The dust settled on COP26.Now the hard work begins

Last year’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland made headlines around the world.

After days of painstaking and sometimes difficult negotiations, countries have agreed to an agreement that builds on the 2015 Paris Agreement and aims to limit the worst impacts of climate change.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The Glasgow Climate Agreement, as we know it, faced obstacles related to phasing out coal, fossil fuel subsidies and financial support to low-income countries.

India and China, the world’s largest coal consumers, insisted on a last-minute change in language on fossil fuels, from “phasing out” coal to “phasing out”. After initial objections, the adversaries finally conceded.

During a recent panel discussion chaired by CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick, industry figures with both policy and business backgrounds explored the summit’s findings and future developments.

“We expected a lot more, but what we delivered was truly amazing,” said Jos Delbeke, former head of the European Commission’s climate change agency.

Derbeke, who is also chairman of the European Investment Bank’s climate change at the European University Institute, said major oil and gas producers are now “on board” along with companies, cities and local authorities.

“We’ve seen a lot of commitment, so basically it’s good news,” he said.

“It’s not the 1.5 degrees Celsius that scientists should tell us, but it’s a big change,” he said.

The 1.5 degrees to which Delbeke refers relates to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to “below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.”

Achieving that goal is no small feat. On Monday, the UN Secretary-General struck a sober tone in his speech at the World Economic Forum. “Emissions have to go down, but they continue to rise,” said Antonio Guterres. “Coal-fired power is on the fast track to a new all-time record.”

“Even if all developed countries keep their very important commitment to significantly reduce their emissions by 2030, the problem is that all developing countries, especially emerging economies, will achieve their current nationally determined contributions. global emissions will remain the same, too high to sustain [the] A target of 1.5 degrees is within reach. “

Simply put, NDCs refer to national targets for reducing emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. According to the United Nations, the Glasgow Climate Accord “calls on all countries to present stronger national action plans next year. [2022]rather than 2025, which was the original timeline.”

While the outcome of the negotiations at COP26 frustrated many, many high-profile pledges and announcements were made during the summit.

For example, a joint declaration by the United States and China surprised many by stating that the two superpowers would cooperate on many climate-related actions.

Elsewhere, signatories to another declaration at the summit “will work to make all sales of new cars and vans zero-emission by 2040 globally and in major markets by 2035.” Stated.

And on November 3, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero said more than $130 trillion of private capital was “committed to transforming the economy towards net zero.”

Also speaking on CNBC’s panel last week was Judy Kuszewski, CEO of sustainability consultancy Sancroft International.

“We rarely ask the business community or individual companies to commit to goals where the path to get there may not be entirely clear,” she said.

“This is actually a very rare exception, and the fact that there are quite a few people who are early adopters of net-zero pledges and are targeting achieving those net-zero pledges — they Boldly, I don’t see such a slight leap.”

Over the past few years, a wide range of high-profile companies, including large oil and gas companies, have made net-zero pledges.

Efforts such as Amazon’s Climate Pledge also exists.The signatory — including microsoft, uber When Unilever — committed to what the pledge calls “net zero carbon” by 2040.

According to the Climate Pledge website, companies that have signed it agree to regular reporting of their greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide removals, and “reliable offsets,” among other things.

While the net-zero commitment gets a lot of attention, actually achieving it is a huge task with significant financial and logistical hurdles. The devil is in the details, and ambitions and goals can often shed light on the latter.

Referring to the Glasgow Climate Summit, Kuszewski of Sancroft International said it was clear that the business community was “visibly active in a way never before seen at a COP.”

“We’re seeing a lot of action from businesses calling for a level playing field, bold commitments, and frameworks they know they can operate within.”

“So I think it’s mixed, but there’s a lot of reason to be hopeful about progress,” she said.

Daniel Schmidt, Chief Sustainability Officer at German software company SAP, said companies should “have a mature attitude and take a holistic view of sustainability in terms of environmental, economic and social aspects, and how. I emphasized the importance of understanding “Do you understand?” They are linked to each other. “

Sustainability and commerce are intertwined, he argued on the same panel. “Either there is no business, or there is no sustainable business. That is my true belief in the future to come.”

— CNBC’s Matt Clinch contributed to this report