Leaders from more than 120 nations gather this Monday (1st) in Glasgow under pressure to “save humanity” in the face of the challenge of climate change, in the words of UN Secretary General António Guterres.
The Glasgow summit comes before the decisive talks at COP26, the UN climate conference. A meeting that cannot afford to fail, declared British Prime Minister and host Boris Johnson dramatically.
“It’s time to say enough,” said Guterres at the opening of the meeting. “No more mistreating biodiversity. No more killing ourselves with carbon. No more treating nature like garbage. No more burning, drilling and mining ever deeper. We are digging our own grave,” he warned.
“All these promises will be nothing but blah blah blah,” and “the world’s anger and impatience will be unstoppable unless we make this COP26 the time when we take climate change seriously,” Johnson said.
Glasgow’s COP26 follows the cancellation last year due to the covid-19 pandemic. The objective is to move forward with the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015 and which established as a major objective to limit global warming to +1.5ºC.
In view of the prospect of massive demonstrations planned for the weekends, a major security scheme was adopted.
US President Joe Biden, who proclaims the country’s return to climate talks, is the main protagonist of a two-day summit marked by the absence of Chinese Xi Jinping, president of the country that emits the most polluting gases, Russian Vladimir Putin and Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who canceled the trip at the last minute.
The US government’s special climate envoy John Kerry reaffirmed his determination to act to “leave Glasgow with a significant increase in global ambition”.
Despite the absence, Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a written message to the participants.
Prince Charles spoke, replacing 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, who is “resting” on medical advice.
The heir to the British crown urged companies to join the worldwide effort.
“We need a broad military-type campaign to gather the strength of the world’s private sector that has trillions of dollars,” he said.
“Uncharted territory”
President Jair Bolsonaro will not participate in COP26, despite having attended the G20 meeting, which ended on Sunday (31) in Rome.
COP26 must address the main points of the historic Paris Agreement, such as increasing the commitments of each country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, financing the fight against climate change and the rules of transparency and mutual control.
In all, 196 parties signed the Paris Agreement, with the aim of limiting the increase in the planet’s temperature to +1.5°C. But the reality is that the Earth is heading towards an increase of 2.7ºC and, with this number, the climate and ecosystems enter “unknown territory”, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Issuance of 50 gigatonnes
The world annually emits more than 50 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases, according to UN calculations. One gigatonne represents one billion tons.
“Our studies indicate that there will be an increase in emissions of 16% in 2030, when we should register a reduction of 45%”, summarized the executive secretary of the UN organization for climate change, the Mexican Patricia Espinosa.
And, although there is public awareness that the situation must change, there are still great doubts about the alternative energy model.
Global growth forecasts pose a huge doubt, experts admit.
Poor countries ask for help to mitigate, or be able to adapt to, the consequences of climate change. Rich countries have pledged $100 billion a year, an amount that should have been transferred by 2020, but $20 billion is still missing. The main economic powers claim that the issue will be resolved in a few years.
The Alliance of Small Island States denounces the “terrible” consequences that could occur in a few years if sea levels continue to rise, as scientists say.
“It seems that some are not afraid, or worse, are indifferent,” said the group’s negotiator in Glasgow, Lia Nicholson.
Brazilian speech
Txai Suruí spoke at the opening event with quotes on the urgency of action.
“Today the climate is warming up, animals are disappearing, rivers are dying, our crops are not flourishing as they used to. The Earth is talking. It tells us that we have no more time,” he said.
The activist also mentioned the murder of environmental defenders.
“While you are closing your eyes to reality, the guardian of the forest Ari Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, my childhood friend, was murdered for protecting nature,” said Suruí. Indigenous peoples are at the forefront of the climate emergency, so we must be at the center of the decisions that take place here.”
The most recent report by the NGO Global Witness points out that Brazil is the 4th country with the most murders of environmental defenders. The data point to more than 70% of cases in the Amazon and half of them targeting traditional indigenous and riverine peoples.
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