Home » The 26th Climate Change Conference: Fossil fuels still receive trillions of subsidies, UN Secretary-General calls on negotiators to speed up | UN News

The 26th Climate Change Conference: Fossil fuels still receive trillions of subsidies, UN Secretary-General calls on negotiators to speed up | UN News

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Guterres told attendees on Thursday that he was encouraged by the mobilization of civil society, including young people, indigenous communities, women’s groups, cities and the private sector. He emphasized that the fight for climate action requires everyone to work together.

In a high-level event at the plenary meeting, he reminded participants: “We know what must be done. Keeping the 1.5 degrees Celsius target within the achievable range means global emissions reductions by 45% by 2030. However, the current national autonomy submitted The contribution commitment-even if fully implemented-will continue to increase emissions by 2030.”

He then referred to the latest joint analysis of the United Nations Climate and Environment Agency. The analysis shows that even if we take into account the latest commitments made at the 26th COP, we are still likely to witness catastrophic temperature rises well above 2 degrees Celsius.

He said: “I welcome the recognition of this fact in the U.S.-China cooperation agreement reached yesterday-this is an important step in the right direction. When the subsidy is 100 million yuan, or when countries are still building coal power plants, or when carbon emissions are still not priced, the promise sounds hollow.”

Guterres called on every country, city, company and financial institution to reduce emissions “thoroughly, credibly and verifiably” from now on, and to achieve decarbonization in their respective fields.

Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change/Kiara Worth

On November 1, 2021, UN Secretary-General Guterres delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the 26th Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

New ways to assess progress and measure progress

Guterres said that the current efforts to address climate change are far from enough, but some progress has indeed been made during the 26th COP, including pledges to stop and reverse deforestation, cities and other alliances. Net zero commitments and commitments to phase out coal and invest in clean energy on a global scale.

He said: “We need to deliver on our promises. We need to translate our promises into concrete actions. We need to validate actions. We need to bridge the deep, real credibility gap.” He added that as an engineer, he knew that a durable structure requires a solid foundation.

Guterres announced that he will set up a high-level expert group to propose clear standards for measuring and analyzing the net zero commitments of non-state actors. The expert group will submit a series of recommendations next year.

He said: “We must be able to measure progress and make adjustments when off track… We must now focus on the quality and implementation of the plan, on measurement and analysis. On reporting, transparency and questioning. Above the responsibility system”. He asked the actors to cooperate with the United Nations and hold each other accountable.

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He concluded: “Only by uniting, we can maintain 1.5 degrees Celsius accessibility, as well as the fairness and resilience of the world.”

Negotiations: “Not yet finalized”

At the same time, Alok Sharma, Chairman of the 26th COP, introduced the latest situation of the negotiations in the past 24 hours. He said that the discussion on global adaptation goals has ended, and he hopes that the results of the discussion will be passed.

Sharma said that progress has been made and affirmed the spirit of cooperation and civilization shown throughout the negotiation process, but he warned that on the most critical issue, “they have not finalized it yet.”

He told reporters, “There is still a lot of work to be done, and this conference is scheduled to end tomorrow. There is not much time left.” He said that the negotiators are’rolling up their sleeves’ and preparing to fully invest and make unremitting efforts to find solutions. effort. “He pointed out that people have been struggling for this in the past six years.

He added: “Financing negotiations need to be accelerated, and it should be done now.”

Echoing the words of Secretary-General Guterres, he said that the world needs to meet challenges and increase ambitions.

There will no longer be a market for oil and gas: a new alliance is formed

Earlier in the day, in response to the UN Secretary-General’s call, 11 countries announced the establishment of the “Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance” at the 26th COP.

Countries such as Ireland, France, Denmark and Costa Rica, as well as the local governments of some countries, have launched an alliance to set the end date for national oil and gas exploration and production activities. So far, similar termination statements have only appeared in coal mining.

The core members of the “Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance” stated at a press conference that they are committed to terminating all new concessions, permits and leases involving oil and gas.

Andrea Meza, Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, said at the press conference: “This is about the courage to really take concrete actions. We have heard the wishes expressed by the world outside the venue, and we know the clarity of science. Stated that we do need to speed up our actions. When we talk about how to act, we are addressing the action requirements involved in the demand problem. Yes, we know this is important… But we can’t just talk about the supply side, we need to start this Conversation.”

