AFP UK

World leaders meeting at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow will on Tuesday issue a multibillion-dollar pledge to end deforestation by 2030 but that date is too distant for campaigners who want action sooner to save the planet’s lungs.

According to summit hosts the British government, the pledge is backed by almost $20 billion in public and private funding and is endorsed by more than 100 leaders representing over 85 percent of the world’s forests, including the Amazon rainforest, Canada’s northern boreal forest and the Congo Basin rainforest.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the agreement on deforestation was pivotal to the overarching ambition of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“These great teeming ecosystems –- these cathedrals of nature — are the lungs of our planet,” he was expected to say in Glasgow, according to Downing Street.

“Forests support communities, livelihoods and food supply, and absorb the carbon we pump into the atmosphere. They are essential to our very survival,” said Johnson, who is chairing the summit.

“With today’s (Tuesday’s) unprecedented pledges, we will have a chance to end humanity’s long history as nature’s conqueror, and instead become its custodian.”

The signatories include Brazil and Russia, which have been singled out for accelerating deforestation in their territories, as well as the United States, China, Australia and France.

The government of Brazil, much criticised for its environmental policies, announced Monday at the summit that it would cut 2005-level greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 — up from a previous pledge of 43 percent.

“We are presenting a new, more ambitious climate goal,” Environment Minister Joaquim Leite announced in a message transmitted from Brasilia to Glasgow.

Leite also said Brazil would aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

– India targets net-zero 2070 –

For his part, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a target of net-zero emissions by 2070.

India’s commitment was eagerly awaited, as the South Asian giant is the fourth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China, the United States and the European Union.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg urged the leaders gathered for COP26 to act and stop their “blah blah blah” during a demonstration in Glasgow.

Almost a quarter of all man-made emissions of carbon dioxide can be attributed to land use activity such as logging, deforestation and farming.

President Joko Widodo of resource-rich Indonesia said his own archipelago’s rainforests, mangroves, seas and peatlands were key to restricting climate change.

“We are committed to protecting these critical carbon sinks and our natural capital for future generations,” he said in a UK government statement.

– 10 more years – 

The summit pledge to “halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030” encompasses promises to secure the rights of indigenous peoples, and recognise “their role as forest guardians”.

While Johnson described the pledge as “unprecedented”, a UN climate gathering in New York in 2014 issued a similar declaration to halve the rate of deforestation by 2020, and end it by 2030.

However, trees continue to be cut down on an industrial scale, not least in the Amazon under the far-right government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Humans have already cut down half of Earth’s forests, a practice doubly harmful for the climate when CO2-sucking trees are replaced with livestock or monoculture crops.

Greenpeace criticised the Glasgow initiative for effectively giving the green light to “another decade of deforestation”.

“Indigenous peoples are calling for 80 percent of the Amazon to be protected by 2025, and they’re right, that’s what’s needed,” said Greenpeace Brazil executive director Carolina Pasquali.

“The climate and the natural world can’t afford this deal,” she said.

Many studies have shown that the best way of protecting forests worldwide is to keep them under the management of locals with generations of preservation knowledge.

The commitment comes a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres harangued the gathered leaders to act to save humanity.

“It’s time to say: enough,” he said.

“Enough of brutalising biodiversity. Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves.”

Summit host Johnson warned of the “uncontainable” anger of the younger generations if the leaders failed to act decisively on climate change.

The UN COP26 conference will continue for another two weeks to try to craft national plans to forestall the most devastating impacts of global warming.

China said it has increased daily coal production by over one million tonnes, easing its energy shortage as world leaders gather in Britain for climate talks billed as one of the last chances to avert catastrophic global warming.

The world’s biggest coal importer has battled widespread power cuts in recent months that have disrupted supply chains, due to strict emissions targets and record prices for the fossil fuel.

But the crisis is now winding down thanks to a boost in domestic coal output, according to a statement from China’s top economic planning body late Sunday.

The National Development and Reform Commission said average daily coal production has risen to above 11.5 million tonnes since the middle of October, up by 1.1 million tonnes compared with the end of September.

The production surge comes as world leaders — but not Chinese president Xi Jinping — convene in Glasgow for COP26 talks to secure more ambitious global greenhouse gas emissions.

Xi, whose country is the world’s largest emitter of planet-heating gases, has instead submitted a written statement to the summit.

In recent months, several Chinese factories were forced to halt operations due to power outages, raising concern about global supply chains.

The squeeze had also been exacerbated by Beijing’s zero-tolerance Covid-19 policy that saw it all but close its borders to the outside world, hindering shipments of raw materials from overseas.

A trade tiff with Australia also heightened the drop in coal imports.

But at one point in late October daily output hit 11.72 million tonnes, a record in recent years.

Spot prices for the fuel are also “falling fast” with the main contract for thermal coal halving to 970 yuan per tonne over the previous eight days.

“Levels of coal storage … have also risen rapidly with the gradual improvement of the supply-demand situation,” the agency said.

China generates about 60 percent of its energy from burning coal.

Beijing submitted a renewed climate plan to the United Nations days before the COP26 climate summit, confirming its goal to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 and slash its emissions intensity — the amount of emissions per unit of economic output — by more than 65 percent.

China said it has increased daily coal production by over one million tonnes, easing its energy shortage as world leaders gather in Britain for climate talks billed as one of the last chances to avert catastrophic global warming.

The world’s biggest coal importer has battled widespread power cuts in recent months that have disrupted supply chains, due to strict emissions targets and record prices for the fossil fuel.

But the crisis is now winding down thanks to a boost in domestic coal output, according to a statement from China’s top economic planning body late Monday.

The National Development and Reform Commission said average daily coal production has risen to above 11.5 million tonnes since the middle of October, up by 1.1 million tonnes compared with the end of September.

The production surge comes as world leaders — but not Chinese president Xi Jinping — convene in Glasgow for COP26 talks to secure more ambitious global greenhouse gas emissions.

Xi, whose country is the world’s largest emitter of planet-heating gases, has instead submitted a written statement to the summit.

In recent months, several Chinese factories were forced to halt operations due to power outages, raising concern about global supply chains.

The squeeze had also been exacerbated by Beijing’s zero-tolerance Covid-19 policy that saw it all but close its borders to the outside world, hindering shipments of raw materials from overseas.

A trade tiff with Australia also heightened the drop in coal imports.

But at one point in late October daily output hit 11.72 million tonnes, a record in recent years.

Spot prices for the fuel are also “falling fast” with the main contract for thermal coal halving to 970 yuan per tonne over the previous eight days.

“Levels of coal storage … have also risen rapidly with the gradual improvement of the supply-demand situation,” the agency said.

China generates about 60 percent of its energy from burning coal.

Beijing submitted a renewed climate plan to the United Nations days before the COP26 climate summit, confirming its goal to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 and slash its emissions intensity — the amount of emissions per unit of economic output — by more than 65 percent.

World leaders will conclude a two-day climate summit on Tuesday with a multibillion-dollar pledge to end deforestation by 2030 — a date too far away for campaigners who want action sooner to save the planet’s lungs.

The pledge was to be issued at the UN’s COP26 conference, which will continue for another fortnight to try to craft national plans to forestall the most devastating impacts of global warming.

The summit’s chair, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said the agreement on deforestation was pivotal to the overarching ambition of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“These great teeming ecosystems –- these cathedrals of nature — are the lungs of our planet,” he was expected to say in Glasgow, according to Downing Street.

“Forests support communities, livelihoods and food supply, and absorb the carbon we pump into the atmosphere. They are essential to our very survival,” Johnson said.

“With today’s (Tuesday’s) unprecedented pledges, we will have a chance to end humanity’s long history as nature’s conqueror, and instead become its custodian.” 

The pledge is backed by almost $20 billion in public and private funding, and is endorsed by more than 100 leaders representing over 85 percent of the world’s forests, the UK government said.

The leaders include those of forest-rich Brazil and Russia, both condemned by activists for accelerating their own rates of deforestation, along with US President Joe Biden and others.

President Joko Widodo of resource-blessed Indonesia said his own archipelago’s rainforests, mangroves, seas and peatlands were key to restricting climate change.

“We are committed to protecting these critical carbon sinks and our natural capital for future generations,” he said in a UK government statement.

“We call on all countries to support sustainable development paths that strengthen the livelihoods of communities — especially indigenous, women and smallholders.” 

– 10 more years –

The pledge to “halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030” encompasses promises to secure the rights of indigenous peoples, and recognise “their role as forest guardians”.

But while Johnson said it was “unprecedented”, a UN climate gathering in New York in 2014 issued a similar declaration to halve the rate of deforestation by 2020, and end it by 2030.

However, trees continue to be cut down on an industrial scale, not least in the Amazon under the far-right government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Almost a quarter of all man-made emissions of carbon dioxide can be attributed to land use activity such as logging, deforestation and farming.

Humans have already cut down half of all Earth’s forests, a practice doubly harmful for the climate when CO2-sucking trees are replaced with livestock or monoculture crops.

Greenpeace criticised the Glasgow initiative for effectively giving the green light to “another decade of deforestation”.

“Indigenous peoples are calling for 80 percent of the Amazon to be protected by 2025, and they’re right, that’s what’s needed,” said Greenpeace Brazil executive director Carolina Pasquali.

“The climate and the natural world can’t afford this deal,” she said.

Many studies have shown that the best way of protecting forests worldwide is to keep them under the management of locals with generations of preservation knowledge.

“We will be looking for concrete evidence of a transformation in the way funds are invested,” said Tuntiak Katan Jua from the COICA indigenous organisation.

“If 80 percent of what is proposed is directed to supporting land rights and the proposals of Indigenous and local communities, we will see a dramatic reversal in the current trend that is destroying our natural resources,” he said.

“We have 340 sunny days per year,” Georgia Mouskou said, as sunlight streamed through her windows. “But we’re still not betting on renewable energies in Cyprus.”

Faced with her skyrocketing electricity bill, Mouskou says she wants to “rent a plot” to install solar panels.

Like Mouskou, rising energy costs and environmental concerns have caused residents of the east Mediterranean island to see solar power as an obvious option.

In the past year, the number of solar panels increased by 16 percent, according to the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC).

But Cyprus is still struggling to increase its use of renewable power.

In 2019, just 13.8 percent of its energy came from solar and wind energy, well below the 19.7 percent European average, according to Eurostat figures.

Cyprus hopes to boost its share of renewable energy to 23 percent by 2030 as part of its National Energy and Climate Plan.

– Heavy polluter –

But a shift to green power faces many hurdles. 

“The problem is renewable energies are unpredictable,” said Markos Asprou, an electricity specialist at the University of Cyprus’ KIOS research centre. “In case of shortfall, you need to be able to act.”

Cyprus, which lies some 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the Greek mainland, its nearest EU neighbour, does not have a nearby national power network that can at present bail them out in an emergency.

In 2011, the island’s main Vasilikos power plant on the island’s southern coast was damaged by a massive explosion on a nearby naval base.

For weeks, Cyprus suffered frequent power cuts.

Vasilikos, a 1,478 megawatt oil-powered station using imported diesel and heavy fuel, covers nearly two-thirds of Cyprus’ needs, placing it among the worst EU nations for its use of fossil fuels in producing energy.

In the control room of the plant, co-director George Moniatis points to an empty column on his screen indicating the absence of wind energy.

“What do we do if there’s no wind?” he said. “It’s very difficult. We can only rely on ourselves.”

To overcome its isolation, Cyprus has struck the costly EuroAsia Interconnector deal to link the electricity grid of Cyprus with Israel and Greece.

In October Cyprus also signed a deal with Greece and Egypt to transfer electricity through lines connecting the three countries.

Covid-19 times aside, the island of 800,000 inhabitants must also grapple with, on average, some four million tourists annually, concentrated in the hotter summer months.

Energy needs on the island surge from 300 megawatts in the spring to 1,200 megawatts in the sweltering summer heat, Moniatis said.

– ‘Switching lifestyles’ –

But renewable energy doesn’t offer the adaptability to meet these needs, he added. Methods for storing renewable energy do exist but they are complicated and costly.

“People want to sleep with their AC (air conditioner) on, but you don’t have solar energy during the night,” Moniatis continued.

But relying on fossil fuels has hit the pockets of consumers.

A kilowatt-hour cost 16.97 cents at the end of 2020, but soared to 21.78 cents in August, according to the EAC.

“With this bill, I got completely caught off guard,” Mouskou complained. “It affected our budget for the next few months.”

Despite her support for green energy, Mouskou says she cannot at present afford the cost of switching to solar panels.

“Even with state aid, it is impractical for us,” she said.

But some in Cyprus have found green energy is possible, seeing it as the future.

At Chirokitia, close to the giant power station, Melissa Ahearn has been living off the grid with her partner for almost a year using solar panels.

“When it comes down to switching to this new lifestyle, you realise you don’t need anything,” the former forex broker said. “Four light bulbs, a phone charger and the computer battery, that’s all.”

Climate change caused overwhelmingly by human activity is the primary source of the unprecedented forest fires regularly ravaging the western United States, according to a study published Monday.

Fires destroyed an average of 13,500 square kilometers (5,200 square miles) per year in the American west between 2001 and 2018 — twice as much as between 1984-2000.

“It’s happened so much faster than we previously anticipated,” Rong Fu, who led the study published by the US National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), told the Los Angeles Times.

In order to understand what contributed to such a significant deterioration of conditions in such a short time, a team of American researchers led by Fu analyzed various factors at work in the “vapor pressure deficit” (VPD), which indicates how dry the air is.

The VPD represents the difference between the amount of water actually present in the atmosphere and the maximum that the atmosphere could hold. The greater the deficit, the more water is drawn into the air from soil and plants, drying them out and creating conditions that are increasingly conducive to fires.

Scientists have determined that the increase in wildfires in the western United States is closely linked to this deficit during the warm season. Between May and September, the number of days with a high VPD increased 94 percent between 2001 and 2008 compared to the previous period, the study said.

According to Fu and her colleagues’ calculations, “natural” atmospheric variations were only responsible for an average 32 percent increase in VPD. The remaining 68 percent of the increase in atmospheric water deficit over the past 20 years is due to global warming, which is largely caused by human activities.

“Prior to 2000, we can explain this fire weather pretty well just using weather patterns,” said Fu, a climatologist at the University of California UCLA. “But now we can only explain 30 percent of what we see with fire weather.”

Some models show anthropogenic, or human-originated, warming could explain up to 88 percent of the anomalies seen in the VPD, the study found.

In August 2020, when California suffered the largest fire ever recorded in the region — the August Complex Fire, which alone burned nearly 4,200 square kilometers (1,600 square miles)  — so-called anthropogenic warming was responsible for about 50 percent of the “unprecedented high” moisture deficit, the study said.

According to climate experts, due to greenhouse gases generated by human activity, primarily fossil fuel use, the planet has already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial era.

Most of the warming has occurred in the last 50 years.

Climate change caused overwhelmingly by human activity is the primary source of the unprecedented forest fires regularly ravaging the western United States, according to a study published Monday.

Fires destroyed an average of 13,500 square kilometers (5,200 square miles) per year in the American west between 2001 and 2018 — twice as much as between 1984-2000.

“It’s happened so much faster than we previously anticipated,” Rong Fu, who led the study published by the US National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), told the Los Angeles Times.

