Biden Climate Summit: Good, Overwhelming and Road to COP26

Last week, President Joe Biden gathered 40 world leaders to accelerate new commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate efforts to help the developing world tackle the climate crisis.

It is time to bridge the gap between the countries’ desire to limit the rise in temperature to around 1.5 degrees Celsius, as described in the Paris Landmark Agreement, and the commitments made in Paris. Around 3 points.

It may not sound like much, but these small increases in average temperature will be really devastating – causing widespread droughts, floods, mass migrations, water shortages, species loss and the proliferation of invasive species.

Most climate observers agree that the US President’s Special Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, has introduced a new, competitive impetus to the global climate debate that has been lacking for the past four years. US climate inactivity.

U.S. climate diplomacy is also boosting momentum in the process from Paris to COP26, the most important Paris climate conference to be held in Glasgow in November, depending on the pandemic situation and global vaccination.

So what was good and overwhelming?

Quickly out the door, the Biden government has fulfilled its hopes of reducing US greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% from 2005 levels by 2030 – an ambitious commitment that will require a very heavy boost. Japan is committed to reducing a seemingly overwhelming drop of 46-50% below 2013 levels (44-48% compared to 2005 levels) by 2030, but is less willing than Western countries to set “broad” targets.

Based on the work of the Environmental Defense Fund, all three governments and nine companies have announced that the LEAF will mobilize at least $ 1 billion this year for large-scale forest conservation and sustainable development designed to benefit indigenous peoples and .

I was encouraged by the promise of South Korean President Moon Jae-in to end public funding for coal-fired power plants abroad, but it was not clear what this could mean for domestic coal. South Korea has not yet set its revised target for 2030 and its current goal is simply to reduce emissions as usual, which will no longer apply.

While promoting greener investment through the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to limit coal use over the next five years and reduce carbon emissions over the next five years – but has not done a broader and certainly not very important commitment to end it. Coal financing at BRI. Brazil’s commitment to climate neutrality by 2050 and the elimination of illegal deforestation by 2030 has been overshadowed by criticism at home and abroad that President Zaire Bolsonaro is hosting illegal land grabbers and the ongoing monitoring of of forests in the Amazon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made no new commitments, citing vague efforts to “significantly reduce” net emissions by 2030 as the world’s fourth-largest emitter. Only on the slightly brighter side has Russia openly identified methane as a problem – but in a potentially virtuous respect for evil, its goals and timetable do not match the urgency implied by the rhetoric. We have heard from India that Prime Minister Monti had previously reiterated his commitment to install 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030, but unfortunately did not mention the 2030 emissions target.

Some countries whose economies are currently dependent on fossil fuels for the rest of the world still do not have the program. What countries like Saudi Arabia and Australia (yes, an interesting group) need to get out of the top is that their sales markets are falling. Given the move away from coal to South Korea, China and Japan, fossil fuel suppliers will see their markets disappear. It is time for these countries to realize that in order to succeed in a world of zero carbon emissions, they must transform their economies instead of clinging to outdated business models.

How to get faster and further on the road to COP26?

There is no doubt that the re-emergence of the United States as a climate leader has rekindled the debate, but climate action is not just about one-page numbers. It has to do with understanding exactly how you can achieve these numbers and hold the countries responsible for achieving those numbers. Only with detailed implementation plans can countries trust their ability to parade – at this point in the climate crisis it could be described less as a “green wash”.

Make no mistake: The Summit was a great start, but much remains to be done to make sure COP26 is an important turning point like Paris. Now is the time for the British presidency of COP26 to step out of the shadows and into the limelight created by Kerry and company. To maintain this momentum and ensure that the speech of the summit is transformed into a real change, they must take the lead to a great extent.