had repeatedly fallen through.
Two, the Minister for Tuvalu, Simon Kofe, made a speech addressing COP26 in knee-deep water. He did this to emphasise how small island nations are on the frontlines of climate change. It took social media by storm.
Three, Norway and Singapore, an unusual pair, are leading talks on deals with global carbon markets. This is an issue that we omitted from the Paris accord, so it is interesting that it is coming back into the conversation.
Four, former vice president al gore addressed the summit leaders congratulating progress but handing a heavy warning for what would happen if pledges fall through. Gore said, ”We must not declare victory here, we know that we have made progress, but we are far from the goals that we need to reach.”
Five, many countries, organisations and individuals are lobbying for more frequent meeting times. Many are saying every five years is not enough, with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres saying that if COP26 falls short there will be a severe need for more frequent meetings.
In conclusion, Monday was the start of what is going to be a complicated and, quite frankly, stressful week. The leaders sit in for another five days (hopefully) of talks, with the immediate concern of solidifying pledges for 1.5 or lower by the time they each attend the conference. More to come tomorrow with gender, science and innovation
Tuesday 9th November - Gender, Science and Innovation
Tuesday opened with an optimistic outlook, that countries will most likely be able to set rules for implementing the Paris agreement by the end of this year's summit. The Official agenda is planned to focus on how climate change disproportionately affects women and to celebrate the women working with climate change issues. With a mixture of optimism and pessimism and more speeches from famous faces, the time pressure is starting to build at COP26 with only four days left.
Things to take away from today
One, the Climate Action Tracker predicts a 2.4 degree increase by the end of the century. This is a drastic jump from the previous 1.5 goal. The CAT also stated that the goals for 2030 are “totally inadequate”.
Two, former President Obama takes the side of youth activists rallying them to “stay angry”. He stressed that channelling frustration towards world leaders is the way they can make a change. Crucially he recognised the generational ignorance that many older leaders exhibit, as it is not their world to inherit, so they tend to care less.
Three, there is even more pressure building from poorer nations to get richer nations to fund climate change action and the development of adapted technology. This comes after the African nations plea for an increase in yearly funding after being constantly disappointed by richer nations which is becoming a clear trend.
Four, on the topic of science and technology, Emmanuel Macron, France's president, pushed for more nuclear power worldwide. This comes amongst many talks of finding renewable sources of energy.
In conclusion, the focus was much less on gender and much more on science and technology. A trend popped up that richer nations were tip-toeing around the topic of regulating big emitters. Whether we will see more conversations on this throughout the week is uncertain, but they certainly need to be included in regulations to be able to make the 1.5 goal.
Wednesday 10th November - Transport
Wednesday saw transport as the focus, and as emissions from the transport sector have more than doubled since the 1970s, it is more crucial than ever as the industry makes up 24% of total global emissions, there was a shift in focus to making transport greener.
Things to take away from today
One, the first draft of the declaration was released today, from which delegates will work for the last few days of the summit. The declaration emphasises the need for immediate action and implementation, revisiting the 2030 goals, to be able to align with the Paris agreement by 2022.
Two, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, back in Glasgow by train (after severe backlash from using a private plane before), once again addressed the summit. He encouraged a final push, stating there was “still a huge amount to do” in the final days of the summit. Johnson also expressed concern for states actions, saying they are “edging towards default” pledges. He makes a valid point, and it will take the next few days to see how they change from the past narrative.
Three, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister highlighted the need for flexibility within climate solutions stating states must act “without any bias towards or against any particular source of energy”. He also highlighted supporting less developed nations on a sustainable path, and to do this states could not exclude any energy sources.
Four, the UK has recently pledged to end the sale of new petrol vehicles by 2030, so following this a new pledge on this issue was brought up. It has developed states committing to announcing bans soon and developing nations working “intensely” towards it. However, the major vehicle manufacturing nations, China, the USA and Germany, have sat out of this pledge.
Five other deals were made by major contributors to emissions in shipping and aviation. These actions could spell major change in these sectors, which remain as some of the most problematic obstacles for reaching the 1.5 goal. This also comes after the severe backlash of world leaders using private flights to arrive at the summit.
Six, there are protests for free public transportation and better cycling infrastructure, in Glasgow and around the UK. This is also a worldwide issue, especially in areas where public transport is underfunded or expensive. Public transportation and cycling is the most efficient way of reducing car usage, but it has to be convenient and appealing to the masses.
Seven, the biggest development of the day is the joint China/US declaration on climate change. As the two biggest emitters of the past few years, they will organise joint meetings starting early 2022. They will attempt to lay out long term plans on issues such as methane emissions and deforestation. After being at each other's necks for the past week and a half, this turnaround is honestly both shocking and unexpected. China’s top climate negotiator even stated "In areas of climate change, there is more agreement between China and US than divergence."
In conclusion, a surprising and chaotic end to the day. We will have to wait to see how these pledges turn out in the next few days, especially the “joint declaration”. It will be interesting to see the impact of protestors and youth activists in the next few days. From now on, the procedure gets technical and complicated, with the majority of discussions being consensus building. However, tomorrow should see some new declarations on cities and development.
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