In order to understand what contributed to such a significant deterioration of conditions in such a short time, a team of American researchers led by Fu analyzed various factors at work in the “vapor pressure deficit” (VPD), which indicates how dry the air is.

The VPD represents the difference between the amount of water actually present in the atmosphere and the maximum that the atmosphere could hold. The greater the deficit, the more water is drawn into the air from soil and plants, drying them out and creating conditions that are increasingly conducive to fires.

Scientists have determined that the increase in wildfires in the western United States is closely linked to this deficit during the warm season. Between May and September, the number of days with a high VPD increased 94 percent between 2001 and 2008 compared to the previous period, the study said.

According to Fu and her colleagues’ calculations, “natural” atmospheric variations were only responsible for an average 32 percent increase in VPD. The remaining 68 percent of the increase in atmospheric water deficit over the past 20 years is due to global warming, which is largely caused by human activities.

“Prior to 2000, we can explain this fire weather pretty well just using weather patterns,” said Fu, a climatologist at the University of California UCLA. “But now we can only explain 30 percent of what we see with fire weather.”

Some models show anthropogenic, or human-originated, warming could explain up to 88 percent of the anomalies seen in the VPD, the study found.

In August 2020, when California suffered the largest fire ever recorded in the region — the August Complex Fire, which alone burned nearly 4,200 square kilometers (1,600 square miles)  — so-called anthropogenic warming was responsible for about 50 percent of the “unprecedented high” moisture deficit, the study said.

According to climate experts, due to greenhouse gases generated by human activity, primarily fossil fuel use, the planet has already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial era.

Most of the warming has occurred in the last 50 years.

Queen Elizabeth II on Monday called on world leaders to act together to tackle climate change at the end of the first day of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

In a video message sent to the conference, she added her voice to a succession of world leaders stressing the urgency of the crisis.

But as the summit got under way, several observers said that so far, there had been more talk than action.

“If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time…,” said the queen.

“If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.”

The 95-year-old monarch, who last month briefly visited a private hospital in London, skipped the event on doctor’s advice.

But more than 120 heads of state and government gathered in Glasgow for the two-day event at the start of the UN’s COP26 conference, which organisers say is crucial for charting humanity’s path away from catastrophic global warming. 

“It’s one minute to midnight… and we need to act now,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the start of an occasionally chaotic opening day. 

– ‘Digging our own graves’ –

Monday’s most anticipated address, from India’s Narendra Modi, tempered the hype somewhat: the third largest emitter will only achieve net-zero by 2070.

COP26 is being billed as vital for the continued viability of the Paris Agreement, which countries signed in 2015 by promising to limit global temperature rises to “well below” two degrees Celsius, and to work for a safer 1.5C cap.

With a little over 1C of warming since the Industrial Revolution, Earth is being battered by ever more extreme heatwaves, flooding and tropical storms supercharged by rising seas.

US President Joe Biden, addressing delegates, described the current age of climate disaster as “an inflection point in world history”.

Governments are under pressure to redouble their emissions-cutting commitments to bring them in line with the Paris goals, and to hand over long-promised cash to help developing nations green their grids and protect themselves against future disasters.

“It’s time to say: enough,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said. 

“Enough of brutalising biodiversity. Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves.”

– ‘We are watching’ –

Thousands of delegates queued around the block to get into the summit on Monday, negotiating airport-style security in the locked-down city centre.

On nearby streets, protesters began lively demonstrations to keep up the pressure. 

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was among dozens of protesters who gathered in a nearby park, carrying banners with slogans like “We are watching”.

They marched across the river to directly opposite the venue chanting “We are unstoppable, another world is possible!”

Johnson warned of the “uncontainable” public anger if the conference fell flat. 

If the leaders “fluff our lines or miss our cue”, generations as-yet unborn “will not forgive us”, the prime minister said.

Biden apologised for his predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris deal.

Observers, however, were unimpressed with Monday’s announcements. 

