COP26 today: Trudeau doubles down on emissions cap for oil sands; Britain to fund $3 billion in green investments
Source: The Globe and Mail | Original Published At: 2021-11-01 14:06:36 UTC
Key Points
- UK pledges $3 billion in green investments for developing economies
- Canada commits to emissions cap for oil and gas sector
- Biden urges global climate action amid stalled domestic legislation
- Russia adopts 2060 carbon neutrality target, rejects U.S. criticism
- Erdogan skips COP26 over security disputes
- BRICS nations' limited representation at summit
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a short speech at the 26th meeting of the Council of Parties to the UN climate convention, known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The latest
Britain to fund $3 billion worth of green investments in developing economies
Britain announced on Monday it will fund green investments of more than 3 billion pounds ($4.11 billion) over five years and new guarantees to support clean infrastructure projects in developing economies.
The UK government made the pledge as the United Nations COP26 summit opened in Glasgow, Scotland. The UK also confirmed it will separately provide additional guarantees to the World Bank to fund $1 billion worth of green projects across India, as reported by Reuters earlier.
“The climate has often been a silent victim of economic growth and progress – but the opposite should now be true,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in the government’s statement.
Johnson also addressed the opening ceremony of the COP26 summit, an event that has been billed as a make-or-break chance to save the planet from the most calamitous effects of climate change.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks through the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021.Alberto Pezzali/The Associated Press
Trudeau moves on pledge to cap oil and gas emissions
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the memory of Lytton, B.C., on Monday as he called for global action in the fight against climate change and formally committed to a cap on emissions produced by Canada’s oil and gas sector.
The prime minister was speaking at the 26th meeting of the Council of Parties to the UN climate convention, known as COP26, where more than 120 world leaders have gathered for two days to assess global efforts to address what many see as an existential problem.
It was in that context that Trudeau referenced the record-setting temperatures that set the stage for the devastating wildfire that swept through the village of Lytton in June, destroying much of the community.
“What happened in Lytton can and has and will happen anywhere,” Trudeau told the assembled leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “How many more signs do we need? This is our time to step up — and step up together.”
Trudeau went on to formally launch his government’s latest effort to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by committing to a cap on emissions from the country’s oil and gas sector.
Such a cap had been promised in the Liberals’ recent election platform, with plans to force emissions down until they hit net zero in 2050. A lack of regulations for the sector has long been a sore spot between environmental groups and Ottawa.
President Joe Biden speaks during the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
Biden swings focus of climate effort from U.S. to the world
President Joe Biden was swinging the focus of his battle for fast, concerted action against global warming from the U.S. Congress to the world on Monday, appealing to other leaders at a U.N. summit to commit to the kind of big climate measures that he is still working to nail down at home.
Speaking to world leaders at the newly opened climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Biden planned to tote up his not-yet year-old administration’s climate efforts and announce new climate initiatives, including billions of dollars in hoped-for legislation to help poorer communities abroad deal with climate damage already underway.
Wading back into hands-on diplomacy with allies overseas this week after the withdrawal of the Trump administration, Biden on the eve of his climate summit arrival touted “the power of America showing up.” Air Force One touched down Monday in grey Glasgow for the summit.