COP26 – Politics Plus

As Seen from Afar 11/12/2021

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 5:53 pm Politics

Nov 122021

COP26 Day 12 | It’s finally crunch time

Euronews Green delivers a Special COP26 email to my mailbox every day during the two weeks it is running (01-12 November 2021). I’ll publish it in its entirety for those who are interested. This is the ninth in the series.

Today’s takeaway

COP26 was due to wrap at 7pm CET today but there is still no white smoke for a final agreement as this newsletter goes to publication. If the almost 200 countries involved in the talks are unable to strike a deal this evening, it is likely COP26 will go into overtime.

A new draft decision published early this morning appeared to water down the language from the previous text calling to end all use of coal and phase out fossil fuel subsidies completely. While the change has sparked criticism from climate activists, some conceded that the draft text at least had the merit of retaining a mention to fossil fuels for the first time in decades of UN climate talks.

The draft cover deal has also retained a core request for countries to set more ambitious climate targets next year. But this request appears to use weaker language than the previous draft, saying the upgraded pledges should take into account “different national circumstances.”

On the positive side, many observers find the new text stronger on climate finance. “We’ve moved from richer nations largely ignoring the pleas of developing countries for promised finance to tackle climate change, to the start of recognition that their calls should be met,” said Greenpeace chief Jennifer Morgan.

“A small number of key issues remain which require our urgent collective attention,” said COP26 chairman Alok Sharma this afternoon as he urged “a final injection of can-do spirit” to deliver on an ambitious climate deal.

Looking ahead, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates will host the next COPs in 2022 and 2023 respectively, following announcements in Glasgow yesterday. An Egyptian official said the North African country would hold the next climate talks “on behalf of Africa.”

In case you weren’t able to follow along on Thursday, here are five key takeaways from Day 11.

At a glance

Latest draft of COP26 deal ‘waters down’ language on ending coal use

The change in wording suggests a shift away from unconditional demands that some fossil fuel exporting nations have objected to.
Read more

What is ecocide and why is it so important that we enshrine it into law?

Ecocide can literally be translated as “home-kill,” making clear its violence and absurdity. It refers to the destruction humans knowingly do to the environment, from deforestation to ocean plastic pollution. So why is it legal?
Read more

Meet the filmmaker who swapped a London flat for an off-grid boat

In the third episode of Euronews Green’s new video series Low Impact Living, we speak with adventurer and filmmaker James Levelle about being a ‘river nomad’.
Read more

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As Seen from Afar 11/11/2021

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 4:27 pm Politics

Nov 112021

COP26 Day 11 | ‘Not there yet’

Today’s takeaway

Waves of tentative optimism were sweeping through COP26 today after the US and China announced a bilateral deal to redouble their climate efforts.

The joint statement issued by Washington and Beijing called for “enhanced climate action in the 2020s”, including a new, stronger emission cuts target in 2025 and a pledge by China to follow the US lead in slashing methane emissions.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and others hailed it as “an important step in the right direction.” But some analysts thought the deal “lacked meat” on concrete commitments besides those on methane.

Whether or not this spirit of cooperation will be reflected in the final agreement of COP26 is another story. Difficult negotiations involving almost 200 countries continued in Glasgow after a draft cover deal was released yesterday.

“We’re not there yet. There is still much more work to be done,” said COP26 chairman Alok Sharma as he briefed delegates on the progress of the talks, urging another “gear shift” in the final hours of the summit.

The UK presidency said it planned on publishing the next draft of the cover deal overnight, with a new meeting of ministers planned for tomorrow morning.

COP26 is due to end on Friday evening, but an extension has not been ruled out.

In other news, Denmark and Costa Rica launched an ambitious alliance today to phase out coal and gas. Six full members, France, Greenland, Ireland, Quebec, Sweden and Wales also joined the group known as the ‘Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance‘.

Campaigners hailed the move as a “turning point” while urging more countries to join.

“The creation of this alliance puts to shame claims of climate leadership among countries like the United Kingdom, Norway, the United States, and Canada, all of which have yet to answer this simple question: Where is your plan to stop producing the fossil fuels that are driving the climate crisis?” asked Romain Ioualalen of Oil Change International.

In case you weren’t able to follow along on Wednesday, here are five takeaways from Day 10.

