The 26th annual Conference of the Parties (COP26) climate summit in Glasgow has come to an end and the result is the newly signed Glasgow Climate Pact.
The main objectives are the drastic reduction of coal use across the world and the distribution of finances to assist poor countries in an effort to honour the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, some authorities have criticised the pact, saying the language is vague and does not require countries to implement specific changes that will result in measurable progress. The goal is to ensure global temperatures do not rise more than 1.5C by 2030.
South Africa, one of the countries that rely heavily on coal usage, was allocated R131 billion over the next five years in the form of grants and investment and risk-sharing instruments (including mobilising private sector funding) to make the shift to a greener energy approach.
All 197 countries attending COP26 have signed the agreement, but only after fierce negotiations from China and India, two of the world’s largest fossil fuel users, who lobbied for the language to be changed from ‘phasing out’ coal to phasing it ‘down’ and were successful in altering the agreement accordingly at the eleventh hour.
At least 40% of the world’s coal-fired power plants will have to be shut down by 2030 (and no new ones built) for the target to be reached.
Many attendees reiterated the urgency of reducing coal usage sooner rather than later. ‘The longer you take to get rid of coal, the more burden you put on the natural environment,’ said Frans Timmermans, the EU’s climate czar according to The Guardian. ‘The more burden you put on your economy because coal is simply not a smart economic proposition either.’
Next year, COP27 will be held in Egypt.
Picture: Wallpaper Flare
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