COP26. There is no more time for blah blah blah.

2 November 2021

Right now world leaders are meeting at COP26 for the crucial and difficult historic climate talks.

What is COP26?

COP26 (Conference of the Parties) is the 26th United Nations conference on climate change. For a fortnight, from 31 October to 12 November, more than 190 heads of state, together with negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens, are discussing the greatest historical challenge: how to curb global warming. It is the most important international treaty against climate change.

The thirteen days of work are chaired by the United Kingdom, in Glasgow. Italy, however, has a fundamental role to play because in addition to holding the presidency, on 30 and 31 October, of the G20, it hosted, in Milan, the preparatory events for COP26: pre-COP and “Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition”. 

To understand the urgency of COP26 we need to take a step back and get to COP21, in 2015, in what went down in history as the ‘Paris Agreement‘. In Paris in 2015, for the first time, something momentous happened: all countries agreed to work together to limit the global temperature increase to below 2°, possibly 1.5°. 

Despite the agreements, emissions have continued to rise since 2015. 

Why is it important to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°?

Because exceeding the threshold would inevitably lead to critical consequences for people and nature: food and water shortages, risks to economic growth, health threats from air pollution, disease, malnutrition and exposure to extreme heat. And they will affect each country differently, bringing hurricanes and droughts.

At COP26 each country presents its emission reduction targets by 2030, which must be aligned with achieving a net-zero system by 2050.

What happened in the early days of COP26.

Joe Biden apologised for Trump’s choices and points to decarbonisation as a policy for the future. India for the first time set a climate neutrality target for 2070. Chinese President Xi Jinping was absent and left a note: “Developed countries must not only do more, but also support developing countries to do better”. Brazil said it would increase its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 50% by 2030.

Many questions remain and are still unanswered. What is the road map to achieve the goals set? How will global warming be contained within the threshold? When will the energy transition be completed? Will there be penalties to pay for not meeting the targets?

We can do something too.

Studies agree that climate change has been caused by humans. An environmentally conscious lifestyle creates a powerful virtuous circle. A reduction in CO2 emissions, energy waste and a propensity to recycle and reuse would bring an immediate beneficial impact on air quality resulting in a stabilisation of global temperatures in 20-30 years. 

By using MUVs daily, we encourage responsible and healthy behaviour. Through MUV challenges and competitions, involvement, participation and fun are guaranteed. In addition to a better lifestyle, MUV measures progress by certifying CO2 reductions and collects data useful for rethinking public policy. Citizens, companies and politicians can, together, face this great global challenge and save the world.