COP26: Activists encouraged as delegates begin to reach genuine agreement

The opening of the UN COP26 summit put ­Glasgow firmly on the world stage, with ­everyone from US President Joe Biden to Leonardo ­DiCaprio making an appearance.

It kicked off with a series of stark ­speeches warning of the need for urgent ­action – with the UN secretary general ­Antonio Guterres telling delegates “we are digging our own graves”.

There have been some headline-grabbing announcements in the first week, such as the pledge by 100 world leaders to end and reverse deforestation by 2030.

Following the departure of the world leaders on Tuesday, negotiating teams from the 190 countries ­represented have been faced with the task of trying to reach agreements on issues such as establishing a “rule book” for a global carbon market .

How successful those discussions have been is not likely to be known until after the conference ends on ­Friday, when a version of the final agreement is published.

Boris Johnson said ­countries must come back to the table for the second, final, week of negotiations ready to make “bold compromises and ambitious commitments”.

Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland, compared the start of COP26 to the weather in Glasgow.

He said: “During the opening days, it was overcast and dreich with too few commitments from countries and too little money on the table to address the climate crisis.

“But as the week progressed, and the weather improved, so did the ­signals coming out of COP.

“There were positive announcements from India to ramp up the use of renewables by 2030, agreements by nations to cut methane emissions by 30% by the same date and moves by some to phase out use of coal.

“Coming in to COP, the UN ­estimated the emissions reductions pledges on the table were leading us to 2.7 degrees of warming.

READ MORE: Scotland wins top climate award at COP26 for developing countries project

“Looking at the pledges so far, some analysts suggest we’re nudging toward 1.9 degrees.

“So while it’s nowhere near enough yet, and it relies on all these promises being kept, we’re getting closer.”

Banks said while pledges to ­reverse deforestation by 2030, with £14 billion of funding, were positive, more ­information was needed as the “devil is in the detail”.

He said the announcement by ­Scottish Government last week of a £1m funding to help address loss and damage from climate-related events in developing countries set a “really important precedent” for ­others to follow.

“So, with a week to go I am ­quietly optimistic that we will leave ­Glasgow with the world a little closer to ­keeping us on track to that 1.5 degree goal, so crucial for people and ­nature,” he added. “I’m certainly not putting away my umbrella or welly boots yet.”

Mary Church, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the “fine words and polished ­speeches” from world leaders should not distract from negotiations that must deliver real support for those on the frontline of the climate crisis.

“Many of the pledges sound ­superficially good, but they are light on detail, with targets in many years time, and little in the way of ­accountability,” she said.

“We need action to cut climate ­pollution from dirty energy now, not fantasy techno-fixes or dodgy ­offsetting schemes.

“Urgently needed climate finance owed by rich countries to enable ­nations on the frontline of the ­climate crisis to move away from fossil fuels and deal with the impacts of climate change is also still missing.”

The first week of the talks was marred by accusations COP26 is not inclusive or accessible, with queues, room limits and even problems with disabled access.

That comes on top of questions of how difficult it has been for people from some of the world’s most ­climate vulnerable countries to ­attend in the middle of a pandemic.

Church added: “The people who are most impacted by the climate ­crisis have been prevented from ­accessing COP26 through vaccine ­inequality, difficulties getting UK ­visas and the soaring costs of travel and ­accommodation.

​READ MORE: Damning 'royal hypocrite' billboards roll out across Scotland

“Those who have made it to ­Glasgow are finding new obstacles to participation via a combination of bad planning from the ­organisers, poor technological platforms and shrinking space for public scrutiny.”

The second week of ­negotiations will focus on themes including ­adaptation, loss and damage, ­gender, science and innovation, ­transport, and cities, regions and built ­environment.

Following the huge demonstrations in Glasgow, the COP26 Coalition will host a four-day “counter summit” from today until Wednesday.

More than 200 free sessions will be held in a dozen venues across ­Glasgow and online, featuring events such as workshops on defending the right to protest to a “Toxic Tour” of Glasgow’s biggest polluters.

Participants will also hear from coastal indigenous people on issues such as regain control of their lands in British Columbia and Pacific ­Islanders resisting deep sea mining.