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COVID-19 postpones the next big climate conference, but nations stand firm on green targets

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London, UK
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From the heads of the European commission to BP, institutions are reasserting their commitment to tackling climate change despite the postponing of COP26 talks in Glasgow.

The biggest international climate conference since the Paris Agreement in 2015, when almost every state in the world agreed to Carbon-0 targets, was set to take place in November this year in Glasgow, Scotland. But, after a meeting of UK and UN representatives last week, and to no one’s surprise, the conference has been postponed in light of the COVID19 outbreak. The 36,000 delegates scheduled to attend, including 200 world leaders, have been told that the conference will now take place sometime in 2021.

The decision comes after the announcement that the Glasgow’s Scottish Events Campus, the space that was to host the event, is being transformed into a temporary hospital. It was decided that the use of public resources and infrastructure would need to be exclusively dedicated to fighting the virus for the foreseeable future, and that national bodies could not make headway on climate policy between now and November whilst their efforts were diverted elsewhere.

Alok Sharma – the UK’s business secretary and President of COP26 – issued a statement assuring the world that the delegates ‘will continue working tirelessly with our partners to deliver the ambition needed to tackle the climate crisis.’ He added, ‘I look forward to agreeing a new date for the conference’.

In a shocking twist of fate, these don’t appear to be empty words. European companies and political institutions have gone to great pains during the pandemic to restate the importance of tackling the climate emergency, refusing to let it fall by the wayside in favour of more pressing matters.

In a press statement announcing the postponement, UN climate change executive secretary Patricia Espinosa stated, ‘Soon, economies, will restart. This is a chance for nations to recover better, to include the most vulnerable in [their] plans, and… to shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, just, safe, and more resilient.’

Attesting to this, the European Council has approved a statement on the pandemic including the role of a ‘green transition’ as part of an as-yet unwritten ‘comprehensive recovery plan’ after the health crisis is over. And, whilst the EU is yet to agree on its 7-year budget, president of the European Commission Ursula bon der Leyen has indicated that the Green Deal will remain a cornerstone of her presidency.

Another sign of renewed commitment to carbon goals came from Spain, which recently submitted its national climate plan to the EU (several months late but who’s counting), stating that the nation is setting a renewable energy goal of 74% by 2030.

Even more surprisingly, one of the strongest renewed commitments to the environment has come from, of all places, BP. Given the crash of oil prices in the wake of COVID, petroleum companies around the world have begun a phase of deep cost-cutting. But during the crisis BP has recommitted to a greener focus than its already extant ambition of net-zero by 2050.

CEO Bernard Looney wrote on LinkedIn that the company would stand behind its new objectives. ‘This crisis has helped make clear that the world in which the sole objective of a company’s purpose is to maximize profit is no longer acceptable’. [Read our extended article on brand purpose during COVID here].

He goes on to state that the current global health crisis is ‘redefining ‘possible’ day by day’ and that ‘we should reflect on that next time someone says that tackling climate change is too difficult, too costly.’

COP26 postponement - GOV.UK

Of course, there are many that say these renewable targets being set by governments and institutions still are aren’t aiming high enough. When the EU passed its ‘European Green Deal’ legislation on March 4 which established 2050 as the target to hit net zero emissions, there was fury amongst climate campaigners such as Greta Thunberg, who stated that carbon emission goals need to be tackled in the next 10 years. Thunberg called the bill a ‘surrender’ and urged the EU to creation more ambitious targets.

Whilst it’s a shame that world leaders won’t have the opportunity this year to build upon the progress made in 2015, Looney hit the nail on the head with the notion that COVID has shown the possibilities of global cooperation on a massive scale. The ability for governments and corporations to act quickly in the best interests of communities, something that has long been decried as too difficult or economically draining to consider, has now been witnessed, and once this crisis inevitably does end, we must turn that fervour for change towards our most longstanding and potentially destructive threat.

Departed London, UK

My interests include social and climate justice, women’s issues, and human rights. If you\’re keen on current affairs and social change, check out my profile! Follow me on Twitter and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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