Some additional bad and good news

Deforestation in Australia: a wanton assault on wildlife – in pictures

More than 100 nations including Australia have signed up to stop or reverse deforestation by 2030. The pact, hailed as one of the main achievements of COP26, put the spotlight on an issue that combines carbon emissions and threatened species. These images reveal some of the shocking impacts of deforestation.

(From: The Canopy, Greenpeace Australia Pacific)

At a glance

Major European countries pledge to phase out oil and gas

A “first of its kind” alliance of governments has committed to phasing out the production of oil and gas. Led by Costa Rica and Denmark, the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) saw six members join.
Read more

Local councils trusted more than world leaders on climate, poll finds

British people trust local councils more than the government when it comes to taking action on climate change, a new survey has revealed.
Read more

Frustrated doctor diagnoses woman with ‘climate change’ in world first

A Canadian woman has become the first patient in the world to be diagnosed as suffering from ‘climate change’, after she developed breathing difficulties following a historic heatwave. But what are her symptoms?
Read more

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As Seen from Afar 11/10/2021

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 5:18 pm Politics

Nov 102021

COP26 Day 10 | The beginning of the end

Today’s takeaway

COP26 entered a new phase of negotiations on Wednesday after a first draft of the summit’s final decision was circulated early this morning.

The seven-page document urges countries to strengthen their climate plans by the end of next year and, for the first time, calls for the phasing out of coal and fossil fuel subsidies.

This draft text isn’t the end of the story yet in Glasgow but it marks the beginning of the end for the summit.

Diplomats from the nearly 200 countries represented at COP26 have now begun to negotiate the text hoping to strike a final deal before proceedings are meant to come to a close on Friday.

But the draft deal has had mixed reviews so far – especially from climate activists. A Greenpeace executive compared it to a “polite request that countries maybe, possibly, do more next year.” That’s “not good enough,” she said.

The COP26 Chairman expects a “near-final text to be published overnight,” as negotiations continue.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the trip to Glasgow to press negotiators to find a compromise. “We know what needs to be done but we just need the courage to get on and do it,” he said.

Today was also Transport Day at COP26 and there was a raft of announcements about zero-emissions vehicles.

A group of countries and companies signed a pledge to switch to emissions-free cars by 2040 and by no later than 2035 in leading auto markets.

Critics pointed out that large countries including the US, Germany, China and Japan stayed out of the deal, along with some of the world’s biggest car manufacturers.

The International Energy Agency says that 60 per cent of new car sales need to be battery-electric by 2030 and internal combustion engine cars need to be phased out by 2035 to keep below 1.5C. Many believe this pledge is not ambitious enough to achieve that.

If you weren’t able to follow along on Tuesday, here are five takeaways from COP26 Gender Day.

Some additional bad news

Australia among nations trying to soften COP26 declaration

Australia has joined a coalition of countries working to water down a key proposal from the Glasgow climate summit which would pressure the Morrison government to overturn its opposition to a more ambitious 2030 emissions reductions target. (From: The Canopy, Greenpeace Australia Pacific)

Some additional good news

‘Existential crisis’: United States and China stun COP26 with joint climate change pact

China and the United States have made a shock joint statement at the Glasgow climate talks, declaring climate change to be an existential crisis demanding co-operation between the superpowers.
(From: The Canopy, Greenpeace Australia Pacific)

At a glance

UPDATED: First draft of COP26 climate deal is released

The seven-page document is the first version of the agreement that will outline how countries plan to cut emissions and keep global warming below 1.5°C.
So what does it say?
Read more

Meet the climate group who have published a guide on how to sue Shell – and win

Their victory was the first judgement where a multinational corporation was held responsible for its contribution to climate change.
Read more

This cheeky 12-year-old activist is the perfect antidote to COP26 doom and gloom

Francisco Vera is not your ordinary kid. The Colombian primary school student is among the foremost climate activists at COP26, where he is calling for world leaders to include young people in the ongoing talks and negotiations.
Read more

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As Seen from Afar 11/09/2021

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 6:18 pm Politics

Nov 092021

COP 26 Day 9 | ‘Climate change is sexist’

Today’s takeaway

On Gender Day, COP26 turned its focus to the disproportionate climate impacts suffered by women and girls across the world.

“Climate change is sexist,” a US government official put it on Tuesday. 80 per cent of people displaced by climate change are women and children, according to UNFCC.

“But women and girls are also leading efforts to tackle climate change in communities around the world,” said COP26 chairman Alok Sharma as he outlined pledges for gender-responsive climate finance.

The puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian girl known as Little Amal made the journey to Glasgow to “represent all girls who could not be here,” at COP26, said Samoan activist Brianna Fruean as she opened the Gender Day lead event with Amal.

Meanwhile, the hard work on the summit’s cover decision continued in negotiation rooms. The UK presidency said it will publish a first draft of the summit’s final decision overnight. New texts have been tabled on time frames, transparency, finance and adaptation so far.

“We still have a mountain to climb,” warned Sharma as the clock ticked to strike a deal that will help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

New forecasts released on Tuesday suggest the world is still far off that number. Think tank Climate Action Tracker said current climate policies put us on track to a scary 2.7 degrees Celsius warming – or 2.4 C if all governments met their 2030 targets.

If you weren’t able to follow along on Monday, here are five takeaways from Day 8.

At a glance

Five reasons climate change affects women more than men

Women and girls experience violence and a lack of access to education as a direct result of the climate crisis.

What is land inequality and how does it threaten women?

Land inequality is directly threatening 1.4 billion of the world’s poorest people including women, according to a recent report.
Read more

COP26: Why has a speech by Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister gone viral?

Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister Simon Kofe spoke to Euronews after a video of his speech at COP26 showing him standing knee-deep in seawater took the internet by storm.
Read more

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As Seen from Afar 11/08/2021

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 3:52 pm Politics

Nov 082021

COP 26 Day 8 | Will ministers ever agree?

Today’s takeaway

As COP26 enters its final and decisive week, ministers from all over the world are arriving in Glasgow with a challenging task at hand. They must reach a consensus between almost 200 countries on the rules that will govern the implementation of the 2015 Paris agreement.

Positions are still far apart, according to many observers. A long list of contentious issues includes international carbon markets, deadlines for climate targets and accountability mechanisms.

Loss and Damage – the theme of the day – remains another sticking point. Little progress has been registered so far on the demand from climate-vulnerable countries to receive compensation for the damages caused by historic emissions of wealthy nations.

Meanwhile, the UK COP26 presidency announced several hundreds of millions of pledges of funding to support communities struggling to respond to climate change.

Yet numerous developing nations expressed their pessimism about the progress of negotiations on Monday, saying pledges were high in quantity but low in quality.

“We have not done nearly enough,” said former US President Barack Obama as he spoke at the summit.

Praising young people’s climate action, he told them: “I want you to stay angry, I want you to stay frustrated. But channel that anger and that frustration to keep pushing for more and more.”

In case you weren’t able to follow along this weekend, here are five key takeaways from global climate marches on Saturday.

At a glance

Has the UN ‘failed to address’ the root causes of climate change?

As negotiators and COP attendees were having a well-deserved rest, a People’s Tribunal took place on Sunday. Made up of activists, experts, NGOs and even a former COP negotiator from the Global South, the mock tribunal heard four hours of evidence against the UN organisation.

Could airplane pollution be solved by fuel made of sunlight and air?

Aeroplane fuel can be made out of just sunlight and air, say scientists in Switzerland. A new system has been created on the roof of ETH Zurich University where engineers are testing whether this type of fuel generation can work in the real world. So is making plane fuel out of natural elements too good to be true – and how does it actually work?
Read more

Green hydrogen: How half the water in a toilet flush could power your home for days

Emission-free hydrogen could, one day, entirely replace fossil fuels – and a start up in Germany believes it has the key ingredient to make it accessible to all. Born in a climate-change affected South Pacific Island, Vaitea Cowan believes deeply in green hydrogen technology.
Read more

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As Seen from Afar 11/05/2021

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 3:19 pm Politics

Nov 052021

COP 26 Day 5 | Young people raise their voices

Today’s takeaway

After world leaders, financiers and energy experts had their say, COP26 turned its focus to young people and marginalised communities on Friday.

“What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now!” thousands of mostly young protesters chanted as they took to the streets of Glasgow.

Instead of the optimistic statements by officials over the past few days, activists slammed COP26 as a “failure”.

“We will not accept it,” climate activist Greta Thunberg told a buzzing crowd at the Fridays for Future march. She compared the summit to a “global north greenwash festival” and finished with, “this is shameful”.

Young people raised their voices not just outside the summit venue but also inside. The COP26 Presidency said the views of over 40,000 young climate leaders were presented to ministers and negotiators at a meeting today.

However, young activists said they were not sure they were being heard. “I feel like I’m being seen,” said Brianna Fruean, a 23-year-old activist from Samoa at the beginning of the conference. But – “I will know if I’ve been heard by the end of COP.”

