As the climate talks begin in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Promises made last year in Glasgow have seemingly been overshadowed by a world in crisis.
The fervor of delegates last year in Glasgow was amazing to see. Their long list of promises established a clear consensus that all nations must do much more, immediately, to prevent a looming climate catastrophe.
However, as the talks get underway in Egypt this week, many countries have little if anything to show for the promises made in Glasgow last year. According to the Washington Post, some of the splashiest COP26 pledges have been derailed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and upheavals in the global economy.
Catastrophic climate disasters hit countries around the world, hampering their ability to invest in renewable energy and resilient infrastructure, yet showing us a preview of what is to come.
There are also some glimmerings of hope on the horizon: The United States finally passed significant climate legislation to speed the transition away from fossil fuels. Global renewable energy investments are starting to outpace fossil fuel spending.
But climate change does not grade on a curve. And we must not fail. And while some nations are managing to keep their heads above the waters, there are many indicators that show we’re dangerously close to failure.
Updating climate pledges: F
Nations arriving in Egypt this year are expected to also bring stronger emissions-cutting commitments, known in United Nations lingo as “Nationally Determined Contributions,” or NDCs.
We have to give kudos to Australia for submitting an ambitious NDC this year. But bear in mind that Australia’s climate targets hadn’t previously been updated since the Paris agreement in 2015.
India, Brazil, and Egypt have also made new proposals, but they are no more ambitious than their previous targets. Actually, of the close to 200 countries that promised to “revisit and strengthen” their climate plans over the coming year, just 24 countries have done so.
“Nations have made some progress this year,” said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, reports the New York Times. “But we are still nowhere near the scale and pace of emission reductions required.” He added that it was “disappointing” that so few countries had strengthened their plans.
Phase out fossil fuels: C-
Countries also agreed in Glasgow to accelerate the deployment of clean energy while moving toward a “phasedown” of coal power and a “phaseout” of government subsidies for fossil fuels.
The results are at best, mixed.
Clean energy is surging. In the past year, low-carbon sources like wind turbines, solar panels, and hydropower dams increased by more than 10 percent globally this year, according to the International Energy Agency.
Investment in renewables is set to reach $494 billion, surpassing that of oil and gas drilling for the first time ever, according to Rystad Energy, a consulting firm.
However, coal use is also soaring to record highs this year, largely because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused natural gas prices to spike. Germany and Austria have reopened previously shuttered coal power plants. China has approved new coal mines, though it has also halted 26 of the 104 coal plants it planned to build overseas.
Fossil fuel subsidies, for their part, are still on the rise. In 2021, nations spent $697 billion to encourage oil and gas drilling or to lower the price of petroleum and heating fuels for consumers, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That figure is expected to go up this year.
Increase aid to poorer countries: D
In 2009, the world’s wealthiest nations pledged $100 billion per year in climate finance by 2020 to help poorer countries shift to cleaner energy sources. Last year, in Glasgow, wealthy countries acknowledged they were still falling short of that goal but vowed to get there by 2023. They also promised to double the amount of aid going toward climate adaptation, to about $40 billion per year by 2025.
Rich countries have also been criticized for spending too much of their money overseas on curbing emissions, rather than helping vulnerable nations adapt to changes that are already wreaking havoc.
Because adaptation measures such as sea walls and drought readiness are potentially less profitable than wind farms and solar panels, they don’t attract as much private investment — making communities especially dependent on public funds.
Some 11 countries and the European Commission have committed to spend at least half of their climate finance on adaptation. But several major development banks have yet to announce any plans on this topic. And leaders from low-income countries remain concerned that too much finance is coming in the form of loans, rather than grants.
Basically, the overall “report card” for the world going into this COP27 in Egypt leaves a lot to be desired. The list of “to dos” is long, from curbing methane gas emissions to reversing deforestation, and these don’t get a passing grade, either.
