Why COP26 Matters
November 17, 2021
By Alex Shores
The history of climate action is one long, winding road that has taken decades to get where it is today. The first global summit on climate change was in 1972 in Stockholm, headed by the United Nations. Here is where countries first began to realize that climate change might actually be a global threat.
In 1997 was the Kyoto Protocol, which set legally-binding emission limits on participating countries with the intention of preserving Earth. But the legislation exempted developing countries like China and India, two enormous carbon-emitting forces. Thus, the Paris Agreement in 2016 focused on getting more signatures, but at the expense of effectiveness. This agreement allowed individual countries to make a pledge of how much they would cut their emissions. But countries pledged far less than was necessary to combat climate change.
Fast forward to this historical year. Just last week was the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Outside, large-scale protests gathered, led by people of all ages and backgrounds. As for what happened inside the meeting room, if you’ve seen the news, the results are mixed. Some found hope for our planet’s future, and some are worried that we are not doing enough. But what actually happened in these meetings?
Well, the “Glasgow Climate Pact” was the end product, legislation that arguably reaffirms current legislation and beliefs about climate change. The delegates still agree that the global warming rise must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius.But there were some notable changes, too, for better and for worse. On the positive side, over 100 countries signed the Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions, and more than 137 countries plan to go net zero. The dates to reach these goals vary from 2030 to 2070, but in total, 197 countries across the world committed to further prioritizing climate action.
However, not everything went smoothly. China and India made a last-minute switch to the pact, which reworded “phasing out” coal and other fossil fuels to “phasing down” these detrimental resources. This may seem like a minor change, but it means that rather than going fully renewable, countries are merely required to “reduce” their use of fossil fuels. Moreover, “phasing down” does not imply to what extent coal must be phased out, which means that carbon emissions will not be getting better anytime soon.
Moreover, attendance was high, but 503 of the delegates retained ties to fossil fuel companies, which is more delegates than any one country at the conference. This certainly caused a great deal of conflict and controversy among environmentalists and those seeking to promote their fossil fuel power.
Some prominent leaders, however, were not in attendance. Vladimir Putin (Russia) and Xi Jinping (China) were absent, as well as the leaders of Brazil and Turkey. Given that world leaders should act as a role model to their citizens, it makes climate action difficult when the leader of a country does not present themselves as part of the solution.
So what does COP26 mean for us and the future of our planet? Unfortunately we will have to wait to find out. If countries keep their pledges, then we might see net zero become a reality in our lifetime. But given the resistance to climate action progress, it is tough to say how optimistic our outlook should be. All I can say is that with more and more countries and individuals accepting global warming as a reality, real change is becoming more and more possible. If this trend continues, maybe we really can save our planet.
Sources:
https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop26-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-climate-talks-in-glasgow
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45678338
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/14/infographic-what-has-your-country-pledged-at-cop26
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/11/1105792
https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/hundreds-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-flooding-cop26-climate-talks/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/world/europe/cop26-global-leaders-attending.html
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