Representatives from 196 countries are registered to attend November’s international climate talks in Glasgow, but concerns about the pandemic and the unequal and unjust distribution of vaccinations raise concerns that many representatives of poorer nations from the Global South might not be able to attend.
"Our concern is that those countries most deeply affected by the climate crisis and those countries suffering from the lack of support by rich nations in providing vaccines will be left out and be conspicuous by their absence at COP26," said Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network.
According to the WHO, 57% of Europeans are fully vaccinated; in Africa, the number falls to roughly 3%.
"There has always been an inherent power imbalance within the UN climate talks and this is now compounded by the health crisis. Looking at the current timeline for COP26, it is difficult to imagine there can be fair participation from the Global South under safe conditions and it should therefore be postponed," Essop added.
In a Sept. 7 statement, CAN notes:
It is evident that a safe, inclusive and just global climate conference in early November will be impossible given the failure to support Covid19 vaccine access to millions of people in poor countries, the rising costs of travel and accommodation, including for quarantine in and outside the UK, and the uncertainty in the course of the Covid19 pandemic.
An in-person COP in early November would de facto exclude many government delegates, civil society campaigners and journalists, particularly from Global South countries, many of which are on the UK’s current Covid19 ‘red list’.
This exclusion poses serious and long-lasting implications for issues that will be under deliberation at this COP and that are extremely important to developing countries, such as climate finance, loss and damage and carbon market rules, among others.
COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma says they are “working tirelessly with all our partners, including the Scottish Government and the UN, to ensure an inclusive, accessible and safe summit in Glasgow with a comprehensive set of Covid mitigation measures.
"This includes an offer from the UK government to fund the required quarantine hotel stays for registered delegates arriving from red list areas and to vaccinate accredited delegates who would be unable otherwise to get vaccinated.
"Ensuring that the voices of those most affected by climate change are heard is a priority for the COP26 Presidency, and if we are to deliver for our planet, we need all countries and civil society to bring their ideas and ambition to Glasgow," Mr Sharma said.
It is also uncertain whether Afghanistan, which rates number six on the Climate Risk Index, will be represented at the COP. The country is ravaged by drought, a 1.5 degree C rise in temperature, flooding, and water scarcity. Only 1.1% of the country is fully vaccinated.
“I’m 100% sure we will pass this darkness. But this COP and our climate change situation would be a really serious issue, maybe more than the current situation,” said Ahmad Samim Hoshmand, who served as the national ozone director in Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency until the takeover.
He attended the last conference of parties, or COP, in Madrid in 2019 and said he was one of several delegates selected to attend the November convention in Glasgow.
Hoshmand had been drafting a paper outlining Afghanistan’s positions on the upcoming climate negotiations when the government fell, he said.www.eenews.net/...
Last year’s COP was canceled due to the pandemic. This year’s meeting, however, is the most important since COP21 in Paris. Countries are expected to set forth more ambitious climate pledges or nationally determined contributions (NDCs), taking into account shortcomings following the recent release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. The report severely shortened the timeframe available to prevent global temperatures from rising beyond the 1.5-2.0. degree C limit determined by the Paris Agreement. It established the 2020s as the crucial decade to drastically cut back on greenhouse gas emissions and made the case that even a 1.5 degree C rise in temperatures will be devastating.
Some 20,000 people are expected in Glasgow.
COP Primer
Here is a small primer to bookmark and refer back to before and during the talks.
For starters, if you’re new to the official negotiations, I’d check out the BBC article COP26: What is the UN climate conference in Glasgow and why is it so important? The article notes that a successful Conference of the Parties (COP) would successfully address four issues:
- Ending the use of coal
- Stopping deforestation
- Switching to electric vehicles
- Investing in renewable energy
History of UN Climate Talks — from Kyoto to Paris, an overview of what has various agreements and accords agreed to at the COPs.
The UNFCCC sets a long-term objective of avoiding dangerous human interference with the climate system. Toward that end, the agreement:
- commits all nations to take steps to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions;
- establishes the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” (CBDRRC), recognizing that countries vary in their contributions to climate change and capacities to address it, so their obligations will likewise vary; and
- commits developed countries to assist developing countries in reducing emissions and coping with climate impacts.
UNFCCC LINGO
From CBDRs to INDCs: Acronyms on the road to averting climate change disaster
When the world first became conscious of the need to tackle global warming and climate change, in the early 1990s, it was considered fair that those who had created the problem be made responsible for cleaning the mess.
Glossary of climate change acronyms and terms
More than you’ll ever want to or need to know, a comprehensive A-Z
Each Party to the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol is represented at sessions of the Convention bodies by a national delegation consisting of one or more officials empowered to represent and negotiate on behalf of their government.
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TImeline
It took 23 years for the United Nations to take up issues regarding the environment. Its initial focus was over concerns that natural resources were abundant enough to meet the growing needs of the developing world.
Timeline from Stockholm to Glasgow. 1949-2021
Action
This October, thousands of people will come to DC to demand that President Biden end the fossil fuel era. He must stop approving fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency right now, ahead of the United Nations climate summit in November.
We will take action over 5 days to highlight the damage done by fossil fuels, the climate impacts we are already facing, and the need for real solutions rooted in justice.
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Monday, October 11th: Indigenous-led action on Indigenous Peoples Day.
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Tuesday, October 12: Fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis.
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Wednesday, October 13: Climate chaos is happening now.
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Thursday, October 14: We need real solutions, not false promises.
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Friday, October 15: We did not vote for fossil fuels. Youth-led action.
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The writers in Climate Brief work to keep the Daily Kos community informed and engaged with breaking news about the climate crisis around the world while providing inspiring stories of environmental heroes, opportunities for direct engagement, and perspectives on the intersection of climate activism with spirituality, politics, and the arts.
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