EN 
DE Resolutions in favour of more speed in climate protection and global solidarity
In Glasgow, the international community negotiated how global warming can be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. This target was agreed at the 2015 climate summit in Paris. At the World Climate Conference, all 197 countries agreed on far-reaching resolutions for more climate protection and more solidarity with the countries already hardest hit by climate change. The international community recognises the scientific findings that the world must do significantly more in climate protection this decade in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. For the first time in the history of world climate conferences, the final declaration contains an agreement accepted by all states to accelerate the global energy transition away from coal and to reduce subsidies for fossil fuels. International climate policy has thus formulated a new economic model. In the past, world climate conferences were primarily about states setting targets - now, for the first time, they are also about how they achieve these targets.
One milestone in the negotiations was the conclusion of the so-called rule book on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. It was agreed, for example, that future climate targets will be presented for five years and reported according to standardised standards and formats. Agreement was also reached on the question of how emission reductions can be traded between countries in future. It was possible to eliminate loopholes in the crediting of emission reductions.
(Source: Each Country's Share of CO2 Emissions | Union of Concerned Scientists (ucsusa.org)
The key resolutions of the 26th Climate Change Conference
Coal phase-out: The world should phase out coal combustion, at least if the carbon dioxide produced is not captured and stored. More than 190 countries, regions, companies and institutions signed a voluntary commitment to this effect, including Germany. However, the demand to phase out coal was watered down in the final document. Instead of a phase-out, pressure from China and India, which are heavily dependent on coal, now only refers to a gradual phase-down.
The "Glasgow Climate Pact" also includes the demand to cancel "inefficient" subsidies for oil, gas and coal.
Improve climate protection plans: By 2022, the countries are expected to have improved their previously inadequate climate protection plans for this decade. Previously, improvements were always planned at longer intervals. The new wording emphasises the urgency that all countries now see in climate protection.
The declaration also states that global emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases must fall by 45 % this decade if the 1.5-degree limit is to remain achievable.
Payments from rich countries: The rich countries are being asked to mobilise the money they have pledged for climate protection and adaptation to climate change. In Copenhagen in 2009, they agreed to mobilise 100 billion dollars a year by 2020. This has not happened in full. The cancelled payments should now be made up as quickly as possible.
Developing countries are to be able to spend more money on adapting to climate change - for example on dyke construction or climate-resilient agriculture. Specifically, financial aid is to be doubled by 2025, i.e. from the current annual amount of around 20 billion US dollars to 40 billion US dollars (around 35 billion euros).
USA-China pact: The USA and China want to set up a joint working group. The two countries made the surprising announcement in Glasgow on 10 November. According to the declaration, both sides want to accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral global economy together and separately. To this end, more ambitious climate protection measures will be taken before the end of this decade. China accounts for 28 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, while the USA has a share of 15 per cent.
Financing forest protection: Together with 11 other countries, Germany has pledged USD 12 billion for forest protection by 2025. This will support mitigation and adaptation measures, the restoration of forests and sustainable development.
International public financing of fossil fuels: After Germany withdrew from the international financing of coal infrastructure in 2015, the German government took the next step in Glasgow and joined an alliance of pioneering countries that will end international public financing of fossil infrastructure altogether if it is not compatible with the 1.5 degree path to climate neutrality.
Atom: Together with allied EU states, Germany has issued a joint declaration in Glasgow, signalling that nuclear power is not a solution in the fight against the climate crisis and must not be included in the EU taxonomy as sustainable.
Beyond the official resolutions of the World Climate Conference, there were also numerous successes in the Glasgow framework programme: in addition to the Sino-American declaration for more climate protection in the 2020s, it should also be emphasised that India set itself the goal of climate neutrality by 2070 for the first time at the conference. A new alliance to reduce methane emissions found 105 supporters, which alone can lead to a reduction in global warming of 0.2 degrees. However, mathematician and climate modeller Chris Smith from the University of Leeds puts the 0.2 degrees into perspective, as many countries have already planned for methane reduction in their national climate protection plans. According to his calculations, the additional cooling effect is only 0.02 to 0.05 degrees.
The criticism levelled at the other action alliances is that not all countries are behind them, sometimes only a few. For example, not a single one of the largest oil and gas producing countries is participating in the alliance to accelerate the phase-out of oil and gas. Germany, China and the USA, on the other hand, are not taking part in the aim of phasing out combustion engines by 2040, nor are major car manufacturers such as BMW and Volkswagen supporting this movement.
Can the 1.5-degree target still be met?
Not with the decisions from Glasgow. According to the calculation of the science network Climate Action Trackers warming will reach 2.4 degrees if the solid Glasgow pledges, backed by medium-term plans, are honoured. If even the most non-binding pledges are met, the world will still reach 1.8 degrees. Before the conference pledges, the expected warming was 2.7 degrees according to the Climate Action Tracker. These are still only pledges anyway, now action must follow.
Evaluation of the results of COP26
German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) praised the deal. "The fossil fuel era is coming to an end, the energy transition is becoming a global model," she said. US climate envoy John Kerry said that in negotiations, the supposedly perfect should never stand in the way of the good. "And this is good."
Greta Thunberg had already described COP26 as a "greenwashing festival" at a major event on 5 November 2021 and took to the streets with tens of thousands of demonstrators at half-time before leaving. At the end of the conference, she tweeted: "COP26 is over. Here's the short summary: Blah, Blah, Blah"
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, also expressed his disillusionment. "It's an important step, but it's not enough. It's time to go into emergency mode."
What happens after the conference?
In 2022, the countries will submit new climate targets, which will then be discussed at the next climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The climate targets are to be further increased there. However, increasingly drastic measures will become necessary as time goes on in order to achieve the 1.5-degree target.
Climate protection is an issue that affects us all! As part of the "Engineering for a Better Tomorrow" programme, the MuP Group is helping to achieve compliance with climate targets. M&P GO.BLUE.NOW is working with customers and partners to limit global warming to 1.5°.
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