At the World Leader Summit today, 30 countries have agreed to collaborate to normalise zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), by making them accessible, affordable and sustainable in all regions by 2030. A number of emerging markets, including India, Rwanda and Kenya, have additionally agreed to the importance of this development and have elected to accelerate the transition to ZEVs.

The launch of a new World Bank trust fund was announced, which will contribute $200 million over the next 10 years to decarbonise road transport in emerging markets and developing economies. This goal is guiding the Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council (ZEVTC), which discussed with distinguished representatives, including experts on the transition in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs), how international collaboration can support a global transition. The ZEVTC will launch its first annual Action Plan, which sets out areas for sustained international cooperation to accelerate the transition during 2022. The US has today joined the UK as a co-chair of the ZEVTC.

Nineteen governments have also stated their intent to support the establishment of ‘green shipping corridors,’ zero-emission shipping routes between two ports. This will involve deploying zero-emission technologies and putting alternative fuel and charging infrastructure in place in ports to allow for zero emission shipping on key routes across the globe.

The UK has pledged to transition to clean trucks by committing to end the sale of most new diesel trucks between 2035 and 2040, resulting in advanced air quality, petroleum reduction, and the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, introducing the transition to a better world.

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres

Day nine of the COP26 climate summit is underway, focusing on gender and science and innovation. The UK Government announced a £165 million investment toward progressing gender equality and financing resources and prevention strategies to fight climate change. Almost 50 countries, responsible for over a third of global healthcare emissions, committed to building low carbon and sustainable healthcare systems, which are able to withstand the impacts of climate change. 12 of these countries have set a deadline for 2050, by which they intend for their services to have achieved net zero. Additionally the UK, India, Germany, Canada and UAE are working together to develop new markets for low carbon steel and concrete. The IDDI have committed to the disclosure of the embodied carbon of major public construction by no later than 2025 and achieving net zero in this sector by no later than 2050.

Later, it was addressed that despite the pledges that have been made, the world is still nowhere near its goals of limiting global temperatures. The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) released a report essentially stating that our targets for 2030 are inadequate, that without ambitious goals and action resulting in significant improvement, a 2.4C rise in temperature will be inevitable, predicting a 2.7C climate by 2100, which is almost double the 1.5C goal! Professor Niklas Höhne, founder of the NewClimate Institute, has described this potential reality as “catastrophic climate change,” which would result in far more intense and severe consequences than we have encountered so far, “a situation we can’t handle.” The UK met office warns if global temperatures rise by 2C above pre industrial levels, approximately one billion people could be affected by fatal heat and humidity. 

The diagram above is from https://climateactiontracker.org/ depicting the CAT prediction of global temperature increase by 2100. From this website you can also see the global warming report released today, which accuses COP26 of a “massive credibility, action and commitment gap,” contrasting with many of the announcements which were made last week, therefore suggesting that, despite the urgency for action and change, those announcements and commitments may have resulted in false hope.

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres

Adaptation, loss and damage has been the dedicated focus of the conference today at COP26. The Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed began the discussion by highlighting the devastating results of climate change so far, “the signs are all around us – floods, drought, heat and catastrophic storms,” “the human toll is devastating – lost lives and livelihoods, displacement and migration and young people losing hope in the future.” She explained that at least 50% of the money pledged to developing countries should go towards helping them adapt to the consequences of climate change. 

Countless discouraging and sombre speeches established a melancholic atmosphere. The Prime Minister of Fiji stated that although he appreciates the new propositions that world leaders have committed to, they are “timid and inadequate.” Amina Mohammed also finds the situation unfair and believes that “the burden will fall disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable, who contributed least to this problem.” The former US President Barack Obama goes on to express his disappointment that most nations have failed to be “as ambitious as they need to be” and that it is particularly discouraging to see the leaders of “two of world’s largest emitters China and Russia decline to even attend the proceedings” and their national plans show a “dangerous lack of urgency”.

Despite these statements, the conversation returned to a more optimistic focus, discussing the improvements of the preparation for climate risk and disclosing that 88 countries would be committing to the national adaption plans. The UK announced a pledge of £274 million to reinforce the resilience of vulnerable communities and promote low carbon growth across the Indo-Pacific with the support of the CARA programme (the Climate Action for a Resilient Asia), by which they intend to help 14.4 million people to adapt to climate change. Additionally, the UK is partially responsible for the $232 million that has been dedicated to the Adaptation Fund by 12 countries.

