July 2021
Nations Update Pledges Ahead of COP26
Protesters in Italy call on countries to boost their commitments ahead of COP26. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters
More than one hundred countries, altogether accounting for nearly 60 percent of Paris Agreement signatories, meet the deadline to submit updated NDCs ahead of COP26 in November. Some of the top emitters propose more ambitious targets. President Joe Biden announces that the United States will aim to cut its emissions to roughly half of its 2005 level by 2030, doubling President Obama’s commitment. Meanwhile, China and India, responsible for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, miss the deadline. An IPCC report [PDF] released the following month predicts that the world will reach or exceed 1.5°C of warming within the next two decades even if nations drastically cut emissions immediately.
November 2021
1.5°C Goal ‘Kept Alive’ in Glasgow
One of the goals of COP26 was to completely phase out coal. But the Glasgow Climate Pact only calls on countries to phase it down. Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
COP26 President Alok Sharma says commitments made during the conference keep the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C “alive” but its “pulse is weak.” The final agreement, the Glasgow Climate Pact, calls for countries to reduce coal use and fossil fuel subsidies—both firsts for a UN climate agreement—and urges governments to submit more ambitious emissions-reduction targets by the end of 2022. In addition, delegates finally establish rules for a global carbon market. Smaller groups of countries make notable side deals on deforestation, methane emissions, coal, and more. But analysts note that even if countries follow through on their pledges for 2030 and beyond, the world’s average temperature will still rise 2.1°C (3.8°F).
AloJapan.com