COP26 was touted by world leaders as a summit where they would take action and come to a global consensus on how to tackle climate change and reach the goals outlined in the Paris Climate Conference. World leaders were optimistic about getting results going into the summit and 197 countries were present at the conference held at Glasgow in the UK.
The summit’s main goals were to “Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5C degrees within reach; adapt to protect communities and natural habitats”. These goals were aiming to help countries get on track to meet the goals in the Paris Agreement and keep 1.5℃ of change as an attainable goal.
What actually happened
At the summit, countries reached several agreements on climate change policy, specifically on certain provisions of the Paris Agreement rule book and how to properly implement Article Six’s carbon market rules which has to do with the private sector and give a foundation to the transparency and details surrounding how to count emission reduction. This would be key to help guide a country to reaching their climate goals.
The Glasgow Declaration was another step in the right direction with the United States and China agreeing to cut down on emissions more; additionally, it also got China to acknowledge and address the high emission levels of methane. The declaration is a step in the right direction, but it does not get the countries to commit to any new plans or pledges on cutting emissions. Critics point out how it simply calls on the two superpowers to cut down on emissions. Thus, the agreement seems to be less impactful than it may have been seen at first glance.
The main legislation to come out of the summit is the Glasgow Climate Pact. Signed by 200 nations and quite ambitious, it is still not enough to keep a change of 1.5℃ within reach. The pact sets the stage to take major strides toward drastically cutting carbon emissions compared to the last COP summit. The COP26 summit was the first one to address fossil fuels and their impact, clearly mentioning the goal of “phasing out” of fossil fuels slowly, and agreements concerning the end to deforestation and the reduction of their methane output with “140 countries representing 90% of global forestry [agreeing] to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, and over 100 countries [agreeing] to a methane reduction pledge of 30% by 2030” were made. The conference also made progress on making emission reduction more transparent and laid out a structure to improve how they measure it so countries can be more accountable.
Despite having plenty of progress made at the summit, it barely covers things to keep the goal of a change of 1.5℃ within reach, and countries are notorious for not keeping up with their goals and promises, so it remains to be seen what happens which can be problematic when trying to hold countries accountable. In fact, many countries such as Switzerland and Bolivia expressed their discontent while most agreed that the consensus was far from being enough for the current situation. Some world leaders agree that it isn’t enough, especially since last minute changes were made to the legislation changing it drastically and reducing its effectiveness in certain areas. COP26 might have made some progress, but overall, it is not going to cut it if we want to meet the goals from the Paris Climate Agreement and curb emissions.
Now what?
It is vital that we take swift action to curb carbon emissions since scientists have been warning us that we are in a narrow window where we still have a chance to turn things around without causing widespread damage to the earth. As individuals, we should be conscious of our carbon footprint and always try to go for environmentally friendly options. As a community, we must take a stand and make it apparent what climate change action is desired through a social movement that comes straight from the people. We still have an opportunity to turn this around and although COP26 might not have been it, curbing greenhouse emissions is still possible if we start now.