“More is needed to turn words into action,” said Thomas Damassa, Oxfam America’s associate director for Climate Change.

“The US must work with other countries to secure a strong outcome that ratchets up emission reductions by major economies.”

– No Xi, Putin –

The G20 including China, India and Western nations committed on Sunday to the Paris goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C. 

They also agreed to end funding for new coal plants abroad without carbon capturing technology by the end of 2021.

But the precise pathway to 1.5C was left largely undefined.

Campaigners have expressed disappointment with the group, which collectively emits nearly 80 percent of global carbon emissions.

And there were a number of high-profile no-shows to the summit.

Neither Chinese President Xi Jinping — who has not left his country during the Covid-19 pandemic — nor Russia’s Vladimir Putin will be in Glasgow.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison,  condemned by campaigners last week for his country’s “net-zero” plan, doubled down on a decarbonisation vision heavily reliant on future innovation.

“Technology will have the answers to a decarbonised economy, particularly over time,” he said.

– Net-zero 2070 –

Most nations submitted their renewed emissions cutting plans — known as “nationally determined contributions”, or NDCs — ahead of COP26.

But even these current commitments — if met — would still lead to a “catastrophic” warming of 2.7C, says the UN.

China, by far the world’s biggest carbon polluter, has just submitted its revised climate plan, repeating a long-standing goal of peaking emissions by 2030. 

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan labelled Beijing among the “significant outliers”. 

China “will not be represented at leader level at COP26 and… has an obligation to step up to greater ambition as we go forward”, he added.

India meanwhile has yet to submit a revised NDC, a requirement under the Paris deal.

Modi said his country would achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, and that 50 percent of its energy would come from renewable sources by 2030.

Rich countries have so far failed to provide the promised $100 billion annually to help climate-vulnerable nations adapt to climate change.

The goal — meant to be delivered last year — has been postponed to 2023, exacerbating tensions between richer nations, responsible for global warming, and those poorer countries suffering most from its effects.

The government of Brazil, much criticized for its environmental policies, said Monday it would cut 2005-level greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 — up from a previous pledge of 43 percent.

It also vowed to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2028, two years earlier than a previous undertaking, despite record tree losses in recent years.

“We are presenting a new, more ambitious climate goal,” Environment Minister Joaquim Leite announced in a message transmitted from Brasilia to Glasgow, which is hosting a COP26 climate summit seeking to ramp up global action.

Leite said Brazil would aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, adding the pledges would be formalized at COP26, which he will attend next week.

In a recording also played in Glasgow, President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil was “part of the solution to overcome this global challenge” of climate change.

“The results achieved by our country until 2020 showed that we can be even more ambitious,” he said.

Criticized for reducing staffing and funding of environmental protection bodies, Bolsonaro’s government has made a series of announcements in recent weeks in a bid to boost its image at the summit.

US climate envoy John Kerry welcomed Monday’s announcement, saying on Twitter: “This adds crucial momentum to the global movement to combat the #ClimateCrisis. Looking forward to working together!”

Last Friday, the South American giant which is home to 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, said it would sign the so-called “Forest Deal” on reducing deforestation and land degradation.

According to a report by the Climate Observatory, a grouping of NGOs, Brazil’s CO2 emissions grew by 9.5 percent in 2020 even as global output fell seven percent due to the coronavirus epidemic halting transport and production.

This was Brazil’s highest level since 2006, and due to a rise in deforestation, especially in the Amazon, said the observatory.

Since Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, the Brazilian Amazon has lost some 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles) of tree cover every year, up from some 6,500 km2 annually in the previous decade.

Queen Elizabeth II on Monday called on world leaders to act together to tackle climate change at the end of the first day of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

In a video message sent to the conference, she added her voice to a succession of world leaders stressing the urgency of the crisis.

But as the summit got under way, several observers said that so far, there had been more talk than action.

“If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time…,” said the queen.

“If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.”

