‘We can do better, we must’ declares departing UN climate change chief, as COP27 looms over horizon
Governments are meeting for the first time since the conclusion of COP26 in Glasgow last November, which saw the operational details of the 2015 Paris Agreement successfully finalized, paving the way for its implementation. In Bonn, governments will focus on work in the key areas of mitigation, adaptation, support to developing countries - particularly finance - and loss and damage, according to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, UNFCCC. Speaking to delegates at the opening of the Bonn sessions, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said that there needed to be “political-level interventions and decisions in each of these areas in order to achieve a balanced package. “Doing so will send a clear message to the world that we are headed in the right direction. Because the world is going to have one question in Sharm El-Sheikh: what progress have you made since Glasgow?” With 197 official Parties, the convention has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, which aims to keep global average temperature rise this century, to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UN’s top climate change official warned that climate change is progressing exponentially. With the world currently on track to more than double the 1.5 degree goal of the Paris Agreement by the end of the century, ambition must urgently be raised to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, and immediate action and progress in Bonn are needed.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.