After two weeks of negotiations, the UK COP Presidency announced on Saturday 13th of November the adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact as the final decision of COP26. An agreement adopted not without some difficulties by nearly 200 State Parties to the UNFCCC. What are the main outcomes from the latest climate talks, especially for the ocean?
A strong mobilisation which anchored the ocean in the climate negotiations
At this COP where Nature took center stage for the first time, the ocean community was strongly mobilised and coordinated to speak as one voice, as shown by the “Ocean for Climate” Declaration endorsed by more than 100 civil society organisations – NGOs, scientists, companies and international organisations. This mobilisation of the ocean community has paid off and led to the ocean being mentioned in the preamble of the Glasgow Pact, noting “the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including forests, the ocean and the cryosphere […]”. Marine ecosystems are also recognised as “carbon sinks” in Article 21 of the final decision, which emphasises the importance of the protection, conservation and restoration of terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is a real step forward which reinforces the recognition of the intangible links between the ocean, climate and biodiversity and the need to address them jointly in international climate and biodiversity processes.
At the institutional level, Article 60 of the final decision (1/CP.26) invites the relevant work programmes and constituted bodies under the UNFCCC to consider how to integrate and strengthen ocean-based actions in their existing mandates and workplans. Article 61 introduces the organisation of an annual “ocean-climate” dialogue held by the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, known as the SBSTA, from June 2022. This decision was warmly welcomed by the ocean community, which was calling for such a measure to be taken at this COP to formally anchor the ocean within the climate negotiations. An important effort of coordination was led by Fiji and the United States, prior to and at COP 26, to mobilise key countries of the “Friends of Ocean and Climate” group to support this common ambition for a recurrent dialogue.
A number of States have also committed to the ocean-climate nexus, with around twenty countries that have signed the 3rd “Because the Ocean” declaration; the United States joining the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy and the commitment of the Presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama to strengthen the protection of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor, one of the largest and most biologically rich corridors in the world.
On 5th of November, during the Marrakech Partnership’s Ocean Action Day, co-organised by the Ocean & Climate Platform and the High-level Climate Champions, over forty experts took part in discussions on scaling-up ocean-based climate solutions to ensure a resilient, nature-positive and net-zero future. The UK also announced a £6 million contribution to PROBLUE, a multi-donor fund administered by the World Bank that supports projects related to ocean protection and the blue economy.
Despite the ocean being increasingly recognised for its role in mitigating and adapting to climate change, its health remains particularly threatened by human activities. Only a drastic reduction in GHG emissions to limit warming to 1.5°C will safeguard the integrity of the ocean.
Despite modest progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Paris Rulebook has been finalised
Whilst keeping the 1.5°C target alive in the final decision was hotly debated, several commitments were made to reduce greenhouse gases. In this regard, more than 100 States committed to reducing their methane emissions – the second strongest greenhouse gas, 80 times more powerful than CO2 – by 30% by 2030 under the “Global Methane Pledge”. An agreement on coal was also reached by nearly 200 actors (States, financial institutions, companies) to exit this industry by 2040. However, several States heavily dependent on coal have not joined this agreement, thus compromising its full implementation in the coming decade.
Regarding fossil fuels, the topic was for the first time explicitly raised in the climate talks and the phase out of “inefficient fossil fuels” is mentioned in the final decision. The initial text also included the “accelerating phaseout of unabated coal power”, until India, supported by China, watered down the text – moving it from “phaseout” to “phase down”. However, some 20 countries including the UK, US, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea and France have pledged to end financing of overseas fossil fuel projects by the end of 2022. This is positive news, but it falls short of the urgency – given the latest Climate Action Tracker briefing that the world would still be on a path to +2.4°C warming if all states were to meet their climate action commitments (NDCs) by 2030.
It is also the first time that a COP has truly recognised and valued the role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs). Several governments and foundations have pledged to invest USD 1.7 billion to support the efforts of IPLCs in the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity.
Concerning carbon markets, it was not until the Glasgow COP that the negotiations finally reached a consensus on the famous Article 6, after six years of consecutive blockages. This long-awaited agreement provides the necessary rules for a transparent and accountable carbon market to promote greater climate ambition and the establishment of a new channel for financial flows from developed to developing countries. COP26 thus finally completed the Paris Rulebook and launched the next crucial stage of its implementation.
A disappointing record on climate finance
The 26th Conference of the Parties of the Climate Convention began with a powerful image: the one of Simon Kofé, Tuvalu’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaking knee-deep in the sea to highlight the consequences of sea level rise on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Adaptation of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change was indeed one of the “hot topics” of this COP26, and the conclusions did not meet the expectations. Whilst USD 100 billion were to be jointly raised in favour of least developed countries each year from 2020, this objective will not be reached before 2023. The final decision, however, “urges” States Parties ” to fully deliver on the USD 100 billion goal urgently and through to 2025” (article 27).
The negotiations on “loss and damage”, announced as a major issue of this COP, left a bitter taste for the most vulnerable countries, since no commitment to mobilise new funds in the framework of a specific mechanism was agreed – therefore, postponing this issue to the next COP.
After two years of delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic and more than two weeks of negotiations, this UNFCCC COP26 issued mixed feelings. Many topics that had been on hold for several years were the subject of a consensus, and topics related to the ocean and the climate-biodiversity nexus were particularly visible during this edition. However, the commitments of the States remain insufficient, whether in terms of mitigation, adaptation or their financial support in the fight against climate change. Parties will therefore have to increase their commitments to maintain the 1.5°C target within reach by the time of COP27 in Egypt. Although the States Parties to the Climate Convention are not yet on track to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the progress made at this COP26 does provide a basis on which to build. The challenge now is to translate the commitments into concrete actions.
Anaïs Deprez, Mariana Roudaut, Loreley Picourt