Why COP26 is key - Part 1

So, this is the first time global leaders will come together since Paris to look at how we are tracking. We know that the next 10 years are critical in terms of limiting warming, so COP26 is a really important moment to take stock. 

In the lead up to COP26, countries have been submitting their nationally determined contributions (NCDs), which is a fancy term for national climate plans. That is what they are committing to do to reduce their emissions. So it's a really key year in terms of setting climate ambition - not just at COP, but as those NDCs illustrate a race to the top between countries in their ambition. If there's sufficient ambition from multiple countries, that will help COP itself be much more ambitious as we look to the decade ahead.

Are there also specific policy focuses for COP26?

Climate finance, particularly around adaptation, is also a focus for COP26, which is really key for the campaigns and countries that Renew Our World is supporting.

Can you tell us more about the carbon market and climate finance?

Climate finance centres around financial support for countries in relation to the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. There's already been a really big focus on mitigation, which we know is really important as every 0.1 of a degree that we can reduce warming levels will make a significant difference for vulnerable communities. 

However, we also know that climate change is happening; we've already seen warming of 1℃. So finance to adapt to the ramifications of that warming - for example, extreme weather events, flooding, storms and the impacts all of those have on food security - is also really important, especially for the communities Renew Our World supports.

What are the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and a delayed COP on progress towards the Paris climate agreement?

Obviously, there’s been a delay in terms of the stocktake, and that could be concerning because we know we cannot delay in any way. When we say the next 10 years are critical, we mean that every moment in the next 10 years is critical. 

However, there is also opportunity. Obviously, the pandemic is a tragic thing. It's horrific that so many people have died and been impacted in so many truly difficult ways, but it has also presented this unique moment to reset economies. Nations have this opportunity to change their emissions trajectories now and ensure their economic responses to COVID-19 align with our 1.5℃ target.

Global carbon emissions have also dropped this year by 6.7%1. That is about the level of drop we need every year over the next decade. So that is both encouraging and sobering because it shows what is possible, but it has also happened because of this massive global shake-up that is not actually sustainable and that is impacting the poorest worst. So that’s a wake up call both in terms of the level of change we need and the need to ensure change happens in the right spaces so it doesn't harm the most vulnerable.

The other element of the pandemic to navigate is also just the distraction of it. There are obviously so many immediate needs and of course we must support those in need. At the same time, we must also bear in mind that this climate crisis looms. COVID has brought short-termism into our minds; people have been thinking about the next days and weeks rather than months and years. That is and has always been the key challenge of the climate crisis, where we have to think in terms of much longer timescales. 

Let’s join together in holding our governments accountable for setting bold climate plans and praying for significant progress in line with the Paris climate agreement ahead of COP26 this November.

Keep a lookout for part 2 of this blog next week.

1. Global Carbon Budget. Global Carbon Project. https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/index.htm. Accessed February 25, 2021.