COP26 Negotiators: Climate Pledges Not Enough, Focus on Plan B

The COP26 Summit proved challenging for negotiators as pledges made by governments are not enough to control greenhouse emissions. Scientists are saying that collective sum of pledges do not add up to counter the disastrous effects of global warming in the near future.

The shortcomings of the summit are paving way for further discussions where negotiators from powerful governments around the world including the U.S and the European Union will come together. Officials have said that the remainder of the summit will focus on pushing governments to make more realistic and stronger pledges to implement carbon emission cuts.

Since current emission plans are not enough to curb global warming, officials will seek new incentives to encourage governments to redo their pledges and develop a process to bring down emissions as quickly as possible. One of the key challenges faced by governments is the timeline of implementing the emission plans as the next few years will be spent on passing them into law.

Developing countries in particular are under more pressure to cut emissions as they are likely to be affected the most by global warming. Bangladesh, Maldives, Ethiopia and other developing countries which are a part of the Climate Vulnerable Forum have been asked to re-do their emission plans once a year. Data provided by the Global Carbon Project to the UN says carbon dioxide emissions must be slashed by at least 45% by 2030 in order to achieve the carbon emission target.

Alongside discussion of carbon emission pledges, negotiators will use the last week of the summit to develop rules for reporting emission reduction and policies to implement by governments. Despite developed countries pledging to invest $1.3 trillion on a yearly basis up until 2030, officials are worried that delivering such a huge amount to funds may not happen smoothly.

©Photo: Bloomberg