COP26: Five climate points from day 9 of Glasgow talks

Glasgow, Scotland
CNN
—

It was a day of gender and scientific innovation at COP26 on Tuesday, but most of the focus was on the language of limiting global warming and countries battling over who will bear the consequences of the climate crisis.

A picture is beginning to emerge of countries whose emissions pledges are falling short of their fair share or their own net-zero targets.

Here’s what you need to know from Day 9 of the Summit.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, better known as the AOC, appeared at the COP on Tuesday with very different messages.

Pelosi reaffirmed House Democrats’ plan to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economy and climate bill next week. .

She also said the U.S. House delegation was “equipped” to the summit and “ready to take on the challenges to face the moment.”

But just as Pelosi said the US would regain control of the climate crisis, Ocasio-Cortez, also a Democrat, said there was still a way to go.

“No, we haven’t regained moral authority. We believe we are taking steps,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “In order to gain respect, authority and credibility internationally, we need to take real action. It’s really easy.”

Ocasio-Cortez said he is considering holding party members accountable for passing economic and climate legislation, including $555 billion for renewable energy incentives and tax credits. If passed, it would be the largest investment in climate change in Congress’ history.

A giant puppet named Little Amal, which means hope in Arabic, has called attention to refugee children on the front lines of climate change and opened the COP26 plenary session on gender equality.

A 3.5-meter doll representing a Syrian refugee girl took the stage with Samoan climate activist Brianna Fruan. Amal gave Frouan a sack of her seeds. Fruan gave Amal the Sei flower, which represented her hope and light.

Samoan activists have called on world leaders to act as “planters of the world’s future.”

“I hope that these seeds that Amal traveled here today can inspire you and remind you of the importance of your role as planters of the future of the planet,” Frouan called out to the leaders. , help me fix this broken world. ”

“We both set out on a journey here. We arrived at the COP from two very different places. It’s connected by the fact that we live in a broken world that is marginalized,” said Frouan.

Piloted by a puppeteer, Little Amal traveled more than 8,000 kilometers from Turkey to Glasgow, drawing attention to the plight of young refugees.

A new analysis shows the world is on track to warm 2.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels despite a flurry of new pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions. increase. .

Watchdog’s Climate Action Tracker (CAT) warned Tuesday that global greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 will be nearly double what would be needed to stay below the 1.5 degree threshold.

The 40 countries’ net-zero targets account for 85% of the world’s emissions reductions, but the Group is backing these emissions with concrete plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). found that only 6%

“It’s perfectly fine for leaders to claim they have a net-zero target, but if they don’t have a plan for how to get there and their 2030 target is as low as many others, frankly Put simply, these net-zero targets will not be met, Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analysis, said in a statement: “There is a serious credibility gap in Glasgow.”

Taryn Fransen, an international climate change policy expert at the World Resources Institute, said Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Australia, Turkey and Russia’s NDCs were off track with their own net-zero targets. She said that her newly updated NDC covers about 80% of global emissions, but only about 63% of emissions were addressed by meaningful changes in these plans. said.

A global agreement on electric vehicles was expected to be announced this Wednesday, when transport is the theme of COP26. But according to multiple reports, the US, China and Germany are resisting the deal led by his COP26 presidency in the UK.

CNN obtained a draft declaration on zero-emission vehicles without signatures. In this declaration, the signatories commit “by 2040 globally and in major markets he will work to ensure that all sales of new cars and vans are zero-emission by 2035.”

The deal aims to include countries, automakers and financial institutions. A footnote in the declaration makes it clear that the deal is “not legally binding and not globally focused.”

Officials in the United States and China did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

A German government official told CNN that Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer was not ready to sign the deal and that the delegation was debating whether to participate. Germany is Europe’s largest car manufacturer.

“It is known that the Minister of Transport is not ready to sign,” said the source. Schuur’s office did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

“For many reasons, it’s clearly not China or the US,” said Nick Mavey, co-founder and CEO of climate think tank E3G. [will sign the declaration]both have very aggressive electric vehicle policies and are definitely trying to tap into the overall global market.

He added: “There has been a lot of discussion about phasing out in those countries, but they are not going to sign the phase out.”

The COP26 presidency has said it hopes to have a draft Glasgow agreement by the end of Tuesday, but there is still no agreement on who should bear the costs of the crisis, especially for the global South to adapt to its effects. There are considerable gaps.

Jennifer Tollman, Senior Policy Advisor at E3G, said the issue is one of several key pain points, and if left unresolved, the entire agreement could collapse “like dominoes.” rice field.

More money has started to flow in the past two days, with the European Union on Tuesday announcing €100 million ($115 million) into a dedicated Adaptation Fund.

This follows a collective pledge of $232 million from 13 national and local governments, including first-time donors the United States and Canada, on Monday and the record single donation to the fund by the UNFCCC. Marked as mobilized.

“This is about addressing the effects of the crisis we are already facing,” said EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans when announcing the pledge. “In addition to preventing things from getting worse, we need to recognize that today is the day we need to act for adaptation. Funding adaptation is critical.”

Several developing countries and civil society groups say the majority of climate change funding is directed towards mitigation, i.e. reducing greenhouse gases, but 50% of the funding will support adaptation to the crisis. I argue that it should be used for That means everything from building seawalls and embankments to keep floods out, to improving buildings to withstand extreme weather.

Wealthy countries have agreed to remit $100 billion a year to the Global South to support energy transitions and adaptations, but more is reportedly needed.

Developed countries “must mobilize and deliver at least US$1.3 trillion annually by 2030, on a 50% mitigation and 50% adaptation subsidy basis,” said Gabon’s Environment Minister Lee White, of the Africa Group. spoke on behalf of