Bloomberg Editorial: COP26 Achieved Less Than The World Needs

The United Nations COP26 summit, billed as the “last and greatest hopeTo keep the ambitious climate goals alive, it made progress on many fronts, despite ending on a note of disappointment.

The commitment of “phase out“Subsidies on coal and fossil fuels were changed in the final moments to a promise of”phase out“Coal and rid the world of subsidies”inefficient”. For many, this seemed to sum things up. Britain’s Alok Sharma, minister serving as chair of the meeting, offered an emotional apology. Activists called the meeting a worthless exercise.

That is too bleak. The summit can take credit for some real achievements. Fossil fuels were included in the final deal for the first time. America is back at the table. Agreements such as the one to curb methane emissions represent great progress. Ambitions increased. And governments promised to strengthen their commitments over the next year.

However, it is clear, if it was not already, that action cannot wait for the direction of meetings like COP26. The agreements did not comply with what was required. Negotiators hoped to gather enough emission reduction pledges to limit global warming to a level that would prevent disaster, with the goal of “keep alive the goal of 1.5 ° C”.

Countries like India and Nigeria announced new net zero emissions targets. But the pledges taken together are still not enough, and that is assuming that governments honor their individual commitments. The 1.5 ° C target isn’t dead, but it could be soon.

Rich countries also failed to fulfill their previous commitment to help poor countries limit and cope with climate change. A funding target of $ 100 billion per year, a small fraction of what is needed, is years behind. Developing countries had called for a new international fund to recognize climate-related losses that they have already suffered and will continue to suffer. The United States and the EU were against it. Instead, the meeting heard vague new promises to broaden support.

In other areas, the news was better. The United States and China declared their joint determination to limit global warming. They didn’t say exactly how, but after the recent deterioration in relations, their willingness to cooperate is welcome and suggests that Beijing sees the need to do its part.

After much debate, the meeting also established an outline of rules for international carbon credit trading. This too is just the beginning, not the final form, of a vital initiative. If the framework can be developed as it should be, it will accelerate efforts to reduce emissions by creating stronger incentives to drive a shift towards energy efficiency and cleaner sources of energy. It was also encouraging to see more financial institutions supporting the emission reduction targets of the Paris Agreement.

What is crucial now is to turn non-binding commitments into decisive action. The success of the Sierra Club, in association with Bloomberg Philanthropies, in pushing to close coal plants in the United States shows what can be done.

In the space of a decade, the Beyond Coal campaign helped retire two-thirds of America’s coal plants, making a total phase-out by 2030 feasible. An allied campaign, Europe Beyond Coal, accelerated the decommissioning of nearly half of the coal plants. coal plants in Europe in less than three years. The delay is dangerous and completely unnecessary.

Faster progress in carbon removal is imperative. In addition, new national targets on methane, deforestation and other climate-related issues, mostly agreed on the sidelines of the summit, need to be formalized, expressed in the form of achievable short-term targets, and spread to more countries. Stronger rules are required to combat greenwashing in climate finance and the expected market for carbon credits. And to repeat: the richest countries should do more to help the poorest.

Do not despair. People around the world are demanding change and governments are acting, albeit too slowly. Best of all, technology is a powerful ally.

Renewable energy is already cheaper than running existing coal plants in much of the world, and with advances in energy storage and other innovations, this advantage will increase. The fight against global warming can still be won, if nations, cities, businesses and ordinary people everywhere decide to do so.