Dr Eoin Lettice at Cop26: 'A lot done, more to do'

Dr Eoin Lettice is a lecturer in plant science at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science at UCC. Picture: Dan Linehan 

“All of us have a part to play, all of us have work to do, all of us have sacrifices to make”. 

President Barack Obama's motivational words designed to spur on parties to the Cop26 negotiations midway through proceedings. His arrival in Glasgow coincided with my own as I joined the UCC delegation for the second week of these lengthy talks.

The delegation has taken a tag-team approach to this marathon meeting, with a group of staff and students acting as observers for week one and a separate group taking over for this last week. 

We left Cork and Waterford on Saturday morning, travelling by train to Belfast before catching the boat to Cairnryan on Sunday. We completed our sustainable, public-transport-based journey to Cop26 with a bus ride to Edinburgh.

Now that I’m here the mood seems like (to borrow a phrase): “A lot done. More to do”. 

Leading up to the meeting, a number of goals including keeping warming by mid-century at or below 1.5C had been set out. The latest commitments from the likes of India and China to reach net zero emissions by 2070 and 2060, respectively; along with the US/EU pledge to cut methane emissions globally by 30% means that this target is still alive. 

An International Energy Agency analysis late last week suggested we are currently on target for 1.8C when the new pledges are taken into account. It’s not 1.5 (yet) but it’s closer than we’ve ever been before.

No shortage of bad news

So, progress is being made but there is no shortage of bad news. We hear in talk after talk of the impact of climate change today on countries that were struggling even before global warming and severe weather events hit. Prof Elizabeth Robinson of the London School of Economics highlighted in one session how undernourishment in Ethiopia had decreased from 47% in 2002 to 14% in 2016 before increasing to 16% in 2020. 

Gains in human health outcomes across many developing nations are being eroded by the impact of climate change on crop production and this erosion will continue.

“Climate change makes everything harder,” said Prof Robinson.

Former US president Barack Obama delivers a speech to delegates during the Cop26 summit in Glasgow on Monday

As we adapt food production to a changing climate there are legitimate concerns that natural ecosystems will continue to be lost to make way for agriculture. 

The nexus between agriculture, nature and climate change is a recurring theme here this week. In particular, there has been a focus on nature-based solutions, not only to tackle climate change adaptation but also to inform nature-friendly approaches in agriculture. 

Proponents are keen to point out that nature-based solutions are certainly not a substitute for keeping fossil fuels in the ground. It’s worth noting as well that nature-based solutions involve a range of ecosystem types – not just trees and forests, despite the deforestation pledge being a major output of week one. Protecting our peatlands and grasslands is as important as protecting our forests. It’s not all about trees.

The reality is, we all need to put our shoulder to the wheel. None of us can avoid or shy away from the massive, societal changes that will need to be made urgently to address the problems. 

No sector will get away with sitting on its hands. Agriculture, energy, transport and industry will all need to make massive changes in how they operate. 

So, we can waste another decade sitting in silos and claiming our particular sector is being hard-done-by or we can get moving towards emission reductions that are no less needed, the more they are complained about. As President Obama noted in his address: “If folk won’t listen, they need to get out of the way”.

• Dr Eoin Lettice is a plant scientist at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) and the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at University College Cork. He is a member of the UCC delegation at COP26

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB