Although COP26 is also mentioned as the hope for the future of the Earth, the majority of environmental experts are already pessimistic.
By
A Tomy Trinugroho from Glasgow, Scotland
·3 minutes read
AP PHOTO/POOL/STEFAN ROUSSEAU
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets Indonesian President Joko Widodo, left, ahead of their bilateral meeting during the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday Nov. 1, 2021. The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow gathers leaders from around the world, in Scotland's biggest city, to lay out their vision for addressing the common challenge of global warming.
GLASGOW, KOMPAS — Leaders from 120 countries gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday (1/11/2021) to attend the 26th United Nations Climate Change Summit Conference (COP26). The event, which will last until 12 November 2021, is the arena in which the world community is pinning its hopes on a plan for countries’ concrete action to lower the global average temperature less than 1.5 degrees Celsius following the mostly disappointing result of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit ending on Sunday (31/10).
The conference was opened by United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said if COP26 failed to offer a solution, all world leaders would face the anger of the younger generation, who had had to bear the burden of accumulated emissions since the industrial era. Young people have to face the reality that their homes are vulnerable to natural disasters resulting from climate change, which causes the loss of homes, livelihoods, food sources and biological diversity, as well as human health.
By 2030, the country will no longer produce vehicles using fossil energy.
Previously, at the G20 Summit with the world’s largest economies in Rome, Johnson said the UK had the most ambitious target compared to all other countries in the world. By 2030, the country will no longer produce vehicles using fossil energy.
“We also target the year 2035 to totally phase out the use of hydrocarbon,” he said.
Pessimistic
Although COP26 is also mentioned as the hope for the future of the Earth, the majority of environmental experts are already pessimistic. This is because a number of leaders of main carbon producing countries are not present at the conference in person.
AFP/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others listen while President of Indonesia Joko Widodo and US President Joe Biden make statements for the press prior to a bilateral meeting at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 1, 2021. - COP26, running from October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow will be the biggest climate conference since the 2015 Paris summit and is seen as crucial in setting worldwide emission targets to slow global warming, as well as firming up other key commitments .
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Mexican Persident Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are not coming to Glasgow. They plan to attend virtually.
Former United Nations secretary for climate affairs Christiana Figueres said drastic moves by all countries were needed to prevent the global temperature from rising by 1.5 degrees. The Paris Agreement of 2015, which produced the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of each country, has so far been described as incapable of reducing global temperature for the next five years.
The problem is that advanced and developing countries, including the members of G20, have not yet agreed on the same perception to cope with the climate issue. China, Russia and Saudi Arabia for instance, target their decarbonization by 2060 or a decade later than the target set by the United States, the UK and European Union.
Funding
In Glasgow, Deputy Environment and Forestry Minister Alue Dohong said on Monday that the issue of funding was very crucial. Indonesia strives for the realization of advanced countries’ commitments to assisting developing countries with funding.
AP PHOTO/SCOTT HEPPELL
Oxfam 'Big Head' caricatures of world leaders protest on the fringes of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow gathers leaders from around the world, in Scotland's biggest city, to lay out their vision for addressing the common challenge of global warming. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
“We want to pursue the fulfillment of pledges made by advanced countries as members of G7 [the Group of 7] to provide US$100 billion annually within the framework of climate funding,” he said after officially opening the Indonesian Pavilion at COP26.
Indonesia also focuses on the finalization of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This article regulates carbon trading between countries.
Separately, the Coalition of Civil Societies in Indonesia evaluates carbon trading as a false solution to the climate crisis. It is regarded as a greenwashing practice.
AFP/OLI SCARFF
A delegate passes a display of polar bears wearing life jackets, displayed on the Tuvalu trade stand on the sidelines of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on November 1, 2021. - COP26, running from October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow will be the biggest climate conference since the 2015 Paris summit and is seen as crucial in setting worldwide emission targets to slow global warming, as well as firming up other key commitments.
Carbon trading can also give rise to injustice for the public at large, communities with economic, physical and health vulnerabilities, as well as traditional communities. (AFP/AP/REUTERS/INA/AIK/DNE/ICH)
