At COP26, which begins its second and final week this Monday, it seeks to give continuity to the Paris agreement.
The environmental organization WWF was moderately optimistic on Monday regarding the final stretch of the COP26 climate summit negotiations, but warned that it is necessary to work on aspects such as transparency when measuring and reporting CO2 emissions.
“Despite having had really good announcements, which we have to celebrate, lack of scrutiny of the people and transparency,” WWF’s Energy and Climate spokesperson and former Peruvian Minister of the Environment, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, declared at a press conference. “responsible and achievable real objectives”.
At COP26, which begins its second and last week this Monday, it seeks to continue the Paris agreement to keep the advance of temperatures at the end of the century below 2 ºC with respect to pre-industrial values, with the aim that do not exceed 1.5 ºC.
Last week there were different announcements in private sector financing and commitments against deforestation or to abandon the use of coal for electricity generation.
The head of WWF for Climate and Energy, Fernanda Carvalho, was also reasonably satisfied with the progress of the negotiations, but pointed out that the data for 2030 currently points to “an increase in emissions of 16% and the science is very clear on that in order to have any chance of keeping 1.5 ºC within reach, we have to reduce emissions by between 45 and 50% “.
To reach this goal, it is important to agree to review the commitments of the countries every five years and not every ten, starting in 2025, added Carvalho, who also considered it “key” to protect forests and oceans, as carbon sinks, as well as that governments commit to stop subsidizing fossil fuels.
WWF carbon markets expert Brad Schallert, for his part, noted that there has been progress in talks on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to regulate carbon credits.
“I see a marked difference from past years. Negotiators have made a real effort to find common ground,” although that “does not mean” that they have found them, he said.
However, he pointed out that there are still points of division around this aspect that WWF itself defines as “complex and technical” and where it is important to “avoid double counting”
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement contemplates the possibility of generating carbon credits, that is, countries or companies that generate CO2 can buy emission rights from other countries.
Schallert pointed out that Brazil is pushing “to try to do double accounting”, which is “unacceptable for WWF and for most countries”, and also called for avoiding “hot air”, which he defined as countries that “try to win in the metrics in their favor and inflate the impact on emissions of an activity ”. (I)
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