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UN COP26 climate summit: what was accomplished?

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GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – NOVEMBER 11: António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks during the Global Climate Action High-level event.

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An end to the United Nations Global Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland over the weekend agreement among nearly 200 nationsTo accelerate climate change mitigation and to make stronger climate commitments.

The conference was a two-week long and saw some notable achievements, new pledges on methane gas pollution, deforestation, coal financing,Also, the long-awaited regulations on carbon trading have been completed. notable U.S.-China deal.It was also concluded with calls for governments to come back in 2022 with more strong pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and to increase funding available to nations that are most at risk from a changing environment.

However, some politicians, scientists, and legal professionals argued that the Glasgow agreement resulted only in incremental progress, which was not sufficient to tackle the seriousness of the climate crisis. Some activists and campaigners have also criticized COP26 as an exclusionary two-week of talks that was purely a publicity exercise.

On Friday, November 5, 2021 at the Climate Summit COP26, young protestors took part in Fridays For Future, Glasgow.

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Experts point out, however that success at COP26 is only measured by the degree to which countries actually follow through on their commitments.

Ani Dasgupta was the president and chief executive officer of the World Resources Institute. She said that COP26 affirmed global collective action in addressing the climate crisis, in a year filled with uncertainty and mistrust.

Dasgupta stated that while we may not be on the right track yet, there have been positive signs in the past year as well as at the COP26 summit. “The true test is now whether the countries speed up their efforts and make commitments.

We take a look back at highlights from UN Climate Summit 26:

There are new pledges regarding methane pollution

More than 100 countries have now joined a U.S. and E.U.-led coalition to cut 30% of methane gas emissions by 2030 from 2020 levels, a significant step towards limiting one of the major culprits of climate change.

Global Methane Pledge includes countries responsible for almost half the global methane emissions as well as 70% of world GDP. Methane can be found in the following: 84 times more potent than carbon It is less likely to last in the atmosphere for as much time before it begins to degrade. It is therefore a crucial target to combat climate change rapidly while also minimizing other greenhouse gases emissions.

Barry Rabe from the University of Michigan, who is also a Brookings Institution senior fellow, stated that the summit was able to pay unprecedented attention in reducing methane emission. However, this pledge will only be a starting point.

“The Glasgow meetings serve as a reminder of just how hard it is to achieve transformational progress on climate change in a few weeks, despite all of the melodrama,” Rabe said. “That said, [there’s]There has been some progress on the issues of carbon markets and coal transition. Now the question is, “Can these areas be put into practice?”

During a meeting of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow (Scotland), on November 1, 2021, Joe Biden, President of the United States, delivers a speech.

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The pledge includes six of the world’s 10 biggest methane emitters — the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Mexico. China, Russia, India and India together account for 35% of the global methane emission.

“It’s going to make a huge difference, not just when it comes to fighting climate change — it’s going to improve health, improve food supply and boost economies,” President Joe BidenAt the launch of this pledge

Last-minute coal agreement

During the protest in London, a man holds a placard that reads “End Fossil Fuel Subsidies”.

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Experts were disappointed at the new language regarding coal power. However, they said that the agreement was better than nothing, and made incremental progress in the transition from fossil fuels into clean energy.

It’s meek and weak, the 1.5C goal has barely survived, but it is a sign that the coal era is over. “And that matters,” Greenpeace International’s Executive Director Jennifer Morgan tweeted about the agreement.

An agreement between the United States and China to limit climate change

China and America, which are the two biggest carbon-emitting countries in the world agreed to collaborate this decade. This will help prevent global warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius, and to ensure progress from the conference. During the summit, the alliance of the rivals was a surprise to delegates.

Although the U.S.-China accord does not provide any specifics or timelines, it emphasizes that American and Chinese leaders will collaborate to increase clean energy, reduce deforestation, and cut methane emissions. According to the joint declaration, both countries pledged to cooperate to speed up the transition to net zero global economic growth.

John Kerry, U.S. Climate Envoy, speaks at a joint China-US statement regarding a declaration enhancing global climate action. This was made during the COP26 conference, which took place in Glasgow (Britain) November 10, 2021.

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“The United States of America and China are not without their differences,” John F. Kerry, U.S. special climate ambassador said when he announced the agreement at the summit. But, on climate change cooperation is necessary to accomplish the task.

Strengthening 2030 targets to reach 1.5°C goal

Some expert have billed the conference as humanity’s last and best chance to support the goal to not surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming — the temperature target inscribed in the 2015 Paris Accord.

In order to prevent the worst effects of climate change, countries agreed to set tougher 2030 goals and develop long-term strategies for assisting the transition to net zero emissions by mid-century.

During the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (Scotland, Britain), November 11, 2021, a delegate walks by a sign.

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A draft of the final COP26 dealIt did not include a rolling review every year of climate pledges, which some developing countries had urged. Currently, nations are required to review their climate pledges at least once every five years. There are still no clear answers to the question of how quickly and in what amount each country should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

To keep global temperature from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius, the world must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to almost half by 2020. This will allow the world’s emissions to be net zero in 2050. according toIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Scientists have warned that the earth has warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius more than it was pre-industrial. Global pledges aside, global temperatures are on pace to rise by 2.4 degrees Celsius before the end of this century.

James Salzman from UCLA Law School is a professor in environmental law. He said that the summit represented a shift in global climate strategy towards a sectoral approach. It featured separate agreements for issues such as methane and coal, instead of focusing on greenhouse gas emissions mitigation.

Salzman stated that “talk is expensive, of course” and said it was up to the audience to see if these are more than aspirational rhetoric. But the pivot could prove to be significant in breaking up a large problem into manageable pieces.

— CNBC’s Sam MeredithContributed reporting

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