The 95-year-old monarch, who last month briefly visited a private hospital in London, skipped the event on doctor’s advice.

But more than 120 heads of state and government gathered in Glasgow for the two-day event at the start of the UN’s COP26 conference, which organisers say is crucial for charting humanity’s path away from catastrophic global warming. 

“It’s one minute to midnight… and we need to act now,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the start of an occasionally chaotic opening day. 

– ‘Digging our own graves’ –

Monday’s most anticipated address, from India’s Narendra Modi, tempered the hype somewhat: the third largest emitter will only achieve net-zero by 2070.

COP26 is being billed as vital for the continued viability of the Paris Agreement, which countries signed in 2015 by promising to limit global temperature rises to “well below” two degrees Celsius, and to work for a safer 1.5C cap.

With a little over 1C of warming since the Industrial Revolution, Earth is being battered by ever more extreme heatwaves, flooding and tropical storms supercharged by rising seas.

US President Joe Biden, addressing delegates, described the current age of climate disaster as “an inflection point in world history”.

Governments are under pressure to redouble their emissions-cutting commitments to bring them in line with the Paris goals, and to hand over long-promised cash to help developing nations green their grids and protect themselves against future disasters.

“It’s time to say: enough,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said. 

“Enough of brutalising biodiversity. Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves.”

– ‘We are watching’ –

Thousands of delegates queued around the block to get into the summit on Monday, negotiating airport-style security in the locked-down city centre.

On nearby streets, protesters began lively demonstrations to keep up the pressure. 

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was among dozens of protesters who gathered in a nearby park, carrying banners with slogans like “We are watching”.

They marched across the river to directly opposite the venue chanting “We are unstoppable, another world is possible!”

Johnson warned of the “uncontainable” public anger if the conference fell flat. 

If the leaders “fluff our lines or miss our cue”, generations as-yet unborn “will not forgive us”, the prime minister said.

Biden apologised for his predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris deal.

Observers, however, were unimpressed with Monday’s announcements. 

“More is needed to turn words into action,” said Thomas Damassa, Oxfam America’s associate director for Climate Change.

“The US must work with other countries to secure a strong outcome that ratchets up emission reductions by major economies.”

– No Xi, Putin –

The G20 including China, India and Western nations committed on Sunday to the Paris goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C. 

They also agreed to end funding for new coal plants abroad without carbon capturing technology by the end of 2021.

But the precise pathway to 1.5C was left largely undefined.

Campaigners have expressed disappointment with the group, which collectively emits nearly 80 percent of global carbon emissions.

And there were a number of high-profile no-shows to the summit.

Neither Chinese President Xi Jinping — who has not left his country during the Covid-19 pandemic — nor Russia’s Vladimir Putin will be in Glasgow.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison,  condemned by campaigners last week for his country’s “net-zero” plan, doubled down on a decarbonisation vision heavily reliant on future innovation.

“Technology will have the answers to a decarbonised economy, particularly over time,” he said.

– Net-zero 2070 –

Most nations submitted their renewed emissions cutting plans — known as “nationally determined contributions”, or NDCs — ahead of COP26.

But even these current commitments — if met — would still lead to a “catastrophic” warming of 2.7C, says the UN.

China, by far the world’s biggest carbon polluter, has just submitted its revised climate plan, repeating a long-standing goal of peaking emissions by 2030. 

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan labelled Beijing among the “significant outliers”. 

China “will not be represented at leader level at COP26 and… has an obligation to step up to greater ambition as we go forward”, he added.

India meanwhile has yet to submit a revised NDC, a requirement under the Paris deal.

Modi said his country would achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, and that 50 percent of its energy would come from renewable sources by 2030.

Rich countries have so far failed to provide the promised $100 billion annually to help climate-vulnerable nations adapt to climate change.

The goal — meant to be delivered last year — has been postponed to 2023, exacerbating tensions between richer nations, responsible for global warming, and those poorer countries suffering most from its effects.