2021 Taught The World How 'Not So Serious' The Leaders Are Still About Climate Change

2021 was the year of COP26, a platform for the world's leaders to come together and announce decisive actions to combat climate change, which at this point is no more something that will happen in the future, but is happening right before our eyes.

The summit this year was widely called ¡°the last, best hope¡± for climate action.

But the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31 to November 12 failed to come up with any concrete action or promise to reduce carbon emissions to ensure that global warming levels by 1.5 degrees by 2050, to avoid a disaster.

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India at COP26

Though several countries have promised to phase out carbon-based fuels and achieve net-zero emissions, India the third-largest contributor of greenhouses, however, made a commitment for the same only in 2070.

Net Zero is achieved when the amount of greenhouse gas produced is offset by the amount removed from the atmosphere. This entails no future investment in coal or fossil fuels and greening several industries and economies.

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¡°I am giving a panchamrit ¡ª five targets that India is committing to join the global fight for climate change ¡ª by 2030. Our non-fossil capacity will touch 500 Gw and 50 per cent of our energy needs will come from renewable energy sources. From now to 2030, the projected carbon emissions will reduce by 1 billion tonnes and our overall carbon intensity of the economy will see a 45 per cent reduction,¡± Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said.

Given the sizes of the country and its population, India is on paper one of the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but it has some of the lowest per capita CO2 emissions, at 1.9 tonnes per person in 2019, compared with 5.5 tonnes in the UK and 16 tonnes in the US.

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Given the dependence of India on coal and other fossil fuels, many have said that the net-zero commitment for 2070 is, realistic, even though it might not be the most attractive or desired one.

One of the biggest criticisms COP26 has faced is it has failed to advance from the Paris Agreement, and in some cases went backward from what was agreed in 2015.

While some progress was made at COP26, the next 12 months will be crucial in determining if the formal agreements reached in Glasgow provide grounds for optimism that 1.5¡ãC remains firmly in sight, and are sufficient to build trust between countries and between citizens and governments.

Another major letdown, for many, was how COP26 settled for 'phase down' of coal and not phase out.

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Scientists agree it is necessary to end the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible to meet the 2015 Paris accord's ambitious goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. But explicitly including such a call in the overarching declaration is politically sensitive, including for countries, such as Saudi Arabia, that fear oil and gas may be targeted next.

So instead of phase-out coal, it was agreed to phase down coal, a term which India, insists that it did not introduce to the draft.

Almost 200 nations at COP 26 in Glasgow had accepted the deal on November 13, which aimed at keeping the key global warming target alive, by "phase down" coal.

Some positives

But it was not all bad when it comes to new commitments in COP26. The most notable being an agreement to end deforestation by 2030.

The Glasgow Leaders¡¯ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, an initiative launched by the United Kingdom to protect and restore the earth's forests and end deforestation by 2030 is one of the most ambitious of its kind targets the world has ever agreed upon.

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¡°Recognise that to meet our land use, climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals, both globally and nationally, will require transformative further action in the interconnected areas of sustainable production and consumption; infrastructure development; trade; finance and investment; and support for smallholders, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, who depend on forests for their livelihoods and have a key role in their stewardship,¡± it said.

India was one of the most notable absentees in the list of countries that made the pledge.

According to India, the declaration interlinks trade to climate change and forest issues. Trade falls under the WTO and should not be brought under climate change declarations and wanted the word ¡°trade¡± to be removed.

Too little too late?

Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a climate watchdog, during the COP26 had said that the world may fail to meet the Paris Agreement targets and is on track to be 2.4 - 2.5 degrees hotter than pre-industrial levels by 2050.

"We know that the window to keep 1.5 degrees alive is closing but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is clear that it is still achievable," a COP26 spokesperson said in a statement. "As today's reports make clear, we've seen genuine progress in the first week of COP26, but we have a lot more to do. We need to be serious about both ambition and action this decade and that is why as COP26 Presidency, we are pushing hard through negotiations this week to build on progress to keep 1.5 degrees in reach."

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Scientists have repeatedly warned that if global warming breaks the 1.5 degrees threshold, the planet will go into a point of no return, where we will not be able to revere the effects of climate change, and will eventually lead to our doom.

Critics have pointed out that due to ocean levels rise and droughts millions around the world will be uprooted from their homes and will become climate refugees.

The world had to come together to the aid of such frontline countries this year at COP26, but those responsible for the crisis were largely indifferent to the plight of those on the receiving end as domestic politics and economy once again looked more import for them.

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