FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator
Atty. Joey Lina Another make-or-break opportunity to avert the disastrous effects of climate change is on the horizon. World leaders and delegates from around 200 countries gathered for the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) two-week summit that started yesterday in the Scottish city of Glasgow are again faced with the challenge of turning words into action to reduce global emissions. Significantly reducing emissions to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels – the critical threshold that scientists say would prevent the most destructive consequences of climate change – is the ultimate goal agreed upon in 2015 at the COP 21 in Paris. But since that Paris summit, scientists have increasingly warned the 1.5C goal is slipping out of reach. Achieving the target would mean global emissions plunging to around 45-55% by 2030 from the 2010 levels. Also, net zero emissions – where the amount of greenhouse gas removed from the atmosphere is equal to what is emitted – must be reached by 2050. Instead of seeing significant reductions, however, “countries’ current pledges would see global emissions soar by 16% by 2030,” according to a Reuters report that warned the “existing pledges to cut emissions would see the planet’s average temperature rise 2.7C this century, which the UN says would supercharge the destruction that climate change is already causing by intensifying storms, exposing more people to deadly heat and floods, killing coral reefs and destroying natural habitats.” It is clear, therefore, that the current pledges of many countries are not enough and more are urgently needed to lessen the misery plaguing poor countries like the Philippines from the onslaught of disasters due to climate change. In a recent report of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), only six nations belonging to G20 countries – the world’s largest economies which account for 80% of the world’s emissions – have formally increased their targets. And six others never met their old targets. "Countries have stretched, but they've not stretched enough," UNEP executive director Inger Andersen lamented. "Many of them sort of kick the can down the road, and we need to see not pledges anymore, we actually need to see real action," she said in a CNN report. And real action includes contributing to climate finance to help developing nations facing the worse climate change consequences, despite the small amount that poor countries contribute to global emissions. "Those in poorer countries are going to suffer the very most, so ensuring that there's a degree of equity and a degree of global solidarity for adaptation finance is also critical," the UNEP said. Thus, the Paris accord came out with an agreement for developed countries to contribute, by 2020, to the $100 billion-a-year Green Climate Fund to finance climate resilience, energy autonomy, and renewable energy of poor and vulnerable nations. The 2020 deadline has been moved to 2023. The historic 2015 Paris accord, spearheaded by then French President Francois Hollande, was preceded by a major diplomatic push for the ambitious climate deal. With star power from French celebrities like Oscar award-winning actress Marion Cotillard accompanying Hollande in his trip to Guiuan in Eastern Samar where the climate change monster in Typhoon Yolanda first struck, global awareness on the need for the climate agreement got boosted then. The urgency for countries to come up with concrete commitments in 2015 was expressed in “Manila Call to Action on Climate Change,” a joint statement of the Philippines and France that called upon the international community “to conclude a universal, equitable and ambitious climate deal, in line with the specific recommendations set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to preserve our planet as a livable place for future generations.” But six years after the Paris agreement, the world is still far off from reaching the ultimate goal of 1.5C. So much talk, yet so little action all these years. A climate of inaction has plagued the climate crisis. Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg, the world’s most prominent climate activist, expressed the situation succinctly during a youth climate rally in Berlin last September. "Net zero, blah, blah, blah. Climate neutral, blah, blah, blah. This is all we hear from our so-called leaders – words, words that sound great but so far, has led to no action or hopes and dreams. Empty words and promises," Thunberg said. "We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah blah blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action." Email: [email protected]