Pew

November 18, 2021
The role of nature to mitigate the impacts of a warming climate—and help wildlife, ecosystems, and people adapt and build resilience to those changes—was a core topic of attention at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow, Scotland. The need for increased ambition, in part by protecting and restoring critical carbon sinks around the world, marked a significant call to action in the decade ahead. 

Successfully implementing the agreement—referred to as the Glasgow Climate Pact—will depend on governments moving fast and decisively to deliver on it, and doing so would put many nations on a path toward the net-zero-emissions goals they committed to by 2050 (some have pledged to hit this target by 2030). And although the outcome of the Glasgow summit promises an improvement on the anticipated emissions gap reported prior to the conference, the commitments secured at the conference will not be enough to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius—which science says is needed to stave off major impacts of climate change.

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Campaign for Nature

November 17, 2021
The prominence of nature and biodiversity in the Glasgow Climate Pact and throughout the climate talks marks the first time nature was meaningfully incorporated into global climate negotiations. 

The final Glasgow climate agreement notes the importance of: “ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including in forests, the ocean and the cryosphere, and the protection of biodiversity, recognized by some cultures as Mother Earth.” 

It goes on to emphasize: “the importance of protecting, conserving and restoring nature and ecosystems, including forests and other terrestrial and marine ecosystems, to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature goal by acting as sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases and protecting biodiversity, while ensuring social and environmental safeguards.” 

Indigenous Peoples were recognized as important partners in designing and implementing climate solutions during negotiations.  And, according to the document, countries should respect, promote and consider their rights when climate action is taken. However, sufficient safeguards for Indigenous rights and recognition of Indigenous leadership  in “Nature-based solutions” were inadequate according to many Indigenous leaders who attended the COP.

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Landscape News

November 16, 2021
The 2021 U.N. Climate Change Summit (COP26) has ended, but many questions remain on the agreements reached by the 197 parties as well as the pledges made by governments.

The Glasgow Climate Pact aims to phase down unabated coal power and end inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, while more than 140 countries have now committed to ending deforestation by 2030.

The two-week event also ended the legal wrangling over Article 6 of the Paris Agreement after six years of discussions, thereby providing a framework for countries to exchange carbon credits through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a mechanism to reduce emissions.

Here, climate lawyer and policy advisor Stephen Leonard shares his views on these and other outcomes.

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