COP26 (The Conference of the Parties) UN Climate Change Conference, takes place 31st October – 12th November in Glasgow, this time held under UK Presidency. This is a summit of World Leaders who are coming together to decide how to address global warming.
There are four specific areas they want to tackle urgently, and the ambitions are lofty.
The first is to secure global net zero Carbon emissions by the middle of this Century. Participating countries have been asked to come with targets to accelerate the phasing out of coal, curtail deforestation, switch to electric vehicles and invest in renewable energies, all essential to achieve this goal.
The second ambition recognises that large areas of the earth already suffer from recent global warming. As they are often inhabited by communities with very few resources, they need urgent help from the richer countries – to protect and restore ecosystems, as well as to build defences against flooding, sea-level changes, forest fires etc. and to safeguard agriculture, so that homes, habitats and livelihoods may be protected.
Thirdly, there needs to be a recognition that these ambitions will cost large amounts of money. Developed countries had already promised 100 Billion Dollars by 2020 to meet these goals: they need to make good their promise. International financial Institutions also
have a big part to play in releasing sufficient funds to achieve the net zero Carbon emission programme.
The fourth ambition is to work together to meet these ends. The problem is global in nature, so the solution also has to involve all nations of the world.
It is quite worrying that not all major economies are wholeheartedly behind COP26, with China for example, still uncertain about being there, although President Biden committing USA to the previous convention resolution was a major source of hope.
Ultimately what will be critical is not even what people pledge to do, but what they actually do. As Her Majesty the Queen apparently observed, it is irritating when people will ‘talk, but won’t do’.
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