The world leaders gathered at the climate summit in Glasgow secured new agreements on Tuesday to end deforestation and reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Now, the conference shifts to a more grueling phase.Over the next week and a half, with the heads of state and government gone, diplomats will try to agree on deeper greenhouse gas reductions and figure out how to deliver on a still-unmet promise from more than a decade ago to deliver $100 billion annually by 2020 to help poor countries pivot away from fossil fuels and prepare for the impacts of climate change.Most critically, vulnerable countries are pressing major emitting nations to agree to increase their climate targets each year in order to keep global temperatures from heading past 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with levels before the Industrial Revolution.Get live updates from COP26Our team in Glasgow will be covering the negotiations, the protests and more, and you can follow in real time with our live briefings. Here’s the Wednesday edition. You can also stay up-to-date on our climate and environment page. VideoWelcome to Glasgow: When world leaders arrived at the summit, protesters were waiting to greet them.‘No More Blah, Blah’: Greta Thunberg joined demonstrators outside the United Nations climate conference and accused political leaders of inaction in the fight against the climate crisis.From the Opinion section$3.5 trillion is a pittance: What we don’t spend now to fight climate change will cost us much more later, writes Abrahm Lustgarten, an environmental reporter for ProPublica, in a guest essay.The road to climate recovery: It runs through our forests, writes John Reid, senior economist at the nonprofit group Nia Tero, and Thomas E. Lovejoy, a biologist and senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation.Hello from Glasgow, where I’m reporting on the United Nations climate summit with my Times colleagues Somini Sengupta, Brad Plumer and our editors.This conference is the 26th time that the U.N. has tried to spur governments to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet. Each meeting has had its own distinct personality. Having been to 10 of them, I’d describe the mood this time as far more somber than in years past.Six years ago, world leaders, diplomats and activists were jubilant when nearly 200 countries struck a landmark climate deal in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget. Under the Paris Agreement, every nation promised to curb emissions enough to collectively keep global warming “well below” an increase of 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with preindustrial levels.Well, the Earth’s global surface temperature has already increased by about 1.1 degrees Celsius compared with the average before 1900. So, the pressure is on in Glasgow to see countries do far more to cut emissions — and to do it before the end of this decade.These talks also feel less energetic because environmental groups are being kept out of the main negotiating halls, largely because of coronavirus restrictions.You can get a sense of the scene inside the main venue from this short behind-the-scenes virtual tour.If you’re not getting Climate Fwd: in your inbox, you can sign up hereWe’d love your feedback on the newsletter. We read every message, and reply to many! Please email thoughts and suggestions to climateteam@nytimes.com.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/03/climate/cop26-summit-progress.html