The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow kicked off Monday with urgent speeches from activists and leaders calling for increased climate commitments to ensure the success of the pivotal summit.
In the first days of COP26 meetings, world leaders and philanthropists made pledges toward environmental restoration, conservation, net zero goals, and reducing methane emissions. Though the announcements so far are a step in the right direction, they are not nearly enough to meet the actions necessary to save our planet from disastrous warming.
From a record 110 signatories for a major deforestation deal to a Global Methane Pledge led by the US and EU, countries are showing up in ways they previously haven’t. And even Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, promised to fund environmental restoration.
And while the announcements are an attempt to repair the damages these countries and companies have inflicted upon the environment, we have yet to see the actual commitments the planet needs to survive.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) advised countries ahead of COP26 that in order to avoid a temperature rise beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, which would spell certain disaster, the world must act immediately to collectively reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in the next eight years.
At COP26, leaders from small island nations and UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on wealthy countries to mobilize climate financing pledges for developing countries to address climate change. G20 countries — which are responsible for 80% of total global emissions — have a crucial responsibility to deliver on the $100 billion annual commitment. So far, no announcements made at Glasgow have closed the $15 billion gap.
Countries must update their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), halve emissions by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050. Without these actions, the world is on track to reach 2.7 degrees Celsius warming by the end of the century, which means deadly heat waves occurring at 14 times their normal frequency, regions becoming entirely inhabitable, and islands disappearing at an even faster rate.
COP26 is an 11th-hour, make-or-break opportunity for world leaders to lead the charge against climate change. The commitments we’ve seen so far may be ambitious and surprising, but only in comparison to past commitments that failed to avoid our current climate emergency. For this year’s COP to be a success, each of the 12 days must build progress exponentially.
