Governments need to show the necessary ambition on mitigation, adaptation, and finance in a balanced way, and they can鈥檛 settle for the 鈥渓owest common denominator鈥�, the UN Secretary-General has said in Glasgow, where crucial climate negotiations are in the final stretch. Meanwhile, 13 countries launched a new alliance to end gas and oil, and cities were the theme of the day.听
Ant贸nio Guterres听told delegates on Thursday that he was inspired by the mobilization of civil society, including young people, indigenous communities, women鈥檚 groups, cities and private sector, highlighting that the climate action struggle requires all hands-on deck.
鈥淲e know what must be done. Keeping the 1.5 goal within reach means reducing emissions globally by 45 per cent by 2030. But the present set of Nationally Determined Contributions 鈥� even if fully implemented 鈥� will still increase emissions by 2030,鈥澨�he reminded听participants during a High-Level Event at the plenary.
He then referred to the latest joint analysis by the climate and environment UN agencies, which shows that even with the latest pledges and commitments made at COP26,听we remain on track for a catastrophic temperature rise well above 2 degrees Celsius.
鈥淚 welcome the recognition of this fact in yesterday鈥檚听听鈥� an important step in the right direction. But promises ring hollow when the fossil fuels industry still receives trillions in subsidies, as measured by the听. Or when countries are still building coal plants or when carbon is still without a price,鈥� he emphasized.
Mr. Guterres called on every country, city, company and financial institution to 鈥渞adically, credibly and verifiably鈥� reduce their emissions and decarbonize their portfolios, starting now.
Taking stock of progress, and a new way to measure it
While the UN chief recognized that current efforts to tackle climate change are far from enough, he highlighted the progress achieved during COP26 in Glasgow, including the commitment to halt and reverse deforestation, several net-zero commitments from cities and other alliances and pledges on the phasing out of coal and the investment in clean energies around the world.
鈥淲e need pledges to be implemented.听We need commitments to turn concrete.听We need actions to be verified. We need to bridge the deep and real credibility gap,鈥� he added, saying that as an engineer, he knows that durable structures need solid foundations.
Mr. Guterres announced that he will establish a High-Level Expert Group to propose clear standards to measure and analyze net zero commitments from non-State actors which will submit a series of recommendations next year.
鈥淲e must be able to measure progress and to adjust when off track鈥e must now zoom in on the quality and implementation of plans. 听On measuring and analyzing. On reporting, transparency and accountability鈥�, he said, asking actors to cooperate with the UN and hold each other accountable.
鈥淥nly together can we keep 1.5 degrees within reach and the equitable and resilient world we need,鈥� he concluded.
Update: Negotiations 鈥榥ot there yet鈥�
Meanwhile, COP26 President Alok Sharma gave an update on the negotiations over the last 24 hours. He said discussions on the global goal of adaptation were concluded, and that he hoped they would be adopted.
Mr. Sharma recognized there has been progress and acknowledged the spirit of cooperation and civility demonstrated throughout the negotiations, but he cautioned that听鈥渢hey are not there yet鈥� on the most critical issues.
鈥淭here is still a lot more work to be done, and COP26 is scheduled to close at the end of tomorrow. Time is running out,鈥� he told journalists, assuring them that negotiators are 鈥渞olling up their sleeves鈥� to find solutions that have been elusive for six years right now.
鈥淣egotiations on finance need to accelerate and they need to accelerate now,鈥� he added.
The COP President also said, echoing Mr. Guterre鈥檚 words, that the world needs to rise to the challenge and increase ambition.
Time is running out for oil and gas: A new alliance is formed
In a new positive development earlier in the day, and in line with the UN chief鈥檚 call, 11 countries presented the听Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA)听at COP26.
Ireland, France, Denmark, and Costa Rica among others, as well as some subnational governments, launched a first of its kind alliance to set an end date for national oil and gas exploration and extraction. So far, similar announcements have only been made regarding coal mining.
BOGA听core members said during a press conference that they were committed to ending all new concessions, licensing, and leasing rounds.
鈥�This is about courage to really come with concrete action.听We are hearing the world outside these walls, and we know that science is clear that we really need to accelerate action and when we talk about how to do it, we are addressing the demand action and yes we know it is important鈥ut we can鈥檛 just leave the supply side there, we need to start this conversation,鈥� said Andrea Meza, Minister of Environment and Energy for Costa Rica, during a press conference.
