- Ecologists in Action will travel to Glasgow with a delegation of six people to monitor and analyse progress in the international negotiations.
- Despite numerous extensions, countries' current commitments are a collective failure and do not meet scientific indications.
- According to Ecologists in Action, the climate fight cannot be left to the will of the markets and fossil fuel interests.
The Glasgow Climate Summit or COP26 – scheduled to take place in the Scottish city from 1 to 12 November – comes after its cancellation last year due to COVID-19. A summit in which the issues that were left pending at COP25 in Madrid will be discussed, which should close the pending discussions to put in place all the mechanisms provided for in the Paris Agreement.
A delegation from Ecologists in Action, made up of six people, will attend this international meeting to monitor these negotiation frameworks. In order to clarify the current state of the debates in the sphere of international negotiations, the organisation has published the dossier From Madrid to Glasgow, time is running out, which includes the progress made in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
This new document is preceded by the publication of the IPCC's 6th Synthesis Report, which has warned that "the decisions that societies make now will determine whether our species thrives or simply survives as the 21st century progresses." Its pages also point out how projections show that all regions will already be experiencing the consequences of climate degradation, which will increase in the coming decades.
According to the IPCC report, “Global warming of 1.5°C will lead to an increase in heat waves, longer hot seasons and shorter cold seasons; while global warming of 2°C will lead to more frequent extreme heat events reaching critical tolerance thresholds for agriculture and health.”
For Ecologists in Action, this is a new wake-up call from science that continues to be ignored by the entire international community, as shown by the presentation of new commitments by countries under the Paris Agreement, known as NDCs.
Documents that have been analyzed by the United Nations and that have concluded in their analysis that "the total global level of GHG emissions in 2030, […] is expected to be 16.3 % higher than the 2010 level. According to SR1.5, to be consistent with global emission pathways with no or limited overshoot of the 1.5 ° C target, global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions must decrease by approximately 45 % from the 2010 level by 2030, reaching net zero around 2050. To limit global warming to less than 2 ° C, CO2 emissions must decrease by approximately 25 % from the 2010 level by 2030 and reach net zero around 2070."
In other words, governments' lack of ambition is condemning the planet to global warming far in excess of 3°C, which will have catastrophic consequences. Ecologists in Action therefore states that, despite many extensions, the current NDCs are a collective failure and do not meet the scale of the crisis we face.
The environmental organisation will travel to Glasgow with a delegation that includes a significant number of women and young people in order to monitor these negotiation frameworks. At the same time, its members will participate in the people's summit or social summit that will take place in parallel in the Scottish city.
According to Ecologists in Action, “COP26 must respond to the principles of climate justice in the face of the interests of fossil fuel companies. Countries in Glasgow must clearly signal the end of the fossil fuel era and the era of offsets and climate traps must end. A periodic review of the objectives – which are insufficient – must also be guaranteed so that they are capable of guaranteeing the protection of people and the climate.”
Article 6, Article 4 and loss and damage: the hot spots of COP26
Of all the issues to be discussed at the upcoming Climate Summit, Ecologistas en Acción places the emphasis on Article 6. This article defines various mechanisms for the exchange of so-called 'carbon credits'. They were created under the Kyoto Protocol and define market and non-market measures so that companies that have exceeded their emission rights can buy surplus rights from third countries, or carry out projects to reduce emissions or improve sinks.
These mechanisms have led to the violation of the rights of numerous communities in the past, which is why it is essential that any version of this article includes specific references to the protection of human rights against the interests of the market and of some countries.
For Ecologists in Action, the climate struggle cannot be left to the will of the markets. Therefore, the non-development of this article would be good news since its approval could mean an open window for many companies to avoid addressing the required reductions, in addition to the fact that it could mean financing projects that violate or hinder the full fulfilment of basic rights for many communities.
According to the environmental organization, the claims of many countries to receive additional financing for their energy transition or for the necessary adaptation are legitimate and should be based on sufficient funds separate from this type of mechanism. Developing countries require financing of trillions, but rich countries have failed to meet their annual commitment of $ 100 billion by 2020. Rich countries must meet their commitments, in addition to assuming that 50 % of them are dedicated to adaptation.
Another of the discussions expected to be intense at COP26 is related to Article 4 of the Paris Agreement, which defines the mechanism for the presentation of NDCs (new commitments by countries). A cycle of reviews starting in 2030 at least every five years is due to be concluded in Glasgow, with a view to strengthening the process for increasing ambition known as 'global stocktake'.
As the environmental organisation stresses, in order to ensure full environmental integrity, a set of measures must be put in place to prevent carbon leakage and double accounting, as well as to eliminate the flexibility mechanisms that allow countries to reduce their insufficient targets.
Unlocking the discussions on Articles 6 and 4 is essential to reaching an agreement on the remaining outstanding issues. In particular, the discussion on a new financing target for 2025 that guarantees that developed countries have a plan to fully increase the necessary funds so that developing countries can implement their NDCs and address increasing climate impacts.
Finally, Ecologistas en Acción reminds us that, starting with this COP26, loss and damage must remain a high-priority issue on the permanent agenda in all future climate talks, as they are the third pillar of climate action within the framework of the Paris Agreement. All aspects of how to address these losses and damages internationally must be discussed, including the mechanisms necessary to finance these tragedies. This financing must be stable and not subject to mechanisms such as the use of mechanisms linked to financial insurance.
