On Monday evening, liberals participating in COP26 gathered virtually for a roundtable to discuss the role that liberals can play to influence the global sustainability agenda in the next years, with a particular look at the outcome of the first week of COP26 and an eye towards the second and final round of negotiations. The event was co-organised by Liberal International and ALDE Party.
LI president Dr. Hakima el Haité and ALDE Party acting co-president Timmy Dooley opened the roundtable with welcoming remarks. They noted how progress has been made since COP21 in 2015, when the Paris Agreement was reached. Climate change is now more widely discussed and recognised as a challenge, which provides hope. However, at the same time, little concrete progress has been made. States have failed to deliver on their commitments, and since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, global emissions have just continued to increase. What is needed now is action rather than words.
The participants in the virtual roundtable discussed their different priorities for climate action, bringing up inter alia the need to introduce stronger pricing mechanisms for emissions, collaborate and coordinate more on sustainability projects, and stop subsidising polluting industries. Many also emphasised the need to secure enough climate funding and the developed countries’ responsibility to support developing countries and vulnerable communities in their climate efforts.
At the end of the roundtable, the participants adopted a liberal pledge calling on states to increase their climate ambitions. Read the pledge below.
We, the liberals gathered at COP26, express our shared concern over the climate crisis.
We regret the lack of progress and action since COP21 and call for stronger international cooperation to raise climate commitments and implement them; climate change sees no borders and working together is key to combat it. We regret that the leaders of China, Russia, and Brazil, some of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, are not present at this critical conference.
We welcome the efforts and pledges made here in Glasgow so far, (including the pledges to end and reverse deforestation and cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030,) and urge states to ensure they are implemented.
We call on states to submit more ambitious NDCs, as the current climate action plans are nowhere near enough to meet the goal set in the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2°C, aiming at 1.5°C. With the current commitments, we are heading towards a warming of 2.7°C by the end of the century, which would have catastrophic consequences according to the latest report by IPCC. Here in Glasgow, states must agree to step up and accelerate climate action to ensure that the Paris Agreement becomes more than empty words. Action can no longer be postponed.
Only focusing on mitigation is no longer an option, as many of the impacts of climate change are already irreversible. Mitigation, remediation and adaptation efforts must therefore be taken simultaneously to manage climate change risks and protect those most vulnerable to them. We call on states to secure enough funding for these efforts and immediately deliver on their commitment to provide $100 billion of climate finance a year. The funding should be split between mitigation, remediation and adaptation.
As we start recovering from the COVID19 pandemic, the opportunity to build back better must be seized. A sustainable recovery in line with the Paris Agreement, where financial support, investments, and subsidies are directed to sustainable solutions and innovation, is vital. At the same time, governments should encourage a shift from fossil fuel investments towards more sustainable alternative investments. A clear deadline for setting a clear path to phase out fossil fuels should be agreed. Putting a price on carbon is also crucial for the sustainable transition to happen. Non-state actors also have an important role in realising this transition.
The developing world must not be left behind. Developing states have contributed least to climate change, but many of them are among the most vulnerable to its effects. Technical and financial support must be granted to develop their capacity to take climate action. This would benefit everyone.
Protection of global biodiversity is also essential to combat environmental degradation and climate change. Our planet is currently facing its sixth mass extinction as a consequence of human activity, and it is disrupting ecosystems around the world, threatening our food production, and increasing risks of pandemics. We must take bold and rapid action now to change this, and therefore call on states to include biodiversity protection as a central part in their climate action plans.
The time for talk is now over – the only option left is action.
Let’s act together!
On behalf of liberals engaged in COP26 from the ALDE Party and Liberal International.
Photo by: Markus Spiske/Pexels