In other news today, a study by Oxfam charity found that the world’s richest 1 per cent would emit 30 times more carbon dioxide than the amount deemed compatible with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C. The world’s richest “appear to have a free pass to pollute,” Oxfam said.

If you weren’t able to follow along on Thursday, here are the 5 key takeaways from day 4 of COP26.

At a glance

Climate activists walk 820km in 26 days to reach COP26

Meet the activists who walked from London to Glasgow to raise awareness, engagement and action on the climate crisis. Over the course of 26 days, the hikers battled rain, wind and storms to arrive on time for the beginning of COP26.
Read more

Greta Thunberg speaks to thousands: ‘COP26 is a PR event to fight for the status quo’

The young Swedish activist spoke with urgency, attacking the climate conference itself on the Youth Stage at COP26 today. “COP has turned into a PR event where leaders are giving beautiful speeches and fancy commitments and targets,” she said.
Read more

Meet the young people turning eco-anxiety into eco-activism

Phoebe Hanson felt powerless, alone and afraid when she first learned about climate change as a teenager. But instead of giving in to feelings of despair, she has turned her own experience into a tool for helping other young people suffering from eco-anxiety.
Read more

Social exclusive

As Seen from Afar 11/04/2021

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 4:48 pm Politics

Nov 042021

COP 26 Day 4 | Is this the end of coal?

Today’s takeaway

It was Energy Day at COP26 today and negotiators switched their focus to how the world can ditch fossil fuels.

Among a flurry of announcements, one in particular stood out. Over 20 countries committed to both phasing out and refusing to build new coal power plants for the first time.

“Today, I think we can say that the end of coal is in sight,” said COP26 chairman Alok Sharma, praising the deal.

However, critics pointed out that the biggest polluters, like the United States and China, have so far failed to sign up. They also argued that all fossil fuels need to be phased out, it’s not just coal.

In a turn of events, by the end of the day, Poland had already reversed its commitment to exit coal by 2030.

Meanwhile, Indonesia backpedalled on its promise to end deforestation by 2030 after signing up to a landmark deal along with over 100 other countries.

If you weren’t able to follow along on Wednesday, here are the 5 key takeaways from day 3 of COP26.

At a glance

Biggest polluters are missing from major pledge to phase out coal

More than 40 countries have made a major commitment to end coal use on Wednesday. But several major economies still have not set a date for ending their dependence on the fuel that is a major source of planet-warming emissions.
Read more

What is ‘nature tech’ and why should you listen out for it at COP26?

Director and chair of the Nature4Climate initiative Lucy Almond makes the case for ‘nature tech’ and explains why bridging the two worlds is so essential.
Read more

Renewable energy will never be 100% green, says expert

Switching to clean energy is the best chance we have of slowing down the climate crisis. But one scientist tells Euronews renewable sources can never be 100% green, due to the emissions generated from manufacturing them.
Read more

Social exclusive

Open Thread for November 4, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:12 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 042021

Yesterday, I overslept a biy – still tired from the day before. So I kind of took my time – and worked some on a new portrait doll. Otherwise, a quiet day.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Florida Trio Accused of Smuggling Guns to ‘400 Mawozo’ Gang in Haiti
Quote – Three Florida residents are facing federal charges for allegedly smuggling firearms from South Florida to leaders of Haiti’s notorious 400 Mawozo gang, recently accused of kidnapping at least 17 American and Canadian missionaries last month near Port-au-Prince.
Click through for the exact charges. Who did they think they were, the CIA?

Law & Crime – Woman Pointed Gun at 7-Year-Old Child Who Was Trick-or-Treating: Deputies
Quote – According to authorities, Bradford was yelling at nearby trick-or-treaters. Deputies did not explain how this escalated to her pointing a gun at the 7-year-old, or specify why she was mad in the first place, but that is what they alleged she did.
Click through for mugshot. There’s not much detail but the quote was so Dunning-Kruger I couldn’t resist.

Crooks and Liars – Everyone Is Watching Sir David Attenborough Today And You Should Too
Quote – The problem often feels too big for one person to understand, let alone make a difference in solving it. But Sir David Attenborough makes it EASY to understand…. I watched it this morning and feel BETTER and better informed on the topic of climate change than I ever have before. I hope you do, too.
Click through for video and full accurate transcript. We really need this.

Food for Thought –

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