COP26 Fails to Complete Homework... Ultimately Agrees to Extend NDC Deadline by One Year

Draft Statement Released on the 10th Sets Strengthened Targets by End of Next Year
Clear Differences Between Advanced Countries by 2050 and Developing Countries by 2060 at Earliest
No Concrete Plan Yet for Advanced Countries' Annual $100 Billion Support

[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) appears set to conclude on the 12th (local time) without fulfilling the task of "establishing a plan to keep the global temperature rise within 1.5 degrees." This is because participating countries prioritized their own economic interests over the greater cause of curbing climate change when presenting their greenhouse gas reduction plans.

The UK-based international climate change response organization, Climate Action Tracker, pointed out in a report released on the 9th that according to the currently announced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the global temperature is expected to rise by 2.4 degrees. The draft COP26 declaration released by the UK, the COP26 presidency, on the 10th included a call for countries worldwide to review their NDCs and strengthen their targets by the end of next year. Since the task was not completed at COP26, the deadline is effectively extended by one year.

This outcome was initially anticipated. The situation began to unravel at the G20 summit held in Rome, Italy, just before the opening of COP26. The initial draft of the G20 summit declaration specifically stated the target year for achieving carbon neutrality as 2050. However, the final declaration replaced this with the phrase "mid-century."

The UK, as the COP26 presidency, planned to establish concrete implementation plans at COP26 based on the G20 summit agreement. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed disappointment, describing the G20 summit agreement as a mere drop in the bucket.

The G20 summit and COP26 revealed clear differences in positions between developed and developing countries. While the United States and the European Union (EU) proposed achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, China and Russia set their targets for 2060. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend either the G20 summit or COP26. India announced its carbon neutrality target of 2070 only after COP26 had begun.

Developed and developing countries continued to clash over financial issues at COP26. Developing countries raised concerns about the $100 billion annual support fund promised by developed countries at COP15 held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009. Some developing countries pressured for an increase in the support fund, citing unfulfilled promises so far. Although some developed countries expressed willingness to increase the fund, no concrete agreement was reached on when and how the climate finance for developing countries would be secured.

The agreements reached at COP26 were also partial. The Global Methane Pledge, which specifies reducing methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030, reaffirmed the divide between developed and developing countries. China, India, and Russia did not sign the Global Methane Pledge, led by the US and EU. Australia was also absent.

More than 40 major coal-consuming countries, including South Korea, agreed to phase out coal power, with developed countries aiming to end it by the 2030s and developing countries by the 2040s. However, the world's top three coal users?China, India, and the US?were absent. The agreement to stop selling internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040 excluded major automobile-producing countries such as the US, China, and Germany, and the world's top two automakers, Volkswagen and Toyota, also refused to sign.

The only hopeful development was the surprise joint statement on the 10th by the US and China to strengthen climate change responses. The US and China agreed to work together to reduce methane emissions, with China reportedly promising to prepare a comprehensive and ambitious plan by next year. Attention is now focused on whether concrete progress will be made at the upcoming US-China virtual summit expected on the 15th.

Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), who led the 2015 Paris Agreement, and Laurence Tubiana, former French Foreign Minister, said in an interview with the UK daily The Guardian, "To keep the temperature rise within 1.5 degrees, the NDC deadline next year must be strictly met."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.