After two years, climate leaders will meet again to talk about climate action and the efforts that each of their states will make to try to stop the rise in the average global temperature by 1.5ºC or 2ºC, as signed in 2015 when they sealed the Paris Agreement.

However, this meeting in Glasgow, Scotland will not be so easy. In a world devastated in lives and economically by the pandemic, definitions are still lacking. And one of the most important. ” Blah, blah, blah, ” young activist Greta Thunberg told politicians less than two weeks ago. She is already in the UK with thousands of young people who, they promise, will make her voice heard.

In these last 48 hours, the focus has been on climate finance with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson trying to bring this victory after the G20 meeting in Rome. The long-standing goal of delivering the $ 100 billion a year set in Paris for climate finance to developing nations will be met in two years , according to a new plan released by the UK government. The “delivery report,” led by Germany and Canada, was late, and was exposed to the United States for weakening the drafts.

👉 Climate change: a brief history of a long-heralded tragedy

The Alliance of Small Island States called the delay a “great blow to the developing world . ” Climate experts have also criticized the delay, considering that developed countries show a “shameful” lack of commitment to help poorer nations.

Inequality will also be at the forefront of COP26, perhaps more than ever. As climate finance expert Malango Mughogho points out : ” The disparities around vaccine distribution are a reflection of those in climate finance .” For his part, Saleemul Huq , director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development, says that COP26 should be judged based on the willingness of developed countries to take the issue of loss and damage seriously .

The fairness of net zero (capturing or offsetting gas emissions every year) is also questioned, as Simon Stiell , Grenada’s Minister of Climate and Environment said: “ Net zero by 2050 is wonderful, but by then we will have already disappeared: the low islands will be under water. The hurricanes will have wiped us out ”. As Mohamed Adow of the Power Shift Africa think tank points out , rich countries do not pay the climate debts they have with poorer countries.

But how each country plays on this complicated chessboard: a group of emerging economies, including large emitters such as India, China, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, have branded the zero emissions targets before COP26 as unfair. According to them, the new global goal does not take into account historical responsibility. Instead, they call for developed nations to fully decarbonize in this decade, to allow more time for emissions peaks in developing countries.

👉 IMF head demanded COP26 leaders take more ambitious climate action

Furthermore, the 46 least developed countries called for climate equity to be at the center of COP26, in particular through increased climate finance , capacity building and technology support. They also called for climate threats to agriculture to be discussed, as many of these nations depend on the agricultural sector for their livelihoods.

World Leaders Summit

However, despite all these differences, the list of speakers has already been made public. Joe Biden , President of the United States, will speak tomorrow, along with representatives fromIndonesia, France, India and Australia. Germany, Argentina, Japan and Canada will intervene on the 2nd. Due to her poor health, Queen Elizabeth will participate in the summit via video conference. In his place will be Prince Charles, who will do the opening.

After years of calls and debates, Australia will adopt a non-legislative goal of zero emissions by 2050 and bring to COP26 a reduction of 30% -35% in the “expected emissions scenario” for 2030. The plan has been widely criticized for being highly dependent on both technologies that do not yet exist and compensation for purchases from others that reduce . At the same time, the country is committed to continuing to expand the fossil fuel industry. Several experts consulted doubt whether Australia will play a constructive role at COP26.

China presented its long-awaited new commitment and re-announced that its peak emissions will be “before 2030” and that it will achieve a net result of zero greenhouse gas emissions “before 2060”., objectives in line with what was declared this year by its president Xi Jinping. The rest of the countries expected a little more.

Ambitious targets for renewable energy, more hydrogen production and the inclusion of specific emission reduction targets for electric vehicles are expected from India. However, with recent zero-emission announcements by Saudi Arabia and Australia, and with China’s announcement that it will hit its highest emissions level this decade, India is expected to step up its efforts .

India, along with China and members of the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LDCs), has also supported the demand that rich countries set net negative emissions targets well before the mid-century targets, taking into account their emissions. accumulated historical records.

In the United States, Biden’s legislative effort to promote the renewable industry continues and it has been established that COP26 is a “deadline” , and attempts are being made to reach, at least, an agreement on the price and the policy content by end of October. Much of the American media has questioned the credibility that Biden and the United States will have in Glasgow if there is no policy to curb emissions and meet the American goal of Paris by 2030, announced in April.

The US Congress, meanwhile, is on the verge of reaching an agreement on the main structure of Biden’s bill to rebuild better, which could cost up to $ 600 billion for climate and clean energy . If it goes ahead, the United States could approve the largest clean energy investment in its history in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the planet is in code red. Current plans presented to the UN mean a 15.9% increase in greenhouse gases by 2030, as revealed by the latest analysis of plans. This would translate into a rise of 2.7ºC by the end of the century.

Categorized in:

Climate