The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) brought together 120 world leaders.

For
two weeks, the world was riveted on all facets of climate change — the science, the solutions, the
political will to act, and clear indications of action.

Points agreed:

Recognizing the emergency, - All of the countries recognized that the impacts of climate change will
be much lower at a temperature increase of 1.5 °C compared with 2 °C

Accelerating action - when carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced by 45 per cent to reach net
zero around mid-century

Moving away from fossil fuels - In perhaps the most contested decision in Glasgow, countries
ultimately agreed to a provision calling for a phase-down of coal power and a phase-out of
“inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies – two key issues that had never been explicitly mentioned in
decisions of UN climate talks before, despite coal, oil and gas being the main drivers of global
warming

Delivering on climate finance - Developed countries came to Glasgow falling short on their promise
to deliver US$100 billion a year for developing countries

Stepping up support for adaptation –

While the case for adaptation is clear, some communities most vulnerable to climate change are
the least able to adapt because they are poor and/or in developing countries already struggling to
come up with enough resources for basics like health care and education. Estimated adaptation
costs in developing countries could reach $300 billion every year by 2030.

The Glasgow Pact calls for a doubling of finance to support developing countries in adapting to the
impacts of climate change and building resilience. This won’t provide all the funding that poorer
countries need, but it would significantly increase finance for protecting lives and livelihoods, which
so far made up only about 25 per cent of all climate finance (with 75 per cent going towards green
technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions).

Completing the Paris rulebook - Among them are the norms related to carbon markets, which will
allow countries struggling to meet their emissions targets to purchase emissions reductions from
other nations that have already exceeded their targets.

Focusing on loss & damage - Acknowledging that climate change is having increasing impacts on
people especially in the developing world, countries agreed to strengthen a network— known as the
Santiago Network – that connects vulnerable countries with providers of technical assistance,
knowledge and resources to address climate risks

As put forward by the UN Secretary-General Mr. António, “The approved texts are a compromise”.
They take important steps, but unfortunately the collective political will was not enough to
overcome some deep contradictions.

With falling costs of power from renewable energy (RE) sources, particularly solar, the share of the
power sector in India’s annual coal demand, ~65% today, is likely to reduce over time. With sufficient
finance and technology availability—battery storage, carbon capture, etc.—the unabated use of coal
can potentially be phased out in the power sector post-2050.

The more challenging problem, however, is phasing down the industrial use of coal. Industrial
processes such as the production of steel, cement, etc., need very high heat—temperatures of more
than 1000 Degree Celsius. Using electricity to produce such high temperatures is not yet
technologically feasible. Therefore, there is currently no alternative to burning fuels.

To phase down unabated coal from the industrial sector and eventually phase it out from both
sectors would require commercial availability of technologies such as carbon capture, batteries for
grid storage, and green hydrogen. This is contingent on support from developed countries in terms
of low-cost finance and technology transfer or co-development. The focus should be on climate
action rather than words.

In the last 17 years, between Rio to Copenhagen, no financial commitments or technology transfer
mechanisms have come about from developed to developing nations. Japan and France are two of
the biggest economies in the world, both these nations have made significant contributions to the
climate finance not as grants but as loans. even this time the cop 26 was extended beyond its ending
date because the rich were divided over who should pay for the climate finance or rather for the
damage that they have caused to the world.

Since transfer of technology from developed to developing nations hasn't taken off as technology in
the advanced world is not owned by the governments but the private players, he had said, "The fight
against climate change cannot be undertaken by the government alone. Private sector companies
should be encouraged in developing breakthrough technologies and mobilising finance."

India with 17 of the world population accounts for a mere five percent of the emissions the lowest in
per capita emission terms

Fossil fuels and their use have enabled parts of the world to attain high levels of growth even now
developed countries have not completely phased out. Developing countries have a right to their fair
share of global carbon budget and are entitled to be to the responsible use of fossil.

The thing with these summits they promise a lot but they deliver very little. India is looking at
implementation and solutions rather than talking about net zero it is launching two key initiatives
one of them will be under the international solar alliance (ISA), the second one is under the coalition
for disaster resilient infrastructure (CDRI). ISA - To create a global market system to tap the benefits
of solar power and promote clean energy applications. CDRI – A programme to secure and
strengthen critical infrastructure in small island states against disasters induced by climate change.
The effort is to climate-proof critical infrastructure in 26 member countries. The coalition will not
create any new infrastructure — rather, it will serve as a ‘knowledge centre’ for member countries
to share and learn best practices with respect to disaster-proofing of infra.
India is in fact the only G20 country on track to meet its Paris goals.

Peru, Costa Rica, Ghana