COP-26 aftermath: Failures and successes

by James Neil

20/12/2021

Cop-26 event centre :Image couretsy of Stuart Neil.

Following a dramatic fortnight last month at Glasgow’s Sottish events centre, let's go over the major outcomes of the COP-26 (Conference of Parties) climate conference to see what successes or failures follow the events of this summit.

Failure: pledges made will not keep rising temperature below 1.5˚c.

One of the key goals of the UNFCC agreement was to prevent global temperatures from rising by 1.5˚C. Unfortunately, scientists predict that if all the pledges made at this year’s event were held, we would still see a rise in temperature of 2.4˚C. It's hoped that a follow-up conference next year can supplement this with further pledges though this remains to be seen.

Success/Failure: coal usage to be drastically reduced

This one feels like a pyrrhic victory for the planet. Whilst the promise to reduce coal usage drastically is promising it's disappointing considering what was initially agreed. What was originally planned to be a complete phasing out of coal was changed in the eleventh hour when India and China reworked the deal to "phase down" coal usage.

Success/Failure: money on the table for developing country

One of the major goals of the event was raising money to help developing nations combat and prepare for a climate-conscious future. This comes off the back of various developing nations being some of the worst affected by the rising temperatures. COP-26 saw the pledge for the introduction of a trillion-dollar a year fund to help these countries prepare for the realities of climate change and start working towards a sustainable future. The main holdback is that this fund will not be in effect until 2025. Whilst action like this is a promising start, it is not immediate and does little to start helping those currently being affected and suffering at the expense of slow action.

Success/Failure: pledge to end deforestation.

COP-26 leaders have promised to end and even reverse deforestation by the end of 2030, which seems like a massive success, which is made greater by countries like Brazil, one of the worst offenders of late, who were on board with the deal.

The problem is promises like this ring hollow following the event, with reports from Brazil space agency (Inpe) claiming that deforestation of the Amazon rainforest increased by over 20% between 2020 and 2021. This, along with the fact that a similar deal in 2014 did little to make any change to deforestation, makes the chance that the pledge leading to meaningful change feel slim.

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Success: Awareness

One of the biggest successes of COP-26 was the fact that people were very engaged. Even before the event, Glasgow braced itself for the number of protesters COP-26 would invite. The fact people are willing to protest and even in some cases get arrested out of their desire for climate action demonstrates people becoming increasingly concerned and wanting to see change. Areas like Shipping are beginning to clean up their act with organisations with industry leaders like Guy Platten ICS’s (International Chamber of Shipping) secretary general, quoted as saying “We are all about to face the single largest transition in modern times, and all of us will be affected.”

Whilst this summit may have felt half-hearted the fact people are getting involved in a way not seen before is a sign that things will hopefully start to change.