The first draft of the COP 26 agreement in Glasgow was released earlier this week. In it the COP acknowledges the need to renew efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, echoing the recommendations of the most recent IPCC report. And while this draft will be debated intensely in the time that delegates have left before the close of the conference this week, its tepid tone reveals the fissures between countries. Developed countries are not only struggling to acknowledge their historical responsibility for climate change, but are also attempting to escape the burden of financing adaptation and mitigation activities in the developing world.
This draft also serves as a reminder that the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees is potentially catastrophic, and global inequality means that the brunt of the damage will be felt by communities and countries that are already the most vulnerable.
Here are four areas where the lack of progress should be of serious concern to us:
Overall, then, for a landmark summit of the nature of COP 26, this first draft gives us surprisingly little that is newsworthy. The ‘net zero’ commitments made by countries such as India gave the COP an impressive start. It also put the focus on nationally determined contributions (NDCs)—domestic action driven by conscious policy choices that countries made for themselves. That’s where the action needs to be if the world is to have any hope of achieving its target of reaching net zero by 2050. However, as negotiations progress and an agreement is reached by the end of COP, climate financing remains a crucial yet unattainable goal. Climate-vulnerable countries need adequate financing that can support them in making those crucial policy choices and a timely transition. If this doesn’t happen, limiting global temperature to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels may well be a bridge too far.
From the evidence of this first draft, the world is failing to unite in the face of the climate crisis. If this is where we end up as negotiations close, there is no doubt that we will repent at leisure.
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