“We are digging our own graves.” UN Chief António Guterres sent a bold message to the international community on the second day of COP26. Calling our use of fossil fuels an “addiction” was a blunt statement that caught the ears of everyone listening. The UN chief called for greater climate mitigation efforts and immediate action to reduce 45% of global emissions by 2030. He discussed not only pushing the boundaries of our ambitions, but also building coalitions with each other to effectively phase out the use of fossil fuels.
He called for a $100 billion climate finance commitment in support of developing countries each year until 2050. This is a higher pledge to finance the climate crisis, with most funding sources pledging much less and promising more, knowing that realistic solutions come at a much greater cost. Despite this being more money than previously dedicated to climate change adaptation and mitigation, it is not estimated to be enough each year to effectively fight the climate emergency. Several Prime Ministers such as Mottley of Barbados suggested $500 billion per year in adaptation finance (this is not including mitigation efforts). She supported this figure by the fact that in the past 13 years, $25 trillion was pumped into the global economy, and $9 trillion alone in the past 18 months to fight the pandemic. Prime Minister Modi went a step further, recommending $1 trillion dollars a year to climate adaptation and mitigation until 2050 to realistically keep to 1.5C and fight the continuation of the climate crisis.
David Attenborough delivered a passionate speech about unity and global collaboration. The inspirational activist gave a moving and hopeful speech that was much needed on this very serious day two: “If working apart we are a force powerful enough to destabilise our planet, working together, we are powerful enough to save it.”
Joe Biden spoke next and represented the United States return to COP. His refreshing speech not only mentioned new targets and more ambitious commitments moving forward, but took responsibility for our country’s shortcomings and the urgency to do better. ‘None of us can escape the worst that’s yet to come if we fail to seize this moment’. President Joe Biden compared the climate crisis to the Covid pandemic, expressing them as borderless threats that must be met with aggressive efforts to mitigate and adapt.
Elizabeth Wathuti, a climate activist from Kenya called for courage from those at Glasgow. She led a moment’s silence for the billions of people who were not present in Glasgow, whose stories were not being heard and whose suffering was not being felt. “Please open your hearts. If you allow yourself to feel it, the heartbreak and the injustice is hard to bear,” she said. This was a beautiful message calling us to face the climate crisis despite its sadness and to stand up for justice even when climate change feels distant from our everyday lives.
Other notable speakers were Prince Charles of Wales, UK Leader Boris Johnson, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Mia Mottley prime minister of Barbados, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are not attending COP26. Russia and China’s absence from the event have been viewed as a big blow to hopes for significant progress on reducing global emissions.
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