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Nearly 200 countries agreed upon COP26‘s Glasgow Climate Pact, amidst geopolitical tension over unequal economic recovery, between China and the US, and between the UK and EU. The chances of agreeing on a consensus deal that specifically targets coal and fossil fuels, ramps up emissions cuts in the 2020s and doubles adaptation finance were low. The diplomatic success is clear. Yet government commitments, raised thanks to the Glasgow Summit’s political and public pressure, still project over 2 degrees of global warming. There is an expectation that developed countries won’t meet the annual goal to mobilise $100bn a year in climate finance until 2023. Climate-vulnerable countries’ pitches for finance to deal with the losses and damages of climate impacts were noted, not answered. The package deal offers a political lifeline to accelerate climate action in the next few years. But it leaves 1.5C on a knife-edge. We’ve identified four big political shifts from diplomatic efforts into and at COP26 that can drive the “Glasgow ambition train” to the next station in 2022. Political will for more action from all in the 2020s to get to 1.5C pathway
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