Britain’s COP26 President Alok Sharma addressed the delegates at the inauguration of the Climate Dialogue. (file)
Glasgow:
With UK hosts warning that “the lights on the climate change dashboard are flashing red”, the COP26 UN climate summit began in Glasgow on Sunday, warning of the growing dangers as pledges to cut emissions are still in adding. has failed.
Britain’s COP26 president Alok Sharma told delegates during the opening of the talks, “I don’t underestimate the challenge”, of reaching an effective deal to reduce emissions substantially. But, he added, “I am confident that we can resolve the outstanding issues.”
It rained heavily in Glasgow on the first day of COP26, and a fallen tree blocked train lines from London, forcing some red-faced delegates into last-minute flights or rental cars.
Others struggled to master the phone apps governing a daily coronavirus testing regime for attendees, some of whom held one of the first major international gatherings since the start of the pandemic with negative tests in hand. shown instead.
Sharma admitted, “This is not a normal COP.”
But the biggest hurdle facing COP26 could be the outcome of this weekend’s G20 meeting of major economies in Rome, where leaders backed a 1.5°C limit on global temperature rise, but few new concrete steps to achieve. commitments offered.
As world leaders come into talks in Glasgow on Monday, a more ambitious emissions-cutting pledge will be crucial for COP26 hosts to meet their broad goal of “keeping 1.5 alive”.
“If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, world leaders would have blown their line,” Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International, said in a statement.
Alden Meyer, a senior associate at climate think-tank E3G, said that “a lot of hard work – especially on climate finance issues – remains ahead if COP26 is to be compromised” in keeping with the 1.5C target.
‘out of excuses’
At the inaugural session of the Glasgow conference, UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa acknowledged that the task of rapidly shifting the world economy on a greener trajectory to avoid increasingly deadly climate impacts was too daunting.
“The transition we need is beyond the scope, scale and speed that humanity has achieved in the past. It is a difficult task. But humanity is a species defined by its simplicity,” he said.
He encouraged negotiators to “keep the big picture in mind” as he delved into things like finance and carbon markets, reminding them “what we’re trying to achieve together..and in you by the billions.” Invested trust”.
UN General Assembly President Abdullah Shahid urged negotiators to “be honest with each other and with the rest of the world” about past failures to act fast enough on climate threats and to “choose difficult but necessary actions”. “.
“We have run out of excuses. It is time to do the right thing,” said Shahid, Foreign Minister of Maldives, a low-lying Indian Ocean island nation.
As talks were underway, the World Meteorological Organization said the past seven years have been the warmest on record and that sea level rise reached a new high in 2021.
In a report released on Sunday, it called the changes “uncharted territory with far-reaching repercussions for present and future generations”.
Frank Cooney, the mayor of the US city of Des Moines, said change is not being seen only in the poor countries considered most vulnerable to the dangers of climate change. His Midwestern city, in the US state of Iowa, has seen much more extreme weather in recent years, including 10 inches (250 mm) of rain in just three hours and hurricane-like 130 mph winds.
“This is a global catastrophe that we all need to jump on,” said Connie, president of ICLEI, an association of sustainable local governments.
“We have to prepare for the worst. It’s like the new normal.”
cities set the pace
But cities and other local governments are often leading the way in low-carbon transformations, and offer examples of what national governments can do on a large scale, Ryuzo Sugimoto of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment told a news conference with city officials. I told.
He said the 160 local government bodies that govern the 17 million people in Japan had made carbon-neutral commitments last year before Japan’s national government was in line.
Now, with the need for massive emissions reductions by 2030 – on the way to net-zero by 2050 – the world needs a “decarbonisation domino effect”, with local governments often having good testing grounds for what is possible, Sugimoto said.
Glasgow’s city council leader Susan Aitken said such changes should also take place in a fair manner, focused on “taking our citizens with us”.
The decline of Glasgow’s industrial power, he said, began 30 or 40 years ago, leaving the city with lasting mental and physical scars, including a legacy of unemployment.
There is now a need for a rapid transition to a green economy based on clean energy to be more just and inclusive, as governments invest “unprecedented amounts” to tackle climate change, she said.
“Climate justice and social justice are inseparable,” she said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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