The 26th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) started this week, with world leaders gathering to find a solution to climate change and climatic actions to attain net-zero carbon emissions.
On Sunday, the G20 major countries agreed to the key aim of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius to make the UN climate conference in Glasgow a success.
However, in such a vital conference with a very sensitive agenda, some of the world’s largest carbon emitters, China and Russia were physically absent from both the G20 summit and the COP26.
It should be noted that China is responsible for 28% of worldwide CO2 emissions. Similarly, Russia is the world’s 4th largest greenhouse gas emitter.
In between 2000 and 2018, Russia’s per capita carbon dioxide emissions increased by 14.5 percent. Regardless of being among the world’s largest carbon emitters, leaders of both countries denied participating in COP26 in person, making their climate commitments more questionable.
China’s President Xi Jinping participated in the G20 summit in Rome via video link, and will do so again at the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow.
COP26, according to climate experts, is our last chance to control climate change and take decisive climate action. China and Russia failing to show up in such a crucial program might result in an unfathomable loss for not just their countries, but the global community.
This comes after weeks of uncertainty over what role Xi may take in the meeting, which begins on Sunday. Likewise, President Putin, who has previously stated that he will not attend the United Nations climate summit in person, will not remark on Monday, as the format of the program doesn’t support video mode.
Following this announcement, world leaders expressed their disappointment with the apparent failure to take the climate issue seriously and its failure to show up physically.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden leveled his strongest criticism at Russia and China ahead of their participation in the COP26.
As he marked the completion of the Group of 20 meeting in Rome ahead of a major climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland, President Biden blamed Russia and China for a lack of momentum among the world’s most powerful nations in the battle against climate change. President Biden simply stated that China and Russia didn’t show up.
When it comes to China’s climate commitment, the country has announced new NDC targets and actions. China wants to reach carbon neutrality by 2060 and peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
China, on the other hand, has not properly addressed its efforts, methods, and actions to reach the stated goal. However, reality shows a different picture. China is constructing a huge number of coal-fired power plants to help the country recover from the pandemic.
The government has pledged a peak in CO2 emissions by 2030, but the fresh coal rush endangers both China’s decarburization objectives and global climate change efforts. China’s climate commitment is now being called into question as a result of its absence at COP26.
COP26, according to climate experts, is our last chance to control climate change and take decisive climate action. China and Russia failing to show up in such a crucial program might result in an unfathomable loss for not just their countries, but the global community.
Let us hope that COP 26 will be a success and all countries –those participating in Glasgow as well as those countries, which will not attend — will commit to addressing the Net-Zero climate goal by 2050.
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