Responding to climate change is a matter of “adapt or die” according to Emma Howard Boyd, the chair of the UK Environment Agency. While much of the attention at COP26 is trained on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the crisis, these gases are already at dangerous levels in the atmosphere and will continue to influence the climate for decades to come. Adapting to the mounting floods, droughts, and heatwaves is equally as important. These consequences of climate change already affect communities worldwide. Many countries have developed national adaptation plans to make infrastructure more resilient. But most countries in the Global South are struggling to implement these changes without additional funding. African nations, including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, have proposed a finance deal at COP26 -- the UN climate change summit in Glasgow -- which would channel US$700 billion (£520bn) every year from 2025 to help poorer countries build barriers which could alleviate coastal flooding for example, and install solar-powered irrigation systems for growing food.
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.