Sustainability// “Get the Green Show on the Road!”: Is the UK ready for COP26?

By Jill Bunyan
25 April 2021

As we emerge from the chaos and devastation the previous 12 months has left behind in the UK and across the world, attention is turning to COP26 and the role the UK is playing as host. Postponed from November 2020 due to the global pandemic, the climate conference is scheduled to take place in Glasgow between the 1st and 12th November. The Conference of the Parties is the annual meeting of the Parties to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework on Climate Change). COP26 will mark a significant milestone, as it will be 6 years since the Paris Agreement, the international treaty on climate change, was adopted. The discussions will see the first review of the Agreement take place. Moreover, parties are required to prepare and communicate an NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) prior to the conference. An NDC will outline the climate action efforts a country is going to undertake to help achieve the goals of the Agreement. Namely keeping the global average temperature rise to “well below” 2 degrees, whilst “pursuing efforts” to aim for 1.5 degrees by 2100 and reaching global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. This delay has given parties more time to further enhance their ambitions in light of the pandemic. As the host, it is imperative that the UK sets the standard and sets it high. Prime Minister Boris Johnson knows this is an opportunity for the UK, the government, and him to shine. Which is something he sorely needs after his party’s failings over the past 12 months. The next few months are vital if the UK is to be taken seriously as a climate leader. 

On Tuesday 20th April, it was announced that the UK government will enshrine the world’s most ambitious climate change target into law. The new target will see the UK commit to reducing emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. The target emerges following on from advice released by the independent Climate Change Committee in December. The sixth Carbon Budget, which is the UK’s plan for reducing emissions between 2033-2037, will incorporate international aviation and shipping emissions for the first time. A crucial inclusion if we are to successfully decarbonise. This goal was announced just days before the Leaders Summit on Climate, hosted by President Biden on Earth Day, at which Johnson addressed world leaders and urged countries to set more ambitious climate targets ahead of COP26.  Whilst I welcome this announcement, I cannot help but feel that this is a tactic to garner praise during an important week in climate activists’ calendars. A further distraction from the numerous anti-climate activities the UK Government has been criticised for. The UK declared a climate emergency in 2019, but since then we have witnessed a series of decisions made that are not in line with this declaration, which does not point to the UK being ready to set the standard for other countries to follow. 

In recent months, we have seen the government announce it will continue to allow new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea to be granted. Albeit with a caveat that a climate compatibility test must be passed, but we are yet to see what criteria that will encompass. With Denmark and France already agreeing to ban new oil exploration licenses, this is hugely disheartening that the UK chose not to follow their lead.  Next, the government chose not to intervene when it was announced that the UK’s first new deep coal mine in 30 years was given the green light by Cumbria County Council. Only when the controversial project was met with severe public outcry and following new advice from government climate advisors on carbon emissions, did they declare a public inquiry would be held. More recently, the Green Homes Grant scheme, which promised grants to allow households to install low-carbon heating and insulation, was scrapped last month after failing to achieve its targets. Furthermore, it is estimated that between £65 and £88 billion will be spent on HS2 and £27 billion will be spent on roads between 2020 and 2025. Whilst air passenger duty is set to be cut on domestic flights, directly contrasting with France’s proposed ban on internal flights where train alternatives are available. These are just a few examples that indicate climate action is not being taken seriously by the government. I am becoming increasingly frustrated watching profit being prioritised over the planet time and time again, whilst the climate clock continues to count down. 

Making the transition to a net-zero economy, and ensuring that it is a just transition, requires a concrete plan of action and secure funding to ensure the new climate targets are met and are not just a plethora of empty words. Covid-19 and Brexit have dominated Parliamentary time, the headlines, and public spending, but with COP26 creeping closer it is time for the climate crisis to be put front and centre. The climate targets can be applauded for their ambition, but it is too early to celebrate. They will not be achieved without enormous efforts that need to be spearheaded by the government. The climate emergency is not being treated like an emergency, and if the UK does not lead by example come November, we are being set up for a humiliating failure on the international stage. There is no planet B. There is no second chance to get this right. To secure the future of our planet and ensure we leave behind a world fit for generations to come, we have to work together. COP26 will determine how far we have come, and how far we still have to go, and the UK cannot afford to mess up this opportunity to demonstrate leadership, direction, and commitment to combating the climate crisis. The rest of the world are watching, and so are we. 

References:

The Paris Agreement, 12 Dec. 2015, in UNFCCC, Report of the Conference of the Parties on its Twenty-First Session, Addendum UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1 (2015) entered into force 4 Nov 2016. (hereinafter The Paris Agreement)

The Paris Agreement, Art 4(2)

Ibid, Art 2(1)(a)

Ibid, Art 4(1)

‘UK Enshrines New Target in Law to Slash Emissions by 78% by 2035’ (GOV.UK) <https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-enshrines-new-target-in-law-to-slash-emissions-by-78-by-2035 >.

‘UK Parliament Declares Climate Change Emergency’ (BBC News 1 May 2019) <https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48126677>.

‘UK Government to Allow New North Sea Oil and Gas Exploration’ (The Guardian, 24 March 2021) <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/24/uk-government-to-allow-new-north-sea-oil-and-gas-exploration>.

‘Cumbria Coal Mine: Public Inquiry after Government U-Turn’ (BBC News, 12 March 2021) <https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-56364306>.

‘UK Government Scraps Green Homes Grant after Six Months’ (The Guardian, 27 March 2021) <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/27/uk-government-scraps-green-homes-grant-after-six-months>.

‘Everything You Need to Know about HS2’ (The Independent, 11 February 2020) <https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/hs2-train-route-map-rail-cost-jobs-speed-when-birmingham-london-a9328666.html>.

Department for Transport ‘Road Investment Strategy 2: 2020-2025’ p1.

‘UK Set to Cut Air Passenger Duty on Domestic Flights’ (The Guardian, 10 March 2021) <http://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/10/uk-set-to-cut-air-passenger-duty-on-domestic-flights>.

‘France Moves to Ban Short-Haul Domestic Flights’ (BBC News, 12 April 2021) <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56716708>.

Jill is a 24-year-old Scottish climate activist living in Glasgow. She received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Strathclyde in 2019, and a Master of Laws in Global Environmental and Climate Change Law from the University of Edinburgh in 2020. She is passionate about educating and empowering others to tackle the climate crisis and promoting sustainable living. She strives to do both through her work with Young Friends of the Earth Scotland and her Instagram account @sustainablescottishgirl. 

“It is vital that we embrace solutions to achieve sustainable and social development, work towards reducing carbon emissions, and crucially, that we ensure no one is left behind as we make the transition to net-zero”.