On the first day of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Glasgow, the COP26 President Alok Sharma called for immediate action and solidarity to deliver on the promise of the 2015 Paris Convention.
Young climate change activists, indigenous peoples and business leaders from around the world also appealed to the world leaders. They stated the need to keep the global temperature increase at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
An additional package is expected for the UK to mobilize billions of private investment in green, sustainable infrastructure in developing countries.
Summit participants said that the world is experiencing record temperatures and extreme weather conditions, which are bringing the planet dangerously close to a climate catastrophe. Therefore, the need for urgent action at COP26 is more evident than ever.
Addressing leaders at the first major global event since the COVID-19 pandemic, the COP President Alok Sharma said it takes time to maintain the 1.5-degree Celsius target and avoid the worst climate impacts. But political will is even more needed.
The Glasgow Summit entrusted the governments of Canada and Germany with chairmanship of the $100 billion project.
Countries most vulnerable to climate change can access the finance they need to adapt and accelerate environmental recovery from the pandemic.
The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a funding package under the UK’s Clean Green Initiative to support the rollout of sustainable infrastructure and groundbreaking green technologies in developing countries.
It includes:
• Guarantees to the World Bank and African Development Bank to provide £2.2 billion ($3 billion) for investment in climate projects in India, in support of India’s target of 450 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030 and worldwide.
• The UK’s Development Finance Institution, CDC, is committed to providing over £3 billion in climate finance for green growth over the next five years. This will include £200 million for a new Climate Innovation Fund to support the scaling up of technologies to help communities cope with the impacts of climate change. This is double the amount of climate finance that CDC invested during its previous strategy period from 2017 to 2021.
• The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development, will also allocate more than £210 million in new investments to support transformational green projects in developing countries such as Vietnam, Burkina Faso , Pakistan, Nepal and Chad.
The World Leaders Summit continues today. A number of other statements are expected from the heads of state.
The Climate Change Conference has been postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders of more than 100 countries of the world will sum up the results of the five-year cycle, which started with signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
It provides that in the current century, the temperature on the planet on average should not rise by more than 2, it is better — by 1.5 degrees Celsius. It is believed that this very threshold will allow avoiding irreversible impact on the ecosystem. But the document still does not specify a mechanism for monitoring its observance, or enforcement measures.
In Glasgow, the convention parties should also agree to provide sustainable aid of $100 billion per year to least developed countries making the transition to green energy.
President Sadyr Japarov is taking part in the summit. He is the only head of Central Asia who arrived in Glasgow. On November 2, Sadyr Japarov will make a speech at the plenary session of the Summit of World Leaders.
