My Take-aways from Week 2 of the Climate Summit at Glasgow

By Raphael Mariani, The Fletcher School, Class of 2022

Climate Adaptation and Finance: Climate adaptation and finance took center-stage at the first day of week two in Glasgow. The main negotiating events included plenary meetings with environment ministers from around the world, as well as leaders from regional development banks in Africa and the Caribbean, who discussed the split of resources between mitigation and adaptation. Most countries, including those by delegations from the global south (the region disproportionately affected by anthropogenic climate change), committed to a more equal split between those two initiatives. The United States, moreover, committed to three billion dollars in investment for climate adaptation by the year 2024. The largest headline-grabbing event was a speech by former U.S. president Barack Obama, who lauded the progress made since the 2015 Paris Accords and encouraged young people to “stay angry” and hold their elected representatives accountable. In the afternoon, climate finance was at the center, with a ministerial plenary taking up most of the afternoon, as well as panel discussions with high-level figures including Ambassador Samantha Power and leaders from the IMF and World Bank.

Climate and Gender: The overarching theme on Tuesday at COP26 was gender. All panelists and delegations present constantly reiterated the importance of centering any climate adaptation and mitigation measures around gender equality and empowering women and girls. The main attraction was a speech by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was accompanied by a congressional delegation. The Speaker stressed the importance of expanding access to education for women and girls specifically and touted the recent passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The second half of the day was taken up mostly by opening statements from ministers and leaders from different delegations, including the Russian Federation, South Africa, and New Zealand, all of which reiterated their commitments to restricting anthropogenic climate change below 1.5°C by the year 2030, as well as adapting to the most detrimental effects of the climate crisis.

Climate and Transport: Opening statements from delegations such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Saudi Arabia continued throughout most of the morning on Wednesday, with a number of side events focusing on the decarbonization of the transportation sector. Panel discussions on the development of zero-emission vehicles and changes in the aviation industry took center-stage and featured an appearance by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. In the afternoon, the plenary halls saw opening statements from representatives from the private sector, as well as non-governmental organizations. There were also speeches from other stakeholders, such as youth groups, farmer organizations, women activists, and indigenous communities. Most of the drafting of tangible climate commitments and goals occurred after the day ended, and drafts were presented to the COP president over the evening.

Climate and Urban Infrastructure: As sleep-deprived delegations worked tirelessly to iron out the provisions of the Glasgow Accords, the penultimate day of COP 26 was dominated by panel discussions on the decarbonization of urban infrastructure, particularly that of buildings. Delegates from Mexico, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Northern Ireland, and Brazil discussed their progress in containing climate change to the much-discussed threshold of 1.5°C by the year 2050 and, although they lauded their progress thus far, they recognized that a lot more is needed to stop climate change in its tracks. They also derided the tendency of global leaders to over-rely on the development of carbon capture technologies which, as of yet, do not exist and not taking immediate action. In the afternoon, mayors and regional leaders from Colombia, Mexico, Finland, Norway, and Chile met to discuss how best to decarbonize existing and new building infrastructure, which is responsible for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. Delegations met with the COP presidency bilaterally to seek assistance in getting a deal finalized by the end of the conference and making it as ambitious and aggressive as possible.

Text Changes to the Glasgow Accords: On the last day of COP26, delegates scrambled to work out the last touches of the Glasgow Accords, representatives from civil society took to the podium to have their say. Notable speeches included a powerful testimony by a Canadian indigenous group, who called out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by name for what they saw as a disregard for their rights. The speech was received by a standing ovation from all in the room, who joined in on a chant the group engaged in. The speech had a palpable impact, as the Canadian delegation was pressured into calling for the insertion of stronger language in the Accords for the protection of indigenous communities. Delegations also joined in on youth protests happening outside before lunch to show their solidarity with ambitious climate targets. In the afternoon, delegates gave interventions in order to voice their support and reservations with individual provisions in the agreement. A particularly powerful intervention was from the delegation for the island nation of Tuvalu, which is likely to get wiped off the map due to rising sea levels. The delegate gave an emotional plea for rich countries to commit to more aggressive action as, for the people in his country, climate change is a matter of life and death. After many deliberations and delays, individual provisions of the agreement were voted on unanimously as the 26th Conference of the Parties for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change drew to a close.