Many are moving to the COP26 global climate summit, but broken promises hinder changeExBulletin

ASMA KHALID, PRACTICAL:

As the G-20 concludes today, another global summit has just begun. World leaders are gathering in Glasgow, Scotland, for high-profile meetings on climate change known as COP26. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has raised hopes it could be a turning point in the fight to slow global warming. NPR’s Dan Charles is there and joins us now. Thank you for being with us, Dan.

DAN CHARLES, BYLINE: I’m glad to be here.

KHALID: So Dan, how realistic do you think it is to call this meeting a turning point?

CHARLES: It’s really tricky to try to describe how important this meeting is, because on the one hand, it’s really important because this is the only place where the world – you know, the world leaders get together to talk about this great global problem we have. Gases like carbon dioxide and methane are accumulating in the atmosphere, warming the globe. But on the other hand, it is not clear that this week’s meeting will produce actual decisions that bring us a solution. Some experienced climate negotiators I have talked to are actually a little worried that expectations for this meeting have gone out of control and people are hoping for something that is simply not possible.

KHALID: So Dan, why is that? I mean, why is this meeting unlikely to yield some sort of progress agreement on reducing fossil fuel emissions?

CHARLES: So it’s partly because of the way the whole thing is set up. All of these countries agreed six years ago – the big meeting in Paris – that they would collectively reduce global greenhouse gas emissions enough to control climate change. But it is up to each country to voluntarily decide how much it will do to get us all there. That’s right – it really is like a GoFundMe for the planet. So in this meeting, they do not really negotiate about the individual emission limits of a country. They just take into account what those countries are doing. The other thing is – and this is more essential – many countries have made it quite clear by coming to this meeting that they feel eavesdropped on. They say at the moment, we are doing everything we can. And this meeting will not change their minds.

KHALID: And so, Dan, I mean, it sounds like this is all kind of voluntary initiative, and if some countries do not want to agree on higher limits, you are saying that this is completely okay. But who are we talking about? Which countries?

CHARLES: Well, you know, China is very big, India too, but, you know, a lot more. But let’s start with India. He has just said very clearly that he does not agree with this central goal that many countries have set for the world, you know, which is to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.

KHALID: And net emissions – meaning every carbon dioxide you release into the atmosphere, you catch at least an equal amount by planting trees or something like that. Is that okay?

CHARLES: Exactly. Right. And scientists have said that we need to reach zero – net zero by 2050 to achieve that collective goal that companies – for which countries agreed. But India is saying, OK, maybe you, the US or Germany – you can reduce carbon emissions to zero now because you are rich, you can afford to pay people to buy electric cars or replace those coal plants. We can not do that. They say, we need more time and, by the way, more money. You have – you have to pay us to do it. China, meanwhile, the only major source of greenhouse gas emissions, has said it will reach zero net, but at a slower rate – by 2060, they say, which – frankly, that would be a great achievement if they would manage to do so. – a big change in their economy.

KHALID: So given the expectations here, Dan, what do people think will actually materialize? What would happen in this meeting?

CHARLES: Well, this meeting is about promises, but it also has a side, what do countries do to keep those promises? I mean, get the US You know, the Biden administration said we’re going to cut our emissions, but that’s been held in Congress. Here will happen some specific things, a lot of quarrels over the language of what these countries will say about the future, what they will do. There were some specific things on the agenda – cutting methane emissions, stopping deforestation, removing coal. And smaller groups of countries may decide to go it alone, you know, coalitions of volunteers. You know, there will be companies that make announcements, philanthropists. Honestly, you know, there’s an academic I talked to from Bangladesh who’s been to each of these climate summits, and he calls it a three-ring circus. Looks like a pretty good description.

KHALID: This is Dan Charles of NPR at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Thank you very much, Dan. I appreciate.

CHARLES: Thank you.

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