鈥淓very dollar that we invest in fossil fuel projects is one less dollar for renewables and for the conservation for nature鈥t鈥檚 about how to really leverage momentum to start this conversation,鈥� she added.
Members of the Climate Action Network, which is made up of more than a thousand civil society organizations, welcomed the initiative calling it 鈥渓ong overdue鈥�.
鈥淲hy is this significant?... It鈥檚 COP26, and for the first time, we have a draft of the Glasgow cover decisions that includes fossil fuels鈥� the launch of BOGA means things are shifting, that the conversation is evolving on climate change, and that the need to phase out all fossil fuels is no longer a taboo for many countries,鈥� said Romain Ioaualalen, the Global Policy Campaign Manager at Oil Change International.
In his view, with all the countries that are negotiating at COP26 ,and in particular countries from the global North that are still massively producing oil and gas and have no plans to stop, there was only one real question:
鈥�Where is your plan? Where is your plan to follow the science?听We have known that fossil fuels are the cause of climate change for decades,鈥� Mr. Ioaualalen stated.
The commitment of cities around the world
Cities and municipalities in California are among the founders of the new听BOGA听alliance. Meanwhile, cities from around the world 鈥� 1,049 to be exact 鈥� presented at the start of COP26 a commitment to halve their emissions by 2030 and become Net-Zero by 2050.
鈥淥f almost 30 years of COP meetings, COP26 is the first one in which local and city governments came with a voice and led by example. It is the first time that we were able to show the pledge of 1,049 cities who already have climate action and investments,鈥� Claudia Lopez, the Mayor of Bogota, Colombia, told UN News.
Further, Ms. Lopez, who is also the co-chair of the听, which drafted the pledge,听said cities and municipalities were coming together to show that commitment, and to ask the national governments and the private corporations to do their part, 鈥渢o align their incentives and their investments with climate action plans with our citizens' demands for actual change鈥�.
The last of the thematic days at COP26 was laser-focused on 鈥楥ities Regions and Built Environment鈥�, which highlights that with 68 per cent of the global population expected to be living in cities by 2050, it will be vital to build a sustainable and resilient urban future.
鈥淢ayors are boots on the ground, the boats on the water, the closest to the people and we have to get results, it doesn鈥檛 matter what your party affiliation is when the storms and extreme weather events are coming, and they鈥檙e coming with greater frequency and greater intensity, they are costing more,鈥� said Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, explaining how the work in the cities can drive national action.
By 2050, 1.6 billion people living in cities will be regularly exposed to extremely high temperatures and over 800 million people living in cities across the world will be vulnerable to sea level rises and coastal flooding.
The COP26 hosts highlight that accelerating the transition to net zero emissions for the world鈥檚 cities will be vital to achieving the goal of keeping global warming to close to 1.5 degrees.
鈥楤uilding鈥� a better future
According to听听which deals with human settlements and sustainable urban development, cities consume 78 per cent of the world鈥檚 energy and produce over 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions 鈥� but account for less than two per cent of the Earth鈥檚 surface.
Today, Inger Andersen, the head of the UN Environment Programme (), participated in a COP26 panel calling for more energy efficient construction.
鈥淲e build the equivalent of new buildings the size of Paris every week, and if that is the way we are expected to expand we need to think about how we do it because of climate, biodiversity, livability, quality of life. We need to build better鈥�, she said.
According to Ms. Andersen,听building and construction are responsible for 37 per cent of CO2 emissions听with construction materials like cement, accounting for 10 per cent of global emissions.
She also pointed out that over half of the buildings that will be standing in 2060 haven鈥檛 been constructed yet.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 put enough emphasis on resilience, a typical building built today will still be in use by 2070, and the climate impact that it will need to withstand will be very different. Renovation can deliver both high level efficiency and livability,鈥� she explained.
According to UNEP, only 19 countries have added codes regarding energy efficiency for buildings, and put them in place, and most of future construction will occur in countries without these measures.
鈥淔or every dollar invested in energy efficient building, we see 37 going into conventional buildings, that are energy inefficient. We need to move from these incremental changes because they are way too slow, we need a real sector transformation. We need to build better,鈥� she said, calling for more ambition for governments if they are to fill the promise of net-zero.
