Canadian climate groups see 'big reasons for optimism' at COP26
CTV
As world leaders gather in Glasgow, Scotland for this year’s United Nations climate change conference, Canadian climate groups say more policies must be put in place to curb the use of coal and pivot to renewable energy.
The summit, taking place from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, will see more than 190 world leaders gather together in an effort to tackle climate change and accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Rick Smith, president of the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, is headed to the conference himself. While he admits he is “very optimistic” about what COP26 will achieve, he says there is still need for progress.
“One number matters more than anything else and that's 1.5 degrees, the warming from historic levels that scientists tell us our planet can take,” Smith told CTV News Channel on Sunday. “So what we need to see in Glasgow is the sum total of all these countries coming from around the world, upping their contributions to that carbon reduction target.”
In 2015, nearly 200 countries pledged to limit global warming to 1.5 C compared to pre-industrial levels with the signing of the Paris Agreement. But last month, the UN warned that policies promised by these parties will lead to a temperature rise of about 2.7 C by the end of this century. The organization has since released a report stating that recent announcements by dozens of countries to aim for net-zero emissions by 2050 could limit a global temperature rise to 2.2 C, a figure that still does not hit the 1.5 C target.
