COP26: Time For Corporates To Join Fight Against Climate Change

Photo/ Oma Daily

“We have to move from talk and debate and discussion to concerted, real-world action on coal, cars, cash and trees. Not more hopes and targets and aspirations, valuable though they are, but clear commitments and concrete timetables for change.”

Those were the opening remarks of UK prime minister Boris Johnson at the COP26 climate talks his government is hosting in Glasgow.

Over 120 world leaders are gathered in the city to negotiate how to rapidly reduce carbon emissions and fight off climate change before it’s too late. Climate experts say it’s the last chance for the world to save the planet from destruction. 

According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published in August, global warming is happening faster than previously projected. It said that the window to avoid suffering catastrophic consequences of climate change is closing if the world doesn’t act now. If the earth warms beyond 1.5 degrees celsius, the world will have to deal with more than just historic droughts, landscape-altering wildfires, deadly heat waves, and raging floods. At the moment, the earth has warmed to 1.1 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the report as a “code red for humanity.”

What is COP26 and why does it matter?

To avert this disaster, the world needs to drastically cut its carbon emissions and achieve a net zero by 2050. Net zero means that greenhouse gas emissions will be less than the amount removed from the atmosphere.

This is why 200 countries are converging in Glasgow to make plans to cut emissions by 2030. COP26 is a climate change summit organized by the United Nations. The theme of the event is to “make a plan for our future.” 

COP is an abbreviation for the Conference of Parties and the 26 refers to the 26th time the conference is being held.

During the 2015 Paris climate conference, countries pledged to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees celsius. The past decade was the warmest in the history of humanity and governments acknowledged the need for urgent action.

At COP26, governments will be taken to task on their plans to reduce carbon emissions to achieve the global target. There will be discussions on ways to cut emissions including the use of industrial boilers, shift to electric cars, and the adoption of renewable energy. 

Lack of political goodwill

G20 leaders perform the traditional coin toss in front of the Trevi Fountain at the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday.
Photo/ CNN

The COP26 was preceded by a G20 meeting in Rome during which climate change was discussed. 

However, climate experts described the meeting as weak. 

While G20 acknowledged the need to accelerate climate action and committed to end coal financing by the end of 2021, they didn’t commit on when the use of coal would actually end. They also did not make any commitments to improve on issues like climate finance. This, experts say, will make negotiations at the COP26 summit difficult.

Queen Elizabeth, in a pre-recorded address for the COP26 summit after being advised to rest by her doctors, urged world leaders to “rise above the politics of the moment.”

“In the coming days, the world has the chance to join in the shared objective of creating a safer, stabler future for our people and for the planet on which we depend.,” she said. 

The Queen added that none of the world leaders would live forever and they should focus on serving the future rather than short-term political rewards.

In October, during the opening of the Welsh Parliament, the Queen reportedly suggested that she was irritated  by people who “talk” but “don’t do” with regards to climate change.

However, a report by the Guardian revealed that the Queen had secretly lobbied Scottish ministers to exempt her personal property from a climate law. As a result, her property was exempted from having to undertake an initiative to cut carbon emissions. The Queen is the only person in Scotland who doesn’t have to use renewable energy when constructing pipelines to heat buildings.

The US president, Joe Biden’s, 20-car motorcade has also drawn widespread public criticism, with people questioning the commitment of political leaders to combating climate change.

How corporates can step in

Photo/ Trillion Trees Organization

Prince Charles said that the global private sector should take the lead in the fight against climate change. 

He said that he understood that many developing countries could not afford to adopt green energy, but the private sector had “trillions of dollars at its disposal.”

Global corporations such as Intel, Kohl’s, the National Hockey League (NHL), Walmart, and Apple are already using renewable energy to power their businesses. Others have also announced plans to go green in the near future.

But corporations can also adopt tree planting as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). 

According to research, 11 percent of the total land needs to be filled with trees in order to eliminate two-thirds of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. This would prevent global warming from reaching the dreaded 1.5 degrees celsius. 

One million trees have already been planted in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an attempt to restore the Congo basin. The United Kingdom and China are also undertaking massive afforestation programs.

In Myanmar, BioCarbon Engineering founded by former NASA engineer Lauren Fletcher is using drones to plant trees. Each of the drones are able to plant around 40,000 trees per day. As of 2020, the company has planted over 10 million trees in the Southeast Asian country. 

It plans to expand the program to other countries around the world with a degrading landscape.

Four jobs that could save the planet

Careers that focus on reducing carbon footprint, plastic and food waste, and harnessing renewable energy will play an important role in saving the world from climate impact. These four careers are important if the world is to have any ecological future:

Simulation engineering

Simulation engineers predict how much carbon a building will emit. This ensures that buildings have a low carbon footprint and reduce the amount of emissions they release into the atmosphere.

Aine Murray, a junior simulation engineer, told BBC UK that she measures the thickness of walls and the type of bricks and windows to be used to determine if they will be carbon compliant. 

Food recycling and repurposing

The UK throws away 9.52 million tonnes of food per year. This is what inspired Karina Sudenyte to start a juice company that makes juices from unwanted fruit and vegetables. She sources the produce from the UK and Europe. Besides selling her products to local cafes and restaurants, Karna also donates the drinks to various charities.

Food waste contributes about 6.7 percent of all carbon emissions. Recycling and repurposing unwanted foods could go a long way in reducing emissions.

Solar farm management

Solar energy is not only a clean source of energy but also sustainable. As governments cut down on coal funding and ultimately ban the use of coal, solar energy harvesting will become a crucial component of power supply for businesses and homes. 

This is why solar farm management is going to be an important career in the fight against climate change.

Media and journalism

How many ordinary citizens understand anything about climate change? Will they be bombarded with detail and jargon from COP26 that they will hardly understand what’s going on? This is where the media industry comes in. Players in the media industry must not only advocate for climate change but also educate ordinary people about climate change and how they can contribute towards carbon reduction.

In the words of Boris Johnson, we need to act now!

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