COP26: Some steps in the right direction have been made
Concern Worldwide Senior Policy Officer Sally Tyldesley at the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Coming towards the end of the first week of Cop26, it’s unclear to what degree the opening days were about prioritising soundbites, rather than truly addressing the key policy changes that are needed to save the planet and its people.
My focus in Glasgow is climate justice and climate finance – ensuring the world’s wealthiest countries, who have fuelled the climate crisis, now help fund lower-income countries who are currently bearing the brunt of climate change, but do not have the resources to adapt.
The $100bn a year promised by high-income countries in 2009 has never been delivered. In the run-up to the negotiations, Germany and Canada drew up a roadmap for its delivery on behalf of these countries, which made it clear that they’re unlikely to meet this commitment before 2023. Announcements during the Leaders’ Summit potentially brought that date closer.
But, as they say, the devil is in the detail. When wading through the announcements and commitments made, climate finance commitments are still being drawn from previously announced – and already stretched - overseas development assistance budgets.
While much has been made of the $130trn pledge of private sector funding to address climate change in the coming years, this is no substitute for governments providing specific funding to low-income countries to help them adapt and mitigate the current impacts of climate change. This is especially so in fragile countries experiencing conflict which are unlikely to attract private sector funding.
This year’s event was billed as being the most inclusive ever. Among the attendees were many powerful advocates from low-income countries, along with youth delegates and representatives of indigenous communities. They came to Glasgow to highlight the urgency that is needed and to explain the threat which climate change poses to them today.
Yet many were locked out of the plenary sessions, denied the opportunity to even observe in person what was happening.
Most days, by the afternoon, messages appear on the public notice boards advising people that the venue capacity has been reached, and advising people who don’t need to be there to leave and access the event from their hotel room via their laptop.
Behind the closed doors of the plenary sessions, diplomats have been grinding out the details of deals. One first-time observer from Africa told me of her frustration as negotiators revisited the texts of previous agreements. Instead of revisiting the past, we need action now, she said.
But the mood within the venue despite these challenges has been optimistic. Although there’s a long way to go, it feels like some steps in the right direction have been made. Rwanda Bangladesh, Fiji, Uganda, and Jamaica – will take part in a trial to ease the red tape and simplify the process to access financial support.
This is a much-needed start to making sure that countries can access the money they urgently need as quickly as possible.
I’ll be hoping for more progress on Monday when the parties focus on the key issues of adaptation and loss and damage. For millions of people whose lives are currently threatened by droughts, floods, and increasing and recurring extreme weather, announcements made next week will be crucial. At the end of the first week, I am not convinced if our political leaders fully understand the scale of the problem we are facing, the impact it is currently having on the world’s poorest people, and the urgency of the actions they have to take.
But as one famous young climate activist said this week, ‘it’s never too late to do as much as we can’. Action does not end with COP and when it finishes governments need to deliver on what they have promised. The world – starting with its poorest people – will not thank them if they fail. Time is running out.
- Sally Tyldesley is a senior policy officer with Concern Worldwide
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