However, as COP President Alok Sharma stated in his opening speech this morning “the spotlight will be on those nations and communities which are most vulnerable to climate change. Those whose voices are too often left unheard.” Unfortunately, it would seem that being unheard is still the case for those who have suffered the consequences of climate change, as the financial commitments that have been made so far were toward prevention and adaptation, rather than loss and damage.

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres

Ocean protection, sustainable production and consumption, agricultural conservation, protection, sustainable management and many more commitments were disclosed on Saturday, which marked the end of the first week at COP26. 

Over 10 new countries have agreed to commit to the thirty-by-thirty target, including India, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Gambia and Georgia, striving to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. With these additional endorsements, the proposition is now supported by over 100 countries. Following this discussion, the UK announced a £6 million investment into the World Banks Blue Planet fund (PROBLUE), which supports the development of integrated, sustainable and healthy marine and coastal resources.  

Almost 100 high profile countries, from a range of sectors, announced their commitment to being ‘nature positive,’ in an agreement to work towards reversing the decline in nature and wildlife by 2030. This initiative will facilitate the implementation of Glasgow leaders’ declarations (launched on 2 November) to restore forests and land use, which now covers over 90% of the world’s forests. The benefit of this proposition includes the development of sustainable production and consumption, for example, on behalf of UK supermarkets, Sainsburys has partnered with the WWF to create a programme called ‘basket measures.’ The programme is expected to halve the environmental impacts of UK supermarkets by boosting regenerative agriculture, encouraging agricultural reformation and innovation and reducing the negative impacts by focusing on waste and packaging. To ensure the success of these achievements, a new global initiative has been launched to support 100 million farmers to reduce their emissions and become completely sustainable, with nature positive innovations. This is additionally intended to demonstrate how countries can integrate public policies to support the transition to sustainable agriculture. 

Another roadmap has been launched to support the implementation of the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT), with 28 countries working alongside each other toward protecting forests, whilst promoting development and trade. A further £65 million has been allocated to support developing countries to adjust their policies and practices to result in more sustainable agriculture and food production. 

15% of the nations in agreement with the sustainable development strategy ‘Action Agendas,’ have made commitments to change agricultural policies to become more sustainable and to invest in the protection of food supplies. These commitments were established upon accommodation of the agenda proposed by Germany, who intend to reduce their land use emissions by 25 million tonnes by 2030. 

The UK has also announced a financial commitment of £38.5 million to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). These resources are to be applied over a 2-year period to produce new agricultural technologies to improve the climate, health, nature and economic impact. This funding involves the development of new livestock and climate resistant crop varieties, with more micronutrients to improve health, as well as more productive and sustainable agricultural practices. Although these ideas seem promising, the information disclosed so far has been ambiguous and no explicit details of how these ideas will be developed have been announced. 

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres

Youth and public empowerment day has encouraged many protests; young people have been taking to the streets of Glasgow to express their genuine concerns for climate change and are demanding action at the COP26 summit. 

Two announcements have been made today regarding the future of our planet and what that means for the younger generation. Education Secretary Nadhim Zwahawi announced a climate change strategy for school curriculums, in which primary schools will focus more on climate science and sustainability studies. Staff will also be supported in teaching children about nature and its impact on the world through a “model science curriculum”, which should be in place by 2023, according to the Department for Education (DfE). Education Ministers from around the world have also pledged to do the same with nations such as South Korea and Albania who intend to put climate change at the heart of education. Nadhim Zwahawi has also announced that young people will have the opportunity to work toward the Climate Leaders Award, to recognise pupils for their efforts to protect the environment and provide access to volunteering and extracurricular learning. 

A new process that could enable zero carbon flights using ammonia has been unveiled today by Bill David, a professor of energy materials chemistry at Oxford University. Hydrogen is considered to be the only potential ‘clean’ fuel in the future of aviation, in addition to battery operated aircraft. However, a completely different aircraft and infrastructure would be needed to accommodate the storage of hydrogen, which can be stored as a gas or in cryogenic liquid form. The scientist proposed using ‘cracked’ ammonia, arguing that existing planes could use it as fuel (with some modifications) by 2030, “I am excited about the impact that our technology can have in enabling low-impact transitions in hard-to-abate energy sectors.” 

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres

COP26 President Alok Sharma opened today’s energy day event with a statement announcing a global transition from coal to clean power, which involved the commitment to end coal investments, reinforce renewable energy and diminish the use of coal by 2030 in major economies and by 2040 elsewhere. 

