COP26 or Cop-Out? Time Will Tell
By Advait Bhowmik
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The future of the planet was at stake at climate negotiations in Glasgow, Scotland at COP26 last month, but the jury is still out on how much progress has truly been made.
After an event which the leaders of China and Russia could only attend virtually, the president of Brazil decided to skip altogether, and the president of the U.S made headlines for taking a quick nap at, it’s only intuitive to ask— what is COP26 & why should I care?
The first of its kind since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed, COP26, or the 26th conference of the parties, was a global climate convention held in Glasgow, Scotland. It’s purpose? discussing one of the most pressing issues at the moment— climate change; climate change needs to be tackled because as much as it may be pushed aside or postponed, it is here and not going away anytime soon, and it’s ramifications are worsening. Countless natural disasters are occurring annually, and not only does this mean harm for civilians and property, but it is also a hindrance to economies, as a New York Times report states that close to a 100 billion dollars were spent to cope with natural disasters over the past year. As you can see, climate change needs to be tackled and therefore, the significance of this summit cannot be overstated. But have world leaders truly stepped up to meet the situation?
At this point, most are aware that greenhouse gases are among the most prominent contributors to climate change, so obviously, reducing those would be a good start. Negotiators at Glasgow seemed to agree as well, leading to the unanimous (among attendees) goal of a phasedown of coal use. Although, this may be a goal that is largely vague rather than quantifiable or objectively examinable (in addition to still being inadequate as it is predicted that even if all the measures that were decided upon at COP26 are implemented, warming will still be 2.4° C, significantly higher than the goal of 1.5 ° C ), it still signals an intent of action from leaders. More concrete goals were put in place for methane- countries pledged to reduce 30% of emissions by 2030.
The same cannot be said on the issue of climate finance though. Climate finance is the provision of financial aid to developing nations in order to enable their adoption of more environmentally friendly habits. According to an article by The Guardian in 2020, the richest 1% of countries contribute to more than 2 times as much global warming as the poorest 50%. Despite contributing less to climate change, poorer countries often feel the brunt of the impact and this is what incentivizes them to claim that richer countries should be held accountable for providing monetary support. There were promising signs when several developed nations agreed to provide 100 billion dollars by 2020, but this figure was never met. And because climate change is a global issue that affects the planet, rather than individual countries, it is essential to have complete cooperation if progress is to be made.
In addition to the aforementioned developments, there were also a few other miscellaneous, minor agreements. All in all, in some areas, there were positives, while in other areas, we are still waiting for a substantial course of action to be developed. Ultimately, though, countries’ ability to follow up on and continually improve upon their pledges will determine whether cop26 will go down as a monumental landmark in the fight to cope with climate change, or simply yet another cop-out from doing so.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/climate/2020-disaster-costs.html
https://www.economist.com/international/2021/11/14/was-cop26-in-glasgow-a-success
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56901261
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