Is the COP26 deal going to save the world?
The second week’s schedule of COP26 was far more focused on specifics: gender, transport, adaptation solutions and cities. But will it help anything?
Hey there, and welcome to the 54th issue of The Supplement, a newsletter that fills in the gaps of your other news intake. This is Sierra, one-third of The Supplement team!
Each week, we pick a question submitted by you, our readers. If you’d like to submit a question for a future week, then email us at thesupplementnewsletter@gmail.com or reach out to us on Twitter or Instagram.
Like what you read? Just want to help some gals out? You could consider buying us a coffee ☕
Welcome to our first Tuesday newsletter! We’ll keep it going on Tuesdays for the foreseeable future. (Partially because it’s a good newsletter day, mostly because we are a little exhausted by the end of the week from work and school!)
This week, we’re tackling this question: Is the COP26 deal going to save the world?
TL;DR: Not likely, but it proves momentum is underway.
A deal has been written at the end of COP26 and it’s safe to say that no one loooves it. We’ll explain a bit better below.
It’s no secret that keeping up with COP news has been tough, and very exhausting. I don’t blame anyone who has shut themselves off from the day-to-day flow of headlines because it was a lot. In case you need a refresher on what COP26 was all about and what happened in the first half, you can take a quick look at our explainer from last week — it’s an important recap, because world leaders had the stage.
(Psst: we know I’m obsessed with climate over at my day job, so you can also take a look at The Globe and Mail’s COP glossary, as well as my other newsletter breakdown of five things you should remember from the first week.)
The second week’s schedule of COP26 was far more focused on specifics: gender, transport, adaptation solutions and cities. The whole thing ended in two days (well, three days because we went into OT) of negotiations.
So, what was the final deal?
Al Jazeera has a great infographic to keep track of which country signed on for what. But the big promises we’ll keep in mind are about ending deforestation and reducing emissions, some more solid net-zero commitments, phasing out coal, and other promises to put dollars towards green tech.
That might sound like success to some, including many of the signatories. But talking to those outside the walls of the negotiation tells a different story. (This includes the many young and Indigenous voices that weren’t a part of striking a deal.)
In particular, several countries are upset by a last-minute change in language that shifted the commitment to "phase out” coal power to the less exhaustive "phase down." If you remember a few weeks ago, we mentioned that coal produces significantly more emissions than most other emitters.
Unfortunately, we already know that this deal will not achieve the goal specifically set out for the world: The 2015 Paris accord’s idea of limiting Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Actually, according to Climate Action Tracker, “with all target pledges, including those made in Glasgow, global greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 will still be around twice as high as necessary for the 1.5°C limit.”
But that’s not to say COP26 was a complete waste of time and resources. It did give climate the world stage for two straight weeks, and gave it the most media attention I can remember in many years.
“In many ways, the pledge does create momentum, but the actual work has to be done when everyone comes back from COP,” Anders Haug Larsen, head of policy at the Rainforest Foundation Norway, told Al Jazeera.
The thing about COP is that the agreements aren’t legally binding, and the politicians making promises aren’t being held to account outside of the moral obligation that anyone has in making a promise. Unfortunately politicians aren’t well known for keeping them.
“Perhaps the most important and trickiest of the ways COP needs to evolve is by creating an imperative to move from setting goals to actually making good on them,” writes Adam Radwanski, The Globe’s climate policy columnist.
On that note, let’s keep our eyes on our country’s commitments, and use whatever means we can to keep Canada accountable to them. Let’s listen to our Indigenous leaders, our land and water protectors, and look to them for guidance.
Let’s not forget that climate change is intrinsically linked to colonization, racism and capitalism. It intersects so prominently with human rights and equality, something that took a backseat at the summit.
COP26 was never going to be a true success while so many people were missing at the table.
Here’s someone to follow:
This week we’re going to recommend you lend a follow to the folks over at The Peak. It’s another newsletter you could add to your roster to keep up (simply) with Canadian business and tech news. Oh, they also have a podcast and blog.
Here’s a story to check out:
This week, we remember Lee Maracle. She was a poet, author and teacher. She was fierce, supportive, and critical. “In time, we will look back on her legacy and see just how revolutionary she was,” author Waubgeshig Rice said to the CBC.
