Paving the way to COP 27: the Bonn Climate Change Conference
The meeting was the first time the international community has gathered since COP26 in Glasgow, where Parties committed to develop a work programme to speed up cuts in their emissions in this critical decade before 2030, with the aim of keeping global average temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. In Bonn, Parties also launched work on finding new ways to finance vulnerable countries and communities around the world that are struggling to “avert, minimize and address loss and damage” associated with the impacts of climate change. Work continued on defining a “new collective quantified goal” for climate finance, which will replace the current finance goal of USD 100 billion annually from 2020-2025. Parties and representatives of civil society also used the meeting in Bonn to focus on the challenge of post-2030 ambition, by starting preparations for the Global Stocktake (GST) that will take place at COP28 in 2023 in the United Arab Emirates. The GST is designed to drive the Paris Agreement’s ambition cycle and will provide the basis for the next round of Parties’ emissions reduction targets for 2035 and 2040, as well as new efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to raise financial and technical resources to support developing countries. The Bonn session closed with the Parties agreeing to send forward a series of “informal notes” that will provide the basis for continued work between now and Sharm el-Sheikh. The most recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were at the centre of Bonn negotiations, delivering the best available scientific understanding of the urgent need and opportunities for action.
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.