Daunting task ahead as COP26 begins
Global heads of state and govt convened for a two-day summit at the start of the UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland
GLASGOW: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed more than 120 world leaders to historic climate talks in Glasgow on Monday with the stark warning: “It’s one minute to midnight, and we need to act now.”
Global heads of state and government were convening for a two-day summit at the start of the UN’s COP26 climate conference, with US President Joe Biden set to jet in from separate G20 talks in Rome.
The G20 members including China, India and Western nations collectively emit nearly 80% of global carbon emissions, but campaigners’ hopes for more decisive action heading in to COP26 were dashed.
The G20 economies committed on Sunday to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels - the most ambitious target of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.
They also agreed to end funding for new “unabated” coal plants abroad - those whose emissions have not gone through any filtering process - by the end of 2021. But how to get to 1.5 was left largely undefined and the COP26 negotiators were left with yawning blanks to fill in over the next fortnight.
“While I welcome the G20’s recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled - but at least they are not buried,” UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said on Twitter.
Richer countries have failed to meet a $100 billion annual target for climate finance by 2020. Poorer nations like India want more cash to move past their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels.
Johnson kicked off the Glasgow summit , having admitted to a “road to Damascus” conversion to the threat of climate change. “It’s one minute to midnight and we need to act now,” Johnson was due to tell them in his keynote speech, according to Downing Street. “If we don’t get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow.”
The Glasgow gathering, which runs until November 12, comes as an accelerating onslaught of extreme weather events across the world underscores the devastating impacts of climate change from 150 years of burning fossil fuels.
The current commitments of the Paris signatories - if they were followed - would still lead to a “catastrophic” warming of 2.7 Celsius, according to the UN.
Chile’s energy minister and Canada’s environment minister are among signatories to a letter calling for COP26 negotiators to put a true price on carbon emissions, a group overseen by the
World Bank said on Monday.
The COP26 negotiations must mean more than “a worthy communique full of vague pledges”, the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) said in the letter. “There will be very little chance for success in combating climate change if countries and companies do not collaborate with each other,” Chilean energy minister Juan Carlos Jobet, who is also co-chair of the CPLC, said in a statement. “The most costefficient way to do it is through carbon pricing.”
Other signatories to the letter include Lord Barker of Battle, the executive chairman of En+, and Thomas-Olivier Leautier, chief economist at Electricite de France.
Bolsonaro’s security in press altercation at G20
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s security detail allegedly used violence against Brazilian reporters covering his trip to Rome for the Group of 20 major economies meeting, local media reported on Sunday.
The alleged attacks against Brazilian reporters, who Bolsonaro has long accused of treating him unfairly and publishing fake news, capped a grim weekend for the far-right president.
Newspaper O Globo reported that broadcast journalist Leonardo Monteiro of TV Globo was punched in the stomach and pushed by Bolsonaro’s security after asking the president why he didn’t attend any G20 events on Sunday.
A video taken by UOL journalist Jamil Chade shows chaotic scenes with security staff jostling the press and Bolsonaro supporters chanting abuse at reporters.