Dear Green Place could del Iver for the planet
Shaun Milne reports on the efforts made in Glasgow at the latest global climate summit to make a better future
Of all the places in the world that could have hosted COP26 at such a time of intense environmental crisis and global scrutiny, it was perhaps fate that it should fall on a city known as the “Dear Green Place” to sow new seeds of hope.
International ripples of excitement quickly fanned out as Glasgow – with its mosaic of parks and open spaces, and neighboured by farmlands, forestry and lochs – was named host city on 10 September, 2019. It created a wave of not just optimism but also a spurring into action for those who had long waited for a chance to do more since that lingering promise of the Paris Agreement.
As the biggest city from a nation of historic inventors, explorers and conservationists, Mother Glasgow was chosen to become the beacon of light for a planet in search of leadership, ready to deliver a pioneering new world order of climate action – a planet ready to mobilise climate finance to protect natural habitats and communities, where global net-zero could become a reality, and where governments, business and civic society work together to tackle the challenges ahead.
Even as the tragedy of a global pandemic and unfathomable death toll of coronavirus placed continents under siege, the city, Scotland, and the rest of the UK kept its focus.
If anything, what emerged was a greater resolve to win progress for communities then still facing lock down, unable to participate in faceto-face daily life and squaring up to new challenges.
This is something that Mary Church, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, insists is vital as decisionmakers contemplate their responsibilities.
She said: “Locking out the voices of those most impacted by climate chaos not only replicates the same underlying patterns of global injustice that are the root causes of climate inaction, it also undermines the ability of civil society to hold governments to account and deliver the outcomes needed.
“As the clock ticks on this crucial decade, rich countries must commit to doing their fair share of climate action, cutting emissions to zero and paying their carbon debt to the global south.”
With such concern it was no mistake then that November 2021’s rearranged event was widely described as “the most important such gathering since Paris”.
Many believed optimistically that its legacy – set against the backdrop of seemingly daily wildfires, melting ice sheets, flood, drought, famine and conflict around the world – will be the sum of so much more than even that turning point of France. Less je ne sais quoi, more gallus determination.
Some 30,000 people from close to 200 countries attended the event either in person or online.
Campaigners, activists and worldwide media swelled numbers, including a day of action on 6 November with numbers almost incalculable as they wound across the country, voices and speeches all around.
Official talks ranged from finance, gender and empowering youth to transport, smart cities, built environments, energy and innovation, all juxtaposed alongside debates on nature, adaptation, loss and damage and the obligatory photocalls and televised media conferences.
Sited on the banks of the Clyde – itself predicted to one day flood the surrounding homes and businesses because of global warming unless action prevails – science told how this event may be the last chance for humanity.
So did ordinary people. “I think COP26 is the most important international summit in recent history as we face a climate change emergency and the threat of extinction, said former climate change scientist Malgorzata Sozanskastanton, who is now organising community efforts around the global emergency with Kinrossshire Climate Café.
“What is most important is to ensure that the commitments will be kept by the governments that have the responsibility for leading us into a zero-carbon future.”
As officials take in the enormity of new directives building on Paris, others want to see immediate implementation with speed, determination and above all, authority.
“The commitments offered in Paris six years ago were a step in the right direction, but were insufficient and purely voluntary,” said Mike Robinson, chief executive of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. “We need to see real commitments from every nation in the world to cut emissions.
“We need real commitments to fund poorer nations already suffering the impacts of climate change, by those causing it, and to do that well we need to ensure they have a voice. And we need to see urgent action to work together to deliver solutions at pace and scale.”
If 2015 in Paris was a landmark moment with agreement to bring global warming under control by limiting any rise to below 2C, Glasgow then was the reality check after science moved the mercury first down to 1.5C, and then lower still.
It is a chance to turn pledges into action on resetting carbon levels, business practice and, crucially, affording the next generation a fighting chance.
Among them is Lucy Anderson, 16, an S5 pupil at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh, and an emerging climate leader, who warned that if governments did not step up now, then they may be forced to.
“In early 2020, climate activists were successful in suing the German government for ‘insufficient action on climate change’,” she said. “This was an immense victory for climate activists everywhere.
“However, it has to be the beginning of more decisions like it. We must hold the government accountable for their failings.
“Our government, both Scottish and British, must realise that there may be legal ramifications if they do not progress further along their targeted path.
“As the clock ticks on, rich countries must commit to doing their fair share, cutting emissions to zero and paying carbon debt to the global south”
“The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty. This is part of its magnificence. But then why are we so behind on the targets? Why are we failing, on a global scale, to limit greenhouse gas emissions? This is not something we can postpone or negotiate. We cannot ask for an extension on our planet. Climate change is happening now.”
Fiona Hyslop, who was the Scottish Government’s minister for economy, fair work and culture when COP26 was announced for Glasgow, said while politicians shouldered the decision-making process, the crisis demanded collective action. “It’s not a question of who must do more or who has the most responsibility –
we all must step up,” she urged. “As politicians. As citizens. But also, as businesses, as communities and as families. In every single walk of our lives, we all need to be prepared to do more.
“Of course, politicians should play an important part in charting the overall course we should be taking – from setting targets to providing resources. In Scotland, all politicians must be prepared to support the steps needed to meet the targets we have set ourselves.
“That could also include accepting that some of our previous ideas and plans may need to be reconsidered. But we can’t forget or overlook the power that citizens have in this too.”
Consensus on climate then with Scottish Conservative spokesman for net-zero, energy and transport, Liam Kerr, who said: “Everyone has a role to play in our journey to net-zero. The Scottish Conservatives want Scotland to hit these critical targets in a way that protects vital
Scottish jobs and livelihoods and ensures we accelerate our recovery from our pandemic.
“The Snp-green Government must deliver clear and consistent messaging that will bring the Scottish people with us.”
Mark Ruskell, climate spokesman for the Scottish Greens, added: “Everyone needs to do more, but the world is at a crisis point which will not be solved with bamboo toothbrushes and recycling alone.
“It must be governments who lead the rapid transformational change required.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat climate emergency spokesman Liam Mcarthur MSP said: “While everyone has a part to play in changing their behaviour, the reality is that without government action, both on a national and global level, we will never get emissions under control and our planet will pay the price.”
Perhaps summing up the feeling of many across political lines Scottish Labour spokeswoman for net-zero, energy and transport, Monica Lennon, warned that governments had to acknowledge it will be younger generations who will be left living with today’s legacy.
“We’ll look back on Glasgow’s COP26 as a defining moment of our era, for better or worse,” she said.
“Everyone needs to do more, but the world is at a crisis point... It must be governments who lead the rapid transformational change required”