Glasgow: Leaders Make Promises on Methane, Forests, Decarbonization

November 2, 2021

Diana Olick at CNBC – “Government can commit billions to combat climate change, but the financial markets, – they can commit trillions.”

Many sources are reporting increased, if cautious, optimism after today’s developments on methane, forests, technology and finance at COP26 today.
— Geoffrey Lean (@GeoffreyLean) November 2, 2021

Posted by greenman3610
Filed in Crock of the Week

5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Glasgow: Leaders Make Promises on Methane, Forests, Decarbonization”

redskylite Says:

November 2, 2021 at 8:21 pm
Lets hope it’s not just more blah, blah, blah or promises blowing in the wind, based on the whims of voting and popularity. .

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The world “has been here before” with a declaration in 2014 in New York “which failed to slow deforestation at all”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59088498

Reply
- jimbills Says:
  
  November 2, 2021 at 9:05 pm
  Dr. Mann set the bar for COP26 here:
  https://climatecrocks.com/2021/10/31/michael-mann-what-does-success-look-like-in-glasgow/
  
  Success in Glasgow, to him, is:
  
  1. All major polluters commit to 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
  
  2. These governments don’t just ‘pledge’ – they take concrete steps towards those reductions.
  
  3. Provide real assistance to the developing world to leapfrog FF.
  
  COP26 has until 11/12. So far, with Biden leaving the conference today, it has:
  
  1. Lots o’ speeches.
  
  2. Limited to no involvement from China and Russia.
  
  3. A pledge by the U.S. and EU to reduce their methane emissions by 30% by 2030. Methane is a minority source of warming – China’s methane emissions are double that of the U.S., and India has more methane emissions than the U.S. A 30% methane reduction by two regions of the world by 2030 isn’t nothing. It’s also nowhere close to Mann’s bar for COP26 success.
  
  4. A concrete step by the U.S. to reduce approximately 1/50th of its yearly carbon emissions by EPA regulations in new (yes, new) methane production – dependent on the political party holding the Presidency. Sounds good, actually very weak.
  
  5. Ending deforestation by 2030. But, we’ve been here before. A pledge doesn’t mean it will happen, and putting it a decade in the future makes it more of a promise than an action. In 2010, the world’s largest agricultural corporations promised to end deforestation by 2020, and failed:
  https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2020/09/24/Food-giants-launch-new-deforestation-pledge-after-missing-2020-objectives-Our-approach-was-not-agile-enough
  In 2014, multiple countries pledged a 50% reduction by 2020 and failed – (your BBC link).
  
  6. A promise by bankers to help finance net zero by 2050. No word on FF financing for the next two decades.
  
  Reply
  - jimbills Says:
    
    November 2, 2021 at 11:06 pm
    7. India has pledged net zero by 2070. That’s an improvement over previously refusing to set a date at all:
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/india-surprises-cop26-climate-summit-2070-target-net-zero-emissions-n1282933
    
    Reply
    - rhymeswithgoalie Says:
      
      November 5, 2021 at 1:24 am
      I’m pretty sure that I, along with most of today’s leaders (including Biden, Putin, Xi, Kishida, Merkel, Bolsonaro) will be net-zero by 2070.
      
      Reply
- peNdantry Says:
  
  November 3, 2021 at 5:11 am
  Sadly, I fear it is more “blah, blah, blah”. Politicians the world over have an excellent record of not keeping the promises they make.
  
  Reply