So far, 190 countries and organisations have signed the pledge to reduce their use of coal, including countries such as Poland, Vietnam and Chile, which rely heavily on fossil fuels. Expressing his optimism toward these commitments to the pledge, the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng stated “the end of coal is in sight.” Despite this, some of the world’s more significantly coal-dependent countries including Australia, China, India and the US did not sign to agree to the pledge. However, the US has agreed to Energy Minister Greg Hands announcement, to which over 20 countries have pledged to suspend fossil fuel projects overseas by the end of 2022. 

The Energy Transition Council and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) announced their partnership, with a $10 billion funding, a large amount of which development banks have contributed to. They intend to deliver renewable and clean energy to 1 billion people in emerging and developing countries, resulting in the opportunity for 150 million green jobs to be available by 2030. Additionally, they intend to encourage banks and financial institutions to make landmark commitments, to end the funding of unabated coal. Major international leaders, such as HSBC, have already confirmed their commitment and endorsement of this proposition. 

Africa and Latin America have launched a Green Hydrogen Alliance, aiming to kickstart the development of net zero carbon and green hydrogen. This alliance involves the memberships of six African countries and five Latin American countries. Although in comparison to some of the larger projects announced today, the potential for change may seem limited, the capacity for communication and support ensures success and growth for all countries involved.  

Since the Paris agreement in 2015, the global production of new coal-fired power plants has had a significant decrease of 76%, corresponding to around 1000GW saved. 

These figures are reassuring and would imply that a further reduction to the use of coal may result in a revolutionary impact. Although many commitments have been promised, these pledges are not legally binding, we can only hope the leaders of our world today truly intend to guarantee our planet’s future. 

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres

The former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney lead today’s event, addressing the steps taken by the global financial sector to achieve Paris goals. During the event, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that selected firms of the UK financial institutions will be required to publish annual plans of how they intend to transition to net zero by 2023, following the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). So far 450 firms have agreed to commit to these terms, this is the equivalent to 40% of global financial assets and has resulted in accumulating $130 trillion to pursue climate goals. In response to this announcement, the economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen stated “these TCFD requirements will not only help tackle greenwashing, but also enable investors and businesses to align their long-term strategies with the UK’s net zero commitments.” Rishi Sunak then explained that he believed the UK was leading the world in becoming “the first ever net zero aligned global financial centre.” 

In addition to this, the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that their countries will be supporting a new capital market mechanism, which will issue billions of new green bonds to fund renewable energies in developing nations. 

The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation then announced three significant developments. The establishment of a new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), to develop comprehensive global baseline sustainability reporting standards, under robust governance and public oversight. Financial markets have proven the demand for this, due to the need to assess risks and opportunities that have transpired from ESGs. The Foundation then confirmed the consolidation of two sustainability reporting organisations, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) and the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF), to provide global standards for sustainability disclosures and an integrated reporting framework by June 2022. The Foundation also published two prototype standards to enable the ISSB to rapidly build on existing frameworks, including the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), when developing its standards. 

Later, during the financial delivery for emerging and developing markets event, the economy investment rate was discussed, that for every $1 invested in emerging economies, $20 is invested into developed economies. The main takeaway from this was to work with multinational development banks (MDBs) to secure early money and bridge the financial gap to meet net zero goals, so we can catalyse the large sums later.  

The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in the house commons following his days at the climate summit, “we have begun to make progress, substantial, palpable progress, but the negotiations in Glasgow have a long way to go” which reflects the financial announcements today, the funding has been given, now we need to see them put in action. 

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres

Today, over 100 world leaders have signed the pledge to end deforestation by 2030, representing more than 85% of the forests on the planet. Boris Johnson, to convince those who have yet to sign the pledge, highlights the importance of this promise, explaining “climate change and biodiversity are 2 sides of the same coin, if we want to keep the 1.5°C of global warming goal in sight, we must restore nature and biodiversity.” The pledge includes £14 billion of funds which will support indigenous communities and developing countries in restoring damaged land. Many countries have also committed to removing agricultural products, like soya and palm oil, which if continued to be harvested would drive forest loss further.

Following this announcement, Jeffrey Bezos pledged $2 billion to restoring landscapes. He explained that he had grasped nature’s fragility when he went to space and has hope that our affects can be reversed, “in this critical year and what we all know is the decisive decade, we must all stand together to protect our world.” This restoration could lead to a significant improvement of soil fertility, which will raise yields to increase food security, in addition to boosting economic growth and sequestering carbon. 

Despite the hope established by these well-funded propositions, many obstacles are still to be met. A similar pledge was released in 2014, but since then the rate of deforestation has only increased. Antonia Guterres conveyed his concerns, fearing that “political divisions will prevent progress,” which is what resulted in the failure of the Amazon fund in 2019, as Norway suspended the fund due to a disagreement with Brazil’s President.

