COP26 week 2 roundup

Just like last week, we are doing a special round-up of all the news, announcements, and commitments coming out of COP26 in Glasgow. 

👗  8th November 2021 - Day 8 - Adaptation, Loss, and Damage + Fashion

“The most important energy in this movement is coming from young people and the reason is simple. They have the most stake in this fight than anybody else.”

“I guarantee you, every victory will be incomplete, sometimes we will be forced to settle for imperfect compromises because even if they don’t achieve everything we want, at least they advance the cause.” 

“If we work hard enough for long enough, those partial victories add up. If we push hard enough, stay focused enough, and are smart about it, those victories accelerate and they build momentum.” Former US President, Barack Obama 

• Former US president, Barack Obama opened the second week of talks by urging world leaders to step up and criticised China and Russia for not even attending proceedings.  
• Even though the theme of the day was “loss and damage”, Bolivia’s chief negotiator said that rich countries’ refusal to talk about loss and damage is “diplomatic bullying”. He was referring to discussions about climate finance and compensation. 
• African nations opened discussions to help channel $700billion every year from 2025 to help developing countries adapt to the climate crisis. Historically Africa accounts for less than 4% of global emissions but it has suffered from climate disruptions such as droughts and floods. 
• The fashion industry raised ambitions to align the industry with 1.5 degrees by updating its science-based emission reductions targets under the UN Fashion Charter. Commitments included: sourcing 100% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, sourcing of environmentally friendly raw materials, and phasing out coal from the supply chain by 2030 among others.

👩   9th November 2021 - Day 9 - Gender and Science Innovation

“80% of the people displaced in climate change globally are women. Addressing the rapidly changing climate is a matter of justice and equality, with the most vulnerable most affected - including indigenous communities, less developed countries and our focus, today and every day, on women.” Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi

• Major brands have demanded COP26 world leaders and technology giants take action against climate misinformation. The Conscious Advertising Network (Can) has published an open letter, with signatories including Ben & Jerry’s, Virgin Media, O2, Sky, and SSE calling out ad spending of accounts promoting climate misinformation. 
• UK health secretaries pledge to build climate-resilient health services and 46 other countries also made similar commitments. 4.6% of global emissions come from health services. 

🚙  10th November 2021 - Day 10 - Transport

"Here in Glasgow, the world is closer than it has even been in signaling the beginning of the end to anthropogenic climate change," Prime Minister Boris Johnson

• The first draft of the agreement is released and it includes the strongest-ever language on the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. 
• Saudi Arabia pushes back on the agreement showing “bias towards or against any particular source of energy”. 
• The US and China announce a surprise pledge to work together to ramp up cooperative climate ambitions. 
• The biggest players in the car industry did not sign the declaration to end the combustion engine era - this included countries such as Germany, China, Japan, South Korea, and the US and companies such as Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW, and Nissan. 

🏡  11th November 2021 - Day 11 - Cities, Regions, and Built Environment

“We are drowning in promises. Promises will not stop the suffering of people. Only immediate and drastic action will pull us back from the abyss,” Ugandan climate activist, Vanessa Nakate

• Denmark and Costa Rica launched an ambitious alliance to phase out coal and gas, Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) - 7 countries join the coalition, including France, Greenland, Ireland, Sweden, Wales, and the Canadian province of Quebec. 

🌏  12th and 13th November 2021 - Day 12 & 13- Closure of Negotiations

“An hour ago, my son Mark sent me a picture of my grandson, Kees, who is one year old. Kees will be 31 when we’re in 2050, and it’s quite a thought to understand that if we succeed, he’ll be living in a world that’s liveable. He’ll be living in an economy that is clean, with air that is clean, at peace with his environment.

If we fail, and I mean fail now within the next couple of years, he will fight with other human beings for water and food. That’s the stark reality we face. So 1.5C is about avoiding a future for our children and grandchildren that is unliveable.

I might not reach 2050, probably won’t. But he will be there as a young man, and I want him to live a peaceful prosperous life, like I want it for everybody’s children and grandchildren in this room. This is personal. This is not about politics.” EU vice-president Frans Timmermans

• 60% of the UK’s largest listed businesses are now signed on to the Race to Zero and that the Race to Resilience.
• Late on the 13th of November, nearly  200 countries agree to the Glasgow Climate Pact, keeping the 1.5 degrees dream alive. 

So what was achieved as part of the Glasgow Climate Pact?

Read the full Glasgow Climate Pact text here.

1. COP26 finally sets rules on governing carbon markets or carbon offsets to avoid double-counting of emission cuts. For example, the Glasgow deal will make CORSIA (the global offsetting system for airlines) stricter. Demand for offsets is set to grow to $100 billion by 2030 as companies commit to net-zero goals, however, their effectiveness depends on the high standards and integrity of the carbon markets. 
2. Nationally determined contributions or NDCs are national plans on cutting carbon emissions by 2030. Under the 2015 Paris agreement, nations were required to only return every 5 years with updated or new NDCs. One of the agreements during the Glasgow COP26 negotiations has been to change the NDCs revisions to every year, rather than every 5 years - this means that there is an opportunity for every country to raise ambitions every year.
3. Countries agreed to reduce the use of coal and end “inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies”. This is a huge achievement, especially to include a direct reference to ‘phase down’ coal-fired power generation in the text. Since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, no COP has ever made a direct reference to fossil fuels. Even though the phrasing isn’t ideal or perfect, as we should be aiming for ‘phase out’ rather than ‘phase down’. To achieve 1.5C, a minimum of 40% of the current 8,500 coal-fired power plants must be closed by 2030 and no new ones built. This is now still a possibility with this new wording. 
4. Climate finance was a crucial negotiating point for all countries, especially given that developed countries were still lagging on their 2009 commitments of giving $100bn a year from 2020 to developing countries. Increases to $500bn have been promised over the next five years, with double the proportion going to climate adaption initiatives (such as preparing for intense fire and flood seasons and severe weather) rather than climate mitigation (that relate to cutting emissions such as renewable energy schemes).  
5. The text re-affirms that limiting temperature to 1.5C is much safer than “well below 2C”, keeping the Paris Agreement well and truly alive. 

So has COP26 been a success? Well, that really depends on whether all the pledges that have been made, are then actually upheld by countries and they keep their word.

Related: COP26 week 1 roundup