The annual COP climate summit is currently taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, running through to the 12th of November. COP, which stands for “Conference of the Parties”, is a climate summit that sees leaders and influential figures (called delegates) from across the globe come together for a summit intending to tackle climate issues.
Unilateral experts predict devastating consequences for our planet and all life on it if we do not alter our current trajectories and particularly our reliance on finite, environmentally damaging natural gases. This is something more and more people are becoming wise to, and galvanised by. To quote the sobering title from climate researcher Mike Berners-Lee’s latest book, ‘There is no planet B.’
As time has gone by and the consequences of climate change have become increasingly more real and visible to the world, COP has experienced a dramatic transformation from a relatively obscure event to a globally discussed phenomenon. Thanks to influential, energising figures like Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, the younger generation especially is watching this COP with a keen, perhaps wary, eye.
The four objectives of 2021’s COP26
2021 marks the 26th consecutive time world leaders and international delegates have come together to discuss these issues.
So what are the objectives of this 26th “Conference of the Parties”; what are the specific goals that delegates seek to discuss and ultimately take action upon? According to the official UK COP26 website, there are 4 (summary) primary objectives.
1. “Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach”
The goal is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. This means that we reduce the overall carbon we produce, equalling the amount of carbon our planet can safely disperse atmospherically. To achieve this, countries are being asked to produce radical “emission reductions targets” for the year 2030.
There are a few methods outlined on the official website to help achieve these targets. They include:
“Accelerat[ing] the phase-out of coal” – coal is considered a ‘dirty fuel’ and it contributes massively to rising temperatures
“Curtail[ing] deforestation” – deforestation damages biodiversity and the destroyed trees/plants could potentially release their stored carbon into the atmosphere
“Speed[ing] up the switch to electric vehicles” – electric vehicles do not rely on pollutant fossil fuels
“Encourag[ing] investment in renewables” – this is a long term energy switch that is potentially infinitely sustainable
2. “Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats”
This objective is all about finding ways to safeguard the communities and biomes most devastated by climate change already. Here the attendees of the COP importantly recognise that it is not enough to ‘stop’ climate change – the climate has already changed and will continue to, even as we reduce our emissions. The most vulnerable and hurt communities and ecosystems need help.
The official COP26 website outlines these steps in more detail:
“At COP26 we need to work together to enable and encourage countries affected by climate change to:
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- protect and restore ecosystems
- build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives”
My colleague Liam Dodds has considered what our possible future could look like were we to get re-acquainted with nature more closely
3. “Mobilise finance”
The third objective outlined on the official cop26 site is to “mobilise finance”. This objective correctly identifies that the fight against the climate crisis is not a cheap one, and as some of the primary contributors to climate change and holders of the world’s wealth (the wealth often is directly related to their environmental impact), so-called “developed countries” are asked to “mobilise” $100bn a year by 2023 in climate finance. This target was originally set for 2020 but was unsuccessful.
Furthermore, financial institutions are also to get involved by “unleashing” trillions of dollars (equivalent) in private and public sector finance “to secure global net-zero”.
4. “Work together to deliver”
The final objective is perhaps the most touching, and the most important. Climate change and rising temperature are global issues, and they require all of our intervention. In other words, you cannot opt-out of the climate crisis (as some countries appear to desire) because it is a global issue in the most literal sense – it’s an issue that affects the very globe on which we all live.
That is why at COP26, delegates and leaders have pledged to “finalise the Paris Rulebook (the detailed rules that make the Paris Agreement operational)”, and “accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis through collaboration between governments, businesses and civil society.”
The primary objectives outlined via the COP26 website are ambitious, but also wholly necessary. It is no secret that we need to change our current trajectory to avoid environmental devastation; already some climate experts predict we are heading toward a 1.9-degree temperature rise. This is a cataclysmically far cry from the 1.5 rise COP is aiming for (which is still far from ideal, without consequence).
It is too soon to say exactly what will come from COP26; if it will be any different or more influential than those that came before it. What it does have is energised young people like Great Thunberg among its delegates, representative of a younger generation who will no longer take ‘blah blah blah’ in the face of a safe and stable future.
‘There is no planet B.’
This is the first instalment in our three-part series on COP26. For an analysis of the progress of the conference, check out this post. To understand how greenwashing is holding back environmental progress at COP26, read this post by another GIS author.
To discover more ways we can reverse the effects of climate change on our planet, check out this post on Reversing Pollution.