Why It Feels So Hard to Understand What Really Happened at COP26

The overarching narrative emerging from COP26 is complicated. The deal that emerged—the Glasgow Climate Pact—wasn’t universally celebrated, nor was it universally condemned. It won’t save the world, but it does move the needle. “We made real and vital progress,” Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, told me just after countries agreed to the deal on Saturday night. But, she added, “there continue to be gaps, and difficult things.” It’s even more complex if you include everything that happened on the sidelines of the official negotiations. The private sector made big commitments to facilitate the energy transition and slash emissions. But will they follow through? Countries committed to ending illegal deforestation. Can they be trusted to do so? The U.S. and China said they would collaborate on climate issues. What, in practice, will that actually mean? The list could go on and on. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Instead of trying to weave a complicated narrative that incorporates all the relevant items, I thought I would close out our COP26 coverage with a simple list of reflections on key points. 1. Keeping 1.5°C alive The central goal of COP26—according to the conference’s organizers—was to put the world on a pathway to limit warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. There were lots of promises, from countries and private-sector actors alike, but fundamentally keepi...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized climate change healthscienceclimate Source Type: news