Understanding the Glasgow Climate Pact of COP 26

Between October 31 and November 13, 2021, world leaders assembled at the Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow, United Kingdom for negotiations on how to ensure that the world is responsive to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and global warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels. The event was the 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  World leaders made different pledges and Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari pledged that Nigeria will attain net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emission by 2060. At the end of the conference, the “Glasgow Climate Pact” was reached. While COP 26 has come and gone, and the world leaders have since returned to their duty posts, the key question Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and other civil society organisations that attended COP 26 are asking is if the Nigerian government and other governments of the world will be able to meet their commitments at COP 26.

The Glasgow Climate Pact recognized the role of multilateralism and the UNFCCC, including its processes and principles, and the importance of international cooperation in addressing climate change and its impacts, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. It acknowledged that climate change is a common concern of humankind, countries should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity. It noted the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including in forests, the ocean and the cryosphere, and the protection of biodiversity, recognised by some cultures as Mother Earth, and also noted the importance of the concept of ‘climate justice’ when taking action to address climate change. It expressed appreciation to the heads of state and government who participated in the World Leaders Summit in Glasgow and for the increased targets and actions announced and the commitments made to work together and with non-Party stakeholders to accelerate sectoral action by 2030.

The Glasgow Climate Pact is divided into thematic areas. The first thematic area is “Science and Urgency”. The Pact recognized the importance of the best available science for effective climate action and policymaking. It welcomed the contribution of Working Group I to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report and the recent global and regional reports on the state of the climate from the World Meteorological Organisation, and invites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to present its forthcoming reports to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice in 2022.

The second thematic area is “Adaptation”. The Glasgow Climate Pact notes with serious concern the findings from the contribution of Working Group I to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report, including that climate and weather extremes and their adverse impacts on people and nature will continue to increase with every additional increment of rising temperatures. It emphasises the urgency of scaling up action and support, including finance, capacity building and technology transfer, to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change in line with the best available science, taking into account the priorities and needs of developing countries. It urged countries to further integrate adaptation into local, national and regional planning. It invites the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to present to the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-seventh session (November 2022) the findings from the contribution of Working Group II to its Sixth Assessment Report, including those relevant to assessing adaptation needs, and calls uponthe research community to further the understanding of global, regional and local impacts of climate change, response options and adaptation needs.

The third thematic area is “Adaptation Finance”. The Glasgow Climate Pact notes with concern that the current provision of climate finance for adaptation remains insufficient to respond to worsening climate change impacts in developing countries. It urged developed countries to urgently and significantly scale up their provision of climate finance, technology transfer and capacity-building for adaptation so as to respond to the needs of developing countries as part of a global effort, including for the formulation and implementation of national adaptation plans. It recognized the importance of the adequacy and predictability of adaptation finance, including the value of the Adaptation Fund in delivering dedicated support for adaptation. It welcomed the recent pledges made by many developed countries to increase their provision of climate finance to support adaptation in developing countries in response to their growing needs, including contributions made to the Adaptation Fund and the Least Developed Countries Fund, which represent significant progress compared with previous efforts. It called upon multilateral development banks, other financial institutions and the private sector to enhance finance mobilisation in order to deliver the scale of resources needed to achieve climate plans, particularly for adaptation, and encouragescountries to continue to explore innovative approaches and instruments for mobilising finance for adaptation from private sources. Other thematic areas of the Glasgow Climate Pact includes mitigation; finance, technology transfer and capacity-building for mitigation and adaptation; loss and damage; implementation; and collaboration.  

Eke, a programme manager, Centre for Social Justice, writes via 08035066196