As COP26 enters its second week, climate and energy experts from the University of Delaware are sharing their opinions about the proceedings, including pressing issues, conference goals, and future outlooks. In this entry, Kalim Shah, Assistant Professor in the Biden School of Public Policy and Director of the UD Island Policy Lab, shares his thoughts.
What is the most pressing issue in climate change today?
The inadequacy of commitments by the industrialized countries to equitable provision of resources, finance and preferences afforded to the most vulnerable developing countries – small islands and least developed nations. Finance and resources going towards Mitigation is important but far outweighs the attention to resources for Adaptation, which is urgent and critical for small islands and least developed nations.
What is your takeaway from COP26 so far?
The political rhetoric is mixed, with some parties virtue signalling moves to zero emissions while previous ‘low carbon’ transition promises remain unfulfilled. Yet others are setting less ambitious but maybe more realistic targets based on increasingly accurate emissions output metrics. Perhaps this is more implementable and can set up a pathway where achieving emissions reductions aligns with realistic milestones which progressively get more ambitious.
What are you hoping to see in the time left in COP26?
The most vulnerable nations – small islands and least developed nations – continue to ‘punch above their weight’ to voice the message of realism and urgency in the global forums. To regain traction on transition pathways, vulnerable nations need assistance in rebuilding covid depleted economies otherwise additional investments in climate actions become dimmer.
What do you think of the goals that COP26 set for itself (net zero by 2050, adapt to protect communities and ecosystems, mobilize finance, and work together)?
Countries need to be more truthful and accurate in their stated ambitions and shift attention more to adaptation actions because climate change impacts are here. Prioritization of decarbonization ‘wedges’ is required, that is, ‘where is the most bang for the buck’ right now with limited time before we reach scientific thresholds. Power generation and transportation and sectors like agriculture are typical hotspots to target.
Where do we go from here?
Parties need to go back home and get concrete national/domestic commitments on their respective agendas. Agreements made at COP26 do not get implemented unless domestic policies and legislation gets agreed upon and resourced at that level. There also seems to be some rays of light on progress through bilateral negotiations and multilateral groups of countries rather than notions of all parties being on board with everything.
To learn more about Kalim Shah and the research and work of UD’s Island Policy Lab, watch this video.
