Page 6 - AfrElec Week 48 2021

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

1.5°C remains elusive

Acasta Risk shares views on the results achieved by November’s COP26

conference in Glasgow.

GLOBAL THE outcome of COP26 is mixed, which is inev- mitigation of methane with the US in the first
itable for a conference that seeks to cater to the half of 2022.
wishes and expectations of almost two hundred Deforestation gained centre stage in the first
countries. Our view is an optimistic one, as it week with 141 countries committing “to halt and
has become clear that net zero is our common reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030”
global goal on climate action covering some covering some 91% of forests globally. Impor-
eighty-nine percent of global GDP. Furthermore, tantly, key countries such as Brazil and Indone-
during the course of the two weeks, strong and sia signed the agreement. However, Indonesia’s
substantial financial commitments have been environment minister has since criticised the
made to facilitate the transition. terms of the agreement, calling them “inappro-
priate and unfair”. Despite this, the declaration is
Glasgow Climate Pact supported by private funding, with the CEOs of
The outcome of COP26, the Glasgow Climate more than 30 financial institutions announcing
Pact, is remarkably the first UN climate decision their intention to divest from activities within
that includes an explicit mention of fossil fuels, their portfolios associated with deforestation.
calling for an accelerated “phase-down” of una- Whilst for many there was disappointment
bated coal-fired power generation and phase-out at the last-minute change of phrase from phas-
of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Previous drafts ing ‘out’ to ‘down’ in the final pact, prior to the
of the agreement called for a phase-out of una- conference the UK announced 190 countries
bated coal-fired power generation. However, a and organisations committing to phase out coal,
late intervention, purportedly from India and including Poland, Vietnam, Egypt, Chile and
China, weakened the language of the text. Morocco.
The agreement makes progress on adapta- During the conference, the formation of
tion finance, urging developed countries to at the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) was
least double the amount of climate finance going announced, a coalition of national and sub
specifically to adaptation by 2025 based on 2019 national governments which aims to “set an end
levels. Nevertheless, the text acknowledges with date for their oil and gas exploration and extrac-
“deep regret” that the goal of providing $100bn tion and curtail new licensing”. At formation
a year to developing countries for mitigation there are eleven members, including Costa Rica,
measures has not been met. Denmark, France, Greenland, Ireland, Quebec,
In terms of nationally determined contri- Sweden and Wales as core members, with Cal-
butions (NDCs), as they stand current pledges ifornia, New Zealand and Portugal as associate
are insufficient to limit warming to 1.5 °C. As a members. Crucially, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed
result, the pact requests that countries “revisit Scotland was in talks with BOGA to join at some
and strengthen” their 2030 targets by the end of level, a critically important development given
2022, similar to the ratchet mechanism built into the prominence of the oil & gas sector in the
the Paris agreement, although it remains to be Scottish independence referendum debate, and
seen if countries will meet this expectation, as the raging arguments that continue over the fate
some forty countries did not update their NDCs of the Cambo field development in water West
before COP26. of Shetland.
Outside the final text there were a number of Furthermore, over thirty countries and finan-
important announcements: cial institutions committed to halt financing
The Global Methane Pledge was signed by unabated fossil fuel development overseas by
over one hundred countries responsible for close the end of 2022, albeit with significant caveats,
to half of global anthropogenic methane emis- as they recognise that there will be limitations
sions, leaving aside valid concerns over how this regarding alignment with 1.5 degrees of warm-
will be implemented and enforced, as it does not ing. It remains to be seen how this will be put
indicate what level of reductions countries will into practice.
commit individually. In fact, the initiative aims There was also a non-legally binding agree-
to reduce global methane emissions by at least ment on achieving a 100% zero emissions car
thirty percent from 2020 levels by 2030. Dis- market worldwide by 2040 and in leading mar-
appointingly, several major methane emitters kets by 2035, with the support of UK, Canada,
such as Russia, China, and India did not join Norway and Chile, and global manufacturers
the pledge, although China agreed to discuss such as Ford Motor Company, General Motors,

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 48 02•December•2021