(Washington Insider Magazine) – The highly-anticipated and much-discussed Cop26 has undoubtedly made great strides in certain areas such as deforestation, coal, and methane, but the absence of some countries in major schemes proved a worrying sign (Guardian).
Let’s take a look at everything Cop26 has managed to achieve so far:
Pledges – Prime minister Narendra Modi revealed that India intends to hit net zero emission by 2070, while generating half of all electricity used from renewable sources by 2030. India is a major polluter in the current world and, while many believe this pledge to be unrealistic, it goes above and beyond what has been promised by the likes of Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Forests – An agreement was reached to stop global deforestation which is reducing forest cover and, therefore, carbon dioxide absorption. Over 100 world leaders agreed to reverse all deforestation by the year 2030. Brazil, guilty of cutting down huge parts of the Amazon rainforest, were among the notable signatures.
Methane – Over 90 countries committed to reducing methane emissions by at least 30% by the year 2030.
Coal – 46 countries agreed to phase out coal-fuelled power plants, although the likes of China, the US, India and Australia did not sign.
Future warming – Selwin Hart, special adviser to the UN sec-gen on climate action, claimed the planet is on a steep 2.7-degree path in terms of global warming. However, the International Energy Agency was pretty enthusiastic about the pledges made by countries at Cop26. IEA director, Fatih Birol, claimed such pledges would limit global warming to 1.8 degrees Celsius.
