Earth Today | COP26 president notes commitment to global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius

THE PRESIDENT-DESIGNATE of the upcoming international climate talks, Alok Sharma, has noted a commitment to doing the necessary work to restrain the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, in line with provisions under the Paris Agreement.

“With less than four months to go to COP26 … we are at a critical point for our climate,” he told Jamaican news media on Tuesday, referencing the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is to have its 26th sitting in Glasgow in November.

“I think we all understand we must take urgent action to reduce global emissions and to keep the goals of the international climate treaty … to keep the 1.5 within reach. This is the ambition that we have to keep alive, limiting the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees,” Sharma added.

Countries committed under the Paris Agreement to ‘holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change’.

Sharma’s statement has been welcomed by local stakeholders, a number of whom have been at the forefront of the lobby to restrain global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

THREATS TO ISLAND SURVIVAL

Global warming – fuelled by the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide – threatens the survival of small island developing states, including Jamaica, with impacts including sea level rise and more severe hurricane and drought events and the associated negative implications for food and water security, as well as for public health.

“Now more than ever, events and scientific evidence are making clear that, yes, 1.5 degrees is a critical threshold with respect to future Caribbean viability. The time to act to achieve 1.5 is fast running out,” said Professor Michael Taylor, a physicist who was a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) special report on global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

That report painted a clear picture of the raft of challenges that would face regions such as the Caribbean should global warming exceed 1.5.

“This COP represents one of the few remaining opportunities to get global commitment to actions and emissions compatible with the 1.5 goal. The COP is appropriately focused, but will require bold global leadership if it is to make a difference. That leadership must not only come from developed countries, but must also come from the Caribbean and other developing nations,” added Taylor, who is also dean of the faculty of science and technology at The University of the West Indies.

Sharma, who had high praise for Jamaica, reflected a similar sentiment.

“Jamaica is a country which is showing leadership when it comes to climate action, but clearly, if we are going to keep the 1.5 target within reach then it is going to need every country, particularly the biggest emitters, particularly the G20, to come forward with ambitious plans,” he noted.

Former climate negotiator for Jamaica Dr Orville Grey agreed.

LIMITING GLOBAL WARMING

“According to the IPCC, limiting global warming to 1.5 will require ‘far-reaching and unprecedented changes’ to human behaviour. Caribbean governments and SIDS in general rallied around the cry of 1.5 to stay alive. This commitment is significant, but must be underlined with real action. Tropical Storm Elsa, not a category 5 hurricane, has dealt a blow to several Caribbean SIDS, including the loss of three lives. The season has just started,” he said.

“We will likely continue to see a warming trend. New records are being made. It’s not a figment of the imagination, it’s real and it will continue to have far-reaching impacts. Sea levels are rising, these are real measured impacts. More than two-thirds of our populations live and work in the coastal zone. Our economies depend on our resources in our coastal zone. We have a duty of care to our people in the region to see to it that all reasonable efforts are made to secure this promise into a tangible product for our future. It’s 1.5 to stay alive, or at least survive. All hands on deck,” he added.

Indi Mclymont Lafayette, an advocate for climate justice and head of Change Communications, has welcomed the president-designate’s show of commitment.

“I am very happy to see that the president-designate of COP26 is pushing for urgent action to be taken to help us get to the 1.5 target. This is very encouraging as there was concern that amid COVID and Trump era, the 1.5 target had been put on the back burner,” she said.

“I cannot stress enough that without that 1.5 target being met, small islands like Jamaica will not survive long-term climate impacts.”

Sharma, meanwhile, arrived in Jamaica on Monday, on a tour of Caribbean islands, including Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados, ahead of the COP. The objective, he said, is to build collaboration towards the achievement of a robust meeting at the end of the year.

“One of the things that has been important for me in this presidency role is to try and visit as many countries as possible before COP, to have those vital discussions with ministers on a face-to-face basis. I hope building those relationships is what is going to help also to deliver a successful event in Glasgow,” he explained.

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