COP26: World leaders under pressure to turn climate pledges into action

• UN Secretary-General urged the nations to develop technology to ensure the average temperature doesn’t go above 1.5 degrees Celsius

• G-20 summit also had no conclusive plans to halt countries financing energy generated from coal

World leaders have gathered at Glasgow on Monday for a two-week-long high-stakes United Nations’ COP26 climate summit to discuss ways to address the warming planet, as scientists expressed concern that nations are not doing enough to limit greenhouse gas emissions which in turn is raising the average global temperatures.

As many countries, including the U.S., are falling short on emissions-reduction targets and struggling to enact domestic climate-change legislation, leaders around the world will face pressure in the next 48 hours to turn political pledges to tackle climate change into concrete actions.

The COP26 summit will be held till November 12, with several thousand delegates, diplomats, and activists discussing ways to limit the increase in global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but preferably to 1.5 degrees.

Also Read: Convening for a greener future - COP26 and its relevance

Concerns around global warming

In late October, the UN published a report saying the planet would warm by 2.7 degrees Celsius, above pre-industrial levels, by the end of the century if all the countries follow their current pledges to limit global warming, which can cause more destructive floods, wildfires, droughts, heatwaves, and animal species extinctions.

“Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “It’s one minute to midnight, and we need to act now. If we don’t get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was “an illusion to think we are track to turning the world around” and urged the developed and emerging nations to form coalitions to develop technological solutions that will ensure that the 1.5 degrees Celsius target was met.

Setback for U.S. spending package

U.S. President Joe Biden’s National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy earlier said the president will emphasize how “within three decades, the U.S. can meet our global climate commitments by decarbonizing the power sector, electrifying transportation and buildings, transforming industry, reducing non-CO2 emissions, and reinvigorating our natural lands” to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

Although the U.S. may present an ambitious plan, Biden arrived at the summit with pressure as the House of Representatives of Congress abandoned plans to vote on a $1.75 trillion infrastructure bill that featured $555 billion in climate provisions.

Also Read: U.S. Official asks China to do more to tackle climate change

Nothing conclusive in G-20

Furthermore, the G-20 summit, held last weekend in Rome, ended without any specific plan to halt international financing of energy generated from coal.

“We expected much more from G-20 countries, responsible for 78% of global greenhouse gas emissions,” said Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, a former environment minister in Peru’s government and now with the World Wildlife Fund conservation organization.

Picture Credit: The Japan Times