She added: “When we put a dollar in a fossil fuel project, there is a dollar less in terms of renewable energy and nature protection… This involves the question of how to really use the momentum to start this conversation.”

Members of the “Climate Action Network” composed of more than 1,000 civil society organizations welcomed this initiative and called it “a long-overdue action.”

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Romain Ioaualalen, Global Policy Campaign Manager of Oil Change International, said: “Why does it matter? … The 26th Conference of the Parties will include fossil fuel decisions for the first time. Included in the draft. The establishment of the’Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance’ means that things are changing, the dialogue on climate change is evolving, and the need to eliminate all fossil fuels is no longer a taboo topic for many countries.”

In his view, for all the countries that participated in the negotiations at the 26th COP, especially the global northern countries that are still producing oil and gas on a large scale and have no plans to stop, all they need to answer is one real question. :

“Where is your plan? Do you follow a scientific plan? We have known for decades that fossil fuels are the cause of climate change.”

A medical center in Afghanistan is using renewable energy to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels that cause climate change.

UNDP Afghanistan

A medical center in Afghanistan is using renewable energy to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels that cause climate change.

Commitment from cities around the world

California’s cities and municipalities are one of the founders of the newly formed “Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance” alliance. At the same time, cities around the world — 1,049 cities to be precise — pledged at the beginning of the 26th Conference of the Parties to halve emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Claudia Lopez, the mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, told the United Nations News that “in the past 30 years of the Conference of the Parties, the 26th Conference of the Parties is the first time for local and municipal governments. A meeting that speaks collectively and leads by example. This is the first time we have been able to demonstrate the commitment of 1,049 cities that have already taken climate action and made investments.”

Lopez is also the co-chair of the C40 City Group that drafted the pledge. She said that cities and municipalities are coming together to demonstrate this commitment and asking the national government and private companies to do their part, “make their incentives and investments consistent with the climate action plan, in line with our citizens’ expectations. The requirements for real change”.

The last theme day of the twenty-sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties focused on “cities, regions and the built environment”, emphasizing that 68% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, thus building a sustainable and resilient city The future is crucial.

Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, explained how the work of the city promotes national action, said: “The mayor is a’actual force’, a boat on the water and closest to the people. We must get results. When storms and extreme weather events come, it doesn’t matter which party you belong to. They come more frequently, are more intense, and cause greater losses.”

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By 2050, 1.6 billion people living in cities will be regularly exposed to extremely high temperatures, and more than 800 million people living in cities around the world will be vulnerable to rising sea levels and coastal flooding.

The organizers of the 26th Conference of the Parties emphasized that accelerating the transition of world cities to net zero emissions is essential to achieving the goal of controlling global warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, families living in the urban slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh received emergency support.

United Nations Development Programme/Fahad Kaizer

During the COVID-19 pandemic, families living in the urban slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh received emergency support.

Building a better future

According to data from UN-Habitat, which deals with human settlements and sustainable urban development, cities consume 78% of the world’s energy and produce more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions, but they account for less than 2% of the earth’s surface.

Inger Andersen, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme, called for improvements in building energy efficiency while participating in a panel discussion at the 26th Conference of the Parties.

She said: “The number of new buildings we build every week is equivalent to the size of Paris. If this is the way we expect to expand, then we need to consider how to proceed. We need to consider climate, biodiversity, livability, quality of life Factors such as those are taken into consideration. We need to build better.”

Anderson said that carbon dioxide emissions from construction and construction accounted for 37% of cement and other construction material engineering emissions, and 10% of global emissions.

She pointed out that more than half of the buildings to be completed in 2060 have not yet planned blueprints.

She explained: “We don’t pay enough attention to resilience. The typical building built today will still be in use by 2070, and the climate impact it will have to withstand will be very different. Renovating the building can provide high efficiency and livability.”

According to UNEP data, only 19 countries have added regulations on building energy efficiency and implemented them, but in the future most building construction will be carried out in countries that do not have these measures.

Anderson said: “At present, if every dollar invested in energy-efficient buildings, there will be 37 dollars invested in traditional buildings with lower energy efficiency. We need to stop the gradual approach because they are too slow and we need to really Industry transformation. We need to build better.”

She said that if governments are to fulfill their net zero commitments, they must show greater ambition.

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