About 120 world leaders have announced their desire to achieve the goal of keeping the global temperature increase at 1.5 ° C by the end of this century. For this, two things must be achieved: on the one hand, a true interest on the part of the great powers, including those that pollute the most such as the US or China and, on the other, allocate with concrete projects and not only with millionaire promises to achieve that objective .
This challenge is not new as it was already agreed in 2015 in Paris and confirmed this weekend at the G20 summit in Rome. At the XXVI Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change , which will be held until 12 November in Glasgow, the president of COP26, Alok Sharma, has called for “immediate action” and “solidarity” to be able to fulfill the promise of Paris.
According to the program, it will be during the sessions on Monday and Tuesday when the leaders will formulate the announcements of their countries to promote the negotiations of the different countries over the next two weeks. As reported by the Framework Convention on Climate Change in a statement, as host, the United Kingdom has announced a mobilization of billions of private investments in green and resilient infrastructure in developing countries.
“Science is clear that the window of time we have to keep the 1.5ºC target alive and avoid the worst effects of climate change is closing fast. But with political will and commitment, we can and must achieve a result in Glasgow that the world can be proud of, ”urged Sharma.
During the opening of the event, the Kenyan climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti who has called on the leaders to respond “with courage” to the climate and ecological crises in these two weeks.
For his part, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a funding package as part of the UK’s Clean Green Initiative to support the deployment of sustainable infrastructure and revolutionary green technology in developing countries.
Specifically, he has said that a guarantee package will be put in place for the World Bank and the African Development Bank to provide 2.2 billion pounds ($ 3 billion) for investments in climate-related projects in India, in supporting India’s goal of reaching 450 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030 and throughout Africa.
3 billion for climate finance
On the other hand, he added that the British development finance institution (CDC) will commit to deliver more than 3 billion in climate finance for green growth over the next five years.
This will include £ 200 million for a new climate innovation facility to support the scaling up of technologies that will help communities deal with the impacts of climate change. It swallows twice the amount of climate finance the CDC invested between 2017 and 2021.
In addition, the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) backed by the British Government’s Office for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development will also commit more than £ 210 million to support transformative green projects in Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Nepal and Chad. .
China calls for help from developed countries
The president of China, Xi Jinping , has demanded this Monday from the international community an additional effort to “fulfill their commitments” in environmental matters, at the same time that he has called on the “developed countries” to do more to help the rest to achieve your climate goals.
“We must focus on concrete actions. Promises will come true only when we act on them. The parties must fulfill their commitments, establish realistic goals and visions , “said the Chinese president during his speech at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in 2021 (COP26), held in Glasgow.
“Developed countries should not only do more for them, but also should provide support to help developing countries do better,” claimed Xi, who has also called “to accelerate the ecological transition.”
Biden announces 3 billion
The president of the United States, Joe Biden , has assured that the world faces a “decisive decade” because the world has “limited time” to act against climate change and that his country “is here” despite the disagreement within your country on its ambition to direct billions of dollars toward renewable energy.
Thus, it has announced its proposal to allocate a total of $ 3 billion annually from 2024 to financing vulnerable countries to help them adapt to rising sea levels, droughts, floods and other consequences of global warming.
This funding could be part of the $ 11.4 billion that Biden has already pledged for annual climate finance in 2024, but which is pending annual approval by Congress. If anything, it is the first time that it has put a price on the adaptation effort, which is critical in particular for island states and other vulnerable countries, as analyzed by Bloomberg.
Guterres believes that failing now would be a “death sentence”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has told world leaders attending the opening ceremony of the XXVI Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) “enough already” of unkept promises because it has warned that failure to act to stop climate change is “a death sentence.”
«Either we stop, or it stops us. It’s time to say enough is enough. Enough of the brutality against biodiversity, killing ourselves with carbon, enough fires, floods, melting glaciers, “Guterres stressed, warning: ” We are digging our own grave.
Sánchez announces that Spain will increase climate finance
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez , announced this Monday that Spain will increase its climate financing for developing countries by 50 percent with the goal of reaching a contribution of 1.35 billion euros from 2025.
In his speech at the high-level segment of the XXVI Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) that is held in Glasgow ( United Kingdom) until November 12, the president has assured that Spain It is going to reinforce foreign action on adaptation and, in this matter, Spain will contribute 30 million euros in 2022 to the United Nations National Adaptation Fund.
In his opinion, if countries raise their level of ambition, they must support these objectives “with resources” and that is why he considers that the goal of reaching 100 billion dollars in climate finance globally “is going to be one of the litmus tests of COP26 when it comes to restoring trust between the countries of the North and the South.
Thus, it has announced that “Spain will do its part” and has pledged to increase climate finance to reach 2025 with an “increase of 50 percent” compared to the current commitment, in order to reach 1.35 billion euros per year to from the year 2025.
