72 hours for COP26 to 'close credibility gap'
The heat is rising on Glasgow COP26 delegates to deliver a comprehensive climate deal after Climate Action Tracker's analysis indicated a "serious credibility gap" between current policies and net zero goals.
With three days to go before the conference closes, CAT warned that the “good news” of the potential impact of announced net zero targets was bringing false hope to the reality of the warming resulting from government inaction. The top line results of this year’s update:
- With all target pledges, including those made in Glasgow, global greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 will still be around twice as high as necessary for the 1.5°C limit
- Stalled momentum from leaders and governments on their short-term targets has narrowed the 2030 emissions gap by only 15-17% over the last year
- With 2030 pledges alone – without longer term targets – global temperature increase will be at 2.4°C in 2100
“The vast majority of 2030 actions and targets are inconsistent with net zero goals: there’s a nearly one degree gap between government current policies and their net zero goals,” said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, a CAT partner organisation.
“It’s all very well for leaders to claim they have a net zero target, but if they have no plans as to how to get there, and their 2030 targets are as low as so many of them are, then frankly, these net zero targets are just lip service to real climate action. Glasgow has a serious credibility gap,” he said.
More than 140 governments have announced net zero goals, covering 90% of global emissions but CAT’s 40-country analysis (where net zero announcements cover 85% of emissions) shows only a small number, covering only 6% of global emissions, are rated “acceptable” and have actual plans in place to get there.
“While the wave of net zero targets appears like remarkable news, we can’t sit back and relax. In the situation where, even with the new pledges, global emissions in 2030 will still be twice as high as required for 1.5°C, all countries must urgently look at what more they can do,” said Prof. Niklas Höhne, of NewClimate Institute, the other CAT partner organisation.
Evercity launches sustainability measurement platform
Evercity has launched a digital platform for sustainability measurement and investment at COP26. The platform, which streamlines end-to-end sustainable finance lifecycle, aims to make sustainable finance more accessible to SMEs in developing countries.
Sustainable finance is a $15 trillion market showing significant growth amid the climate crisis. However, it is still not accessible to the most in need - SMEs from developing countries. They don't have enough knowledge and resources to issue sustainable finance. At the same time sustainable investors don't have access to real impact data and are exposed to greenwashing.
Berlin-based Evercity aims to solve these problems by providing a 'one-stop shop' to automate and simplify the whole sustainable finance journey. The platform integrates monitoring tools (IoT sensors and satellites) to collect physical ESG risk and impact data. The raw data is being refined according to global standards and stored on the low-carbon blockchain to ensure its ultimate transparency and immutability.
Liza Romanova, Evercity founder and COO, said with co-founder Alexey, they have been jointly working for over 10 years on developing digital innovations for global corporate sustainability leaders.
