Biggest Science News of 2021: COP26 Glasgow Climate Summit Lays Groundwork for Decade of Action

Within days of the dramatic conclusion of November’s COP26 climate summit, the Glasgow Climate Agreement was already making an impact.

To Adam Vaughan

Just days after about 200 countries agreed at the COP26 summit in November, the Glasgow Climate Accord has felt its echoes.

Shortly after the conference, carbon prices on the European Union carbon market hit a record high of €66 per tonne. Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has opposed the new North Sea field and has put pressure on the British government to reconsider its approval. The European Commission has drafted legislation to block the import of beef and other commodities if they are linked to deforestation.

But it will be some time before the Glasgow Climate Accord’s high-profile promise to “phasing out” coal is fully adopted. For example, in October China’s coal production hit its highest level since March 2015.

It could be a long time before the pact’s commitment to phase out “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” is felt.

The trading achievements achieved in Glasgow, UK will play out over the coming decades. Next year will be the first big test. Countries are to implement the COP26 “demand” (a diplomatic term for a pledge) to publish better 2030 emission reduction plans by the end of 2022.

“It will take some time before the Glasgow Climate Accord’s coal ‘phasing out’ commitments are fully adopted. ”

These plans should keep global warming to 1.5°C below pre-industrial levels and well below 2°C, the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Current plans by Australia, Brazil and Indonesia are rated “very poor” and are in line with a 4°C future by independent analysts. Countries that have already set scaling targets, such as the UK’s plan to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, are not expected to raise their targets.

At COP26, India announced new targets, including sourcing half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, and plans to submit a formal plan to the United Nations. Officially, it should have been done by the end of 2020.

One of the issues low-income countries will be watching in 2022 is whether high-income countries will be able to deliver on their $100 billion annual commitment to climate finance by 2020, and whether high-income countries will be able to deliver. It is whether or not he expressed his “deep regret” over the incident. The figure is currently expected to be reached in 2023, but US climate change envoy John Kerry said in Glasgow he believed it could be reached sooner. .

COP26 resolved outstanding Paris Agreement rules on transparency, emissions target timeframes and a new global carbon market, but this will take several years to be established. Attention will also be focused on the formation of a new independent group to scrutinize net-zero pledges by the private sector, announced at the summit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.