European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a final call to the world’s 20 richest countries ahead of the G20 summit in Rome on Thursday 28 October, urging them to show “leadership” on climate change, 3 days before the launch of the 26th session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
“We need leadership for credible commitments for decarbonisation to reach the goal of net zero mid century but we also need sufficient commitments to really cut the emissions this decade”, said Mrs von der Leyen, recalling the particular responsibility of the G20 countries (they account for 80% of global emissions).
In her view, the commitments that will be made this weekend at the end of the G20 summit (see other news) will provide “a pacemaker” for COP26, which will be held in Glasgow from 1 to 12 November.
Asked about her expectations for COP26 compared to the 2015 edition that led to the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the President of the European Commission insisted on the need for concrete action over the next 8 years.
“Paris set out the vision (...) Now it has to be about (setting) very concrete, detailed steps and roadmaps within this decade to make a crucial change that is absolutely necessary”, she said.
Challenges for COP26
Three major challenges await world leaders at this UN meeting.
The first is to increase global ambition in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet the Paris Agreement targets of keeping global average temperature warming below 2°C and as close as possible to 1.5°C by the end of the century.
How? By submitting, on a country-by-country basis, an update of the ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDC) representing the individual GHG emission reduction targets for each of the Paris Agreement signatory countries.
While some parties to the Paris Agreement such as the EU have revised their NDCs upwards, a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published on Tuesday shows that current NDCs could lead the world towards a warming of 2.7°C (see EUROPE 12821/17).
In an online press briefing on Thursday 28 October, MEP Pascal Canfin - who will chair the European Parliament’s delegation to COP26 - said that the COP will be “a failure” if “we come out of it at 2.7 °C”. He also highlighted the fact that the UNEP report does not take into account a possible update of the contributions from India and from China - which, at the time of writing, was about to unveil its revised NDC - two of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases.
Strengthening climate finance
The second challenge is climate finance, i.e. the financial support provided to the most vulnerable and least developed countries to help them cope with climate change, for both mitigation and adaptation.
While developed countries had committed to increasing climate finance to $100 billion per year by 2020 and until 2025, a recent report published by the UK Presidency of COP26 - and based on analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - showed that this target would not be met (and exceeded) until 2023.
According to this report, climate finance reached $79.6 billion in 2019 (see EUROPE 12793/3). For the year 2020, the data is not yet complete. However, “it is becoming clear that developed countries will not have mobilised US$100 billion jointly by that year”, the document says.
As a result, Mrs von der Leyen called on developed countries to “try harder” and to consider “providing the $100 billion already next year”, while recalling her recent commitment to increase the EU’s contribution by a further €4 billion until 2027 (see EUROPE 12791/2).
She added: “This is a question of credibility and solidarity worldwide”.
Finalising the Paris Agreement
Third, countries will work to finalise the rules of the Paris Agreement that they failed to agree on at COP25 in Madrid in 2019.
The aim is to reach a compromise agreement on rules for global carbon markets (Article 6 of the Paris Agreement) as well as transparency and reporting obligations to monitor progress under each party’s NDC.
On the subject of international carbon markets, the EU wants to ensure in particular that carbon trading between countries does not lead to double counting of emission reductions.
It also hopes that COP26 will lead to the establishment of complementary rules to launch a new international certification mechanism for carbon offsets “in a way that promotes ambition and environmental integrity”.
Partnership with South Africa
COP26 will also mark the launch of a series of initiatives.
The EU will unveil a partnership with South Africa to help the country move away from coal and develop renewable energy more quickly. The initiative, which is still being formed, also reportedly includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
“I am confident that (...) this partnership could become a template of how to support just transition around the globe”, said Mrs von der Leyen.
During their participation in the ‘Leaders’ Summit’ on the first 2 days of COP26, the President of the European Commission and US President Joe Biden will launch on 2 November a global commitment to collectively reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030 (see EUROPE 12809/8).
Some 60 countries have now joined the initiative.
In addition, Mrs von der Leyen will present a programme on innovation together with Bill Gates. Entitled ‘Breakthrough Energy Catalyst’, the initiative aims to demonstrate that “investing in green innovations pays off”, explained the President of the European Commission, mentioning “clean hydrogen”, “sustainable” aviation fuels, carbon capture and storage, and energy storage.
Finally, she will announce a financial contribution of €1 billion to the global commitment on forests, including €250 million for the Congo Basin. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)