A summary of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26)
From the 31st of October to the 13th of November of this year the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) took place in Glasgow, Scotland. The summit brought together nearly 200 participating countries to discuss and accelerate action to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Key announcements
The five key announcements concern deforestation pledges, a global methane pledge, coal phase-out, fossil-fuel financing, and zero-emission cars. Below a short description is given of each of the five key announcements.
Deforestation pledges. Regarding deforestation, two major announcements have been made. Firstly, the Glasgow leaders’ declaration on forest and land use signed by more than 130 countries to pursue efforts to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. Secondly, the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) statement that aims to promote sustainable trade between commodity-producing and consuming countries. This statement was signed by 28 countries representing 75% of global trade in key commodities.
Global methane pledge. This announcement was led by US president Joe Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The goal of the pledge is to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 relative to 2020 and has been signed by 109 countries representing 70% of global GDP. It would help to reduce global warming by at least 0.2°C by 2050.
Coal phase-out. In a last-minute effort, India proposed a weaker text regarding the phase-out of coal which has then been officially adopted. Essentially, instead of phasing out coal the final text says phasing down coal. Nevertheless, more than 40 countries pledged to phase out coal with the bigger economies doing so by the 2030s and the smaller economies by the 2040s.
Fossil-fuel financing. In terms of fossil-fuel financing, more than 30 countries and financial institutions signed a statement to stop financing the development of fossil fuels overseas and instead redirect spending to renewable energy. Public direct support should be ended by 2022 and the statement has been signed by key countries such as the UK, US, Canada, and Germany as well as the financial institutions European Investment Bank and East African Development Bank.
Zero-emission cars. While the agreement on zero-emission cars is not legally binding, a coalition of countries, cities, car manufactures, and further organizations agreed to work towards a state where all new sold cars are zero emission by 2040 globally. As for leading markets, this goal should be achieved no later than 2035.
Implications for the 1.5°C target
According to the Climate Action Tracker, current policies would lead to global warming of 2.7°C compared to pre-industrial times by the end of the century. Should all conditional and non-conditional nationally determined contributions (NDCs) be met for the 2030 target, global warming would be reduced to 2.3°C. Finally, adding all net-zero promises to the 2030 commitments would lead to global warming of 1.8°C, bringing the goal of the Paris Agreement within reach.
Nevertheless, these long-term targets may only be achieved if they are translated into actual near-term action. Judging by the NDCs for 2030, there remains a significant gap in terms of credibility.