Climate-vulnerable countries float ‘emergency’ timetable

Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, who held the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting in 2009 in a symbolic cry for help for his low-lying island nation, says he’s not “pessimistic” about efforts to ramp up global climate action.

Now the speaker of parliament for his Indian Ocean home, he advocates on behalf of 48 vulnerable countries for more effort by big-polluter nations to cut emissions and boost finance for those on the frontlines of wild weather and rising oceans.

Ahead of the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow starting Sunday, the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) Nasheed represents - which unites developing nations from Africa, Asia and Latin America - has called for a “climate emergency pact”.

The grouping wants countries to ramp up their plans for emissions cuts at every annual U.N. climate summit through to 2025, striving harder to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius this century.

That accord says countries should update their national climate action plans, known as NDCs, every five years, though the 2020 deadline for the second round of pledges was delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are calling on any country - but especially the major emitters - to come with additional ambition at every single COP,” said Ethiopia’s Commissioner for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Fekadu Beyene earlier this month.

Close to 50 of the roughly 190 countries that signed up to the Paris accord have yet to submit new or updated emissions reduction goals due by the key UN talks.

Of those plans submitted, a few large emitters show low - or no - fresh ambition.

“They still have the same (small) amount of concern about inflicting harm on vulnerable countries”, even as warming impacts become more severe around the world, Nasheed said.

At COP26, governments will seek to get every country synchronised on a five-year schedule to tighten their emissions targets.

But a round of fresh pledges every five years may not be enough to meet the 1.5C goal, seen as vital by scientists, small island nations and other at-risk countries for the world to avert the worst effects of climate change.

To stick to 1.5C, the UN climate science panel says emissions need to be reduced by 45% below 2010 levels by 2030.

The latest UN assessment of existing plans and pledges by governments, however, shows emissions will rise 16 per cent this decade from 2019 levels, unless efforts are ramped up significantly.

Another UN report this week estimated that current commitments to cut emissions put the planet on track for an average 2.7C temperature rise this century, in yet another stark warning ahead of COP26.