Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Money seen as linchpin in abating climate crisis
GLASGOW, Scotland — With world leaders flying home, the COP26 climate summit is now about who pays.
Negotiators at the U. N. climate conference started Wednesday to hammer out the details of a deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, address a growing climate crisis and support a global transition toward cleaner technologies.
On a day devoted to financing the high price of fighting emissions, a consortium of philanthropic foundations and international development banks announced a $10.5 billion fund to help emerging economies make the switch from fossil fuels to wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.
Leaders on Wednesday also touted a pledge by some of the globe’s biggest bankers, investors and insurers, who together control $130 trillion in assets, to use their money to reach net zero emission targets by the middle of the century.
Despite the pledge to marshal trillions not billions of dollars, environmental groups said the announcement was less meaningful than it sounded because it did not commit the financial giants to stop investing in fossil fuels anytime soon.
“These commitments live and die on how they treat fossil fuels. It’s the elephant in the room that they seem to conveniently ignore,” said Justin Guay, a climate expert formerly at the Sierra Club. “Dealing with fossil fuels is not optional; it’s mandatory.”
Critics said the continued failure by rich nations to deliver on their funding promises to developing countries was a more worrisome indicator of the direction of the gathering.
The first days of the conference were a star-studded affair, with prime ministers mixing with princes and movie stars. Leaders made bold pledges to reduce methane emissions and end deforestation in the next decade.
Now comes the less glamorous coda: at least 10 days of fine-wrought talks among experts who know what a ton of carbon dioxide looks like and how to weigh the air.
Despite the myriad disappointments and mishaps in early days of the conference — lackluster emissions reduction commitments from countries, the glaring absence of leaders from China and Russia, long lines and technical difficulties at the conference itself — COP26 President Alok Sharma adopted a cheery outlook on the first day of formal negotiations.
“I’m very pleased by the can-do attitude shown by leaders,” Sharma, a British government minister, told journalists Wednesday, adding that negotiators were already “picking up on that call for a greater acceleration” toward meeting climate goals.
Sharma pointed to India’s recent pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, which means that 90 percent of the global economy is now covered by the target — up from 30 percent when he assumed the COP presidency.
Sharma acknowledged that the additional pledges will not bring the world within reach of its ambitious goal of limiting warming. But over the next week and a half, he hoped countries could develop a strategy for getting on the right path.
Also on Wednesday, the Kremlin defended Russia’s actions on climate change in the face of harsh criticism by President Joe Biden, who chided President Vladimir Putin — who was a no show at the conference — for inaction.
“Literally, the tundra is burning. He has serious, serious climate problems, and he is mum on willingness to do anything,” Biden said Tuesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was not just the Siberian wilderness in flames. California’s forests also burning as a consequence of global warming.
Peskov said when the two leaders meet again, “I think President Putin will have an excellent opportunity to tell President Biden about what we’re doing on climate.”
It was another busy day for protesters. Extinction Rebellion activists held a “greenwash march” in front of JP Morgan bank, where they let off green smoke flares. Another group of anti-poverty campaigners tried to float a 26-foot long inflatable Loch Less Debt Monster along the River Clyde, which runs by the event conference center. But “Nessie” was seized by police and taken away.
“This is almost a sad reflection of what’s going on inside of COP,” Heidi Chow, the executive director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign, told the Scotsman. “Debt has not been able to get onto the agenda as developing countries are demanding. Debt in the global South will prevent countries from tacking the climate crisis.”
Greta Thunberg, the activist Swedish teenager, tweeted out a petition for climate leaders to “end the climate betrayal during COP26.” Over 1.5 million people have signed it.