Later in the day, the US President Joe Biden and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, announced the launch of the Global Methane pledge, which has been in the works since September. The goal is to cut emissions of methane by 30% by 2030, which involves preventing methane leaks from oil and gas wells, as well as creating strategic initiatives with farmers to reduce methane. Methane is responsible for a third of the current global warming issues generated by human activities and around 20% of total global emissions. The greenhouse gas has a twenty-five times more powerful warming effect in the atmosphere than a CO2 molecule, so although CO2 lingers in the atmosphere, methane has more a damaging effect. Since September more than 80 countries have signed up for this pledge, which currently covers half of methane emissions, resulting in a total of 70% of the global GDP.  

A primary goal of COP26 is to get countries to commit to achieving net zero by 2050, however many countries are not on target. China has announced plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, whilst India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a pledge to cut emissions to net zero by 2070 and although this is 20 years from the initial goal, it is the first time in history that India has set a net zero target. With India being the fourth country with the greatest emissions of carbon dioxide, it is reassuring to see the largest contributors to global warming taking responsibility for their actions. Although, several of the major emitters, like China, Russia and India have not yet joined the Global Methane Pledge.  

During the leaders’ event, discussing accelerating clean technology, innovation and deployment, a global plan to boost green technology has been introduced by Boris Johnson, known as the ‘breakthrough agenda’ and has been signed by 40 world leaders. “The Glasgow breakthroughs will turbocharge this forward, so that by 2030 clean technologies can be enjoyed everywhere, not only reducing emissions, but also creating more jobs and greater prosperity.” The sectors covered by the plan are steel, road transport, agriculture, power and hydrogen. Speeches were made by the presidents of the US, Kenya, Morocco and Namibia who are all supporting the breakthrough, as well as demonstrating considerable progress in advancing breakthroughs. Following this discussion, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, launched the EU catalyst program with Bill Gates, aiming to bring down costs for ‘green’ hydrogen, direct air capture of CO2, and long duration energy storage, “the global race for net zero is on and there is no better race to win.” 

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, addressed world leaders and delegates at the COP26 climate change summit today. He began with a captivating speech discussing climate impacts, with a plea that change needs to be made, as “if we don’t get serious on climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow.”

Boris Johnson described the world situation as being on a lifeboat for humanity and explained that we need to push it into the water and take action to achieve a greener and more clean future. However, we are now just “pumping carbon into the air faster and faster” creating a “suffocating blanket of CO2,” as well as action, we need to make change. Boris made it clear that we are causing many adverse effects and if we experience even a 4-degree rise, we could lose many of our major cities, such as Shanghai and Miami, beneath the waves. He fears we are running out of time in this tragedy, stating that we are “1 minute to midnight on the doomsday clock,” reinforcing his concern for the potential inevitability of disaster. 

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres conveyed a strong message to the world, that we are “digging our own graves” by failing to act fast enough and explained that he has had enough of the tedious cycle of “killing ourselves with carbon.” He stated that developed countries must lead the effort to keep the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius alive, as G-20 countries represent around 80% of emissions. Guterres leaves an extraordinarily strong and impactful message behind: “Our addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink,” he said. “We face a stark choice: either we stop it, or it stops us. And it’s time to say ‘enough.’” 

Sir David Attenborough explained our relationship with Earth is defined by a number, the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. He presented a graph which showed how carbon emissions had fluctuated throughout the years and explained that the times in which the graph increased and decreased dramatically were a “brutal and unpredictable world.” Although over time this movement stabilised and the climate would only vary by no more than plus or minus one degree. Sir Attenborough then explained that due to our burning of fossil fuels and other industrial activities, we have jeopardised this balance and “the stability we all depend on is breaking.” He also stated that “those who have done the least to cause the problem are getting the hardest hit,” referring to the developing countries that are experiencing the harsh reality of climate change, the global disaster that we are responsible for. Although Sir Attenborough was firm with his message, he shed some positive light to finish his speech, stating that our motivation should not be fear, but hope and our efforts should be to turn this global issue from “a tragedy to a triumph.” 

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley pointed out that “regrettably some of the needed faces at Glasgow are not present,” asking to those in attendance “what excuse shall we give for the failure?” China’s President Xi Jinping, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided not to travel to Glasgow. As Mia Mottley put it, “when will leaders lead?”

Written and edited by Sophia Axon and Jasmine Ayres