At COP26 held in Glasgow, England, the organizer did not allow researchers to attend the negotiations.To achieve zero carbon, it is necessary to bridge the gap between the natural sciences and the social sciences.

 
The 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) is a highly awaited and extremely important conference. The session was scheduled for two weeks from October 2021, 10, but ended on November 31, 2 hours behind schedule.There are some notable achievements, such as more countries promising to achieve carbon neutrality, with India promising for the first time by 24.Wealthy countries have also promised to double the funding (adaptation funds) that low- and middle-income countries will use to deal with the negative effects of the climate.In addition, the rules for carbon trading have been agreed.And world leaders will report annually on the progress of greenhouse gas emission reductions (March 11 issue "2021 Featured Scientific Events"reference).

However, a study conducted by Niklas Höhne and colleagues at the University of Wageningen (Netherlands) on the Climate Action Tracker website predicts that temperatures will rise by 26 degrees Celsius in 2100, even if the promises announced at COP2.4 are fulfilled. ((go.nature.com/3nn4hwwSee), found to be well above the 2015 ° C target agreed at the 1.5 Paris Climate Change Conference.The impact is likely to be catastrophic (December 2021 issue "Nobel Prize in Physics for Climate Model Researchers and Systems Theory Researchers"reference).

Many researchers are dissatisfied with seeking a more meaningful agreement on measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.It's no wonder researchers get angry, but it would be disastrous if they were to leave the COP process and humanity's struggle to stop catastrophic climate change.

COP26 has been the most important event since COP2015 in Paris in December 12, but it is part of a fairly long-term process of assessing the achievement of promises under the Paris Agreement (March 21). Monthly issue "Historical agreement to curb global warming"reference).In addition, COP26 has made progress in several respects. COP26 is not the last chance to take action. The COP mission will be taken over by COP2022, which will be held in Egypt in 27.It is a very important decade for the earth.Researchers must seize every opportunity to expand their role in the COP process.

The final agreement of COP26 contains promises, terms and phrases not found in previous agreements.High-income countries, including oil and gas exporters, will double their adaptation funds from 2025 to $ 400 billion annually, reduce coal-fired power generation and move to other fossil fuels. For the first time, they agreed to a word calling on each country to abolish public subsidies.High-income countries wanted to abolish coal-fired power generation, but low- and middle-income countries forced a compromise, pointing out that there are no alternative energy sources to coal in many parts of the world. (July 4 issue "U.S. pledges to significantly reduce greenhouse gases, December 2021 issue "It is no longer possible to mine fossil fuel reserves to keep the temperature at + 1.5 ° C!"reference).

High-income countries have also agreed to create a department to continue research on the "Loss and Damage Compensation" fund concept.The Loss and Damage Compensation Fund is a mechanism that allows low- and middle-income countries affected by climate change to receive compensation if the cause is not involved.And in the first week of COP26, more than 1 companies in the financial sector invested trillions of dollars in net zero emissions (net zero; emissions minus absorption, or substantial emissions). Announced to switch to a company that is committed to (to do).

This financial institution's commitment came about after intense debate.Some of them took more than 30 years to realize, which means that it is an absolutely necessary progress.However, under the hood, there are disagreements over the definition of terms and the details of how they are implemented.It is in these situations that the information provision of the research community is extremely important.For example, this commitment document calls for the reduction of coal-fired power plants that do not implement carbon capture and storage technologies.However, in reality, pollution also occurs from coal-fired power plants equipped with carbon capture devices.Researchers can explain this point clearly.

Another crucial issue concerns the impact of the "Net Zero" commitment.The phrase is now commonly used to indicate a commitment to decarbonization.However, there is no consensus definition or measure for NetZero, and in this situation it is unclear whether NetZero's promises actually stop global warming.There is also no agreed definition of climate finance.Wealthy countries provide about $ 1 billion annually in climate finance to low- and middle-income countries, but most of the money provided is financed due to the lack of an agreed definition. It also includes development assistance that does not directly reduce carbon emissions (eg funding for schools and clean water).

Research can provide useful information for all of these problems.And the United Nations is asking researchers to provide information.UN Secretary-General António Guterres has announced that he is requesting a group of experts to "suggest clear standards" to assess and analyze a company's Net Zero commitments.The representatives of COP26 also agreed that a group of experts currently advising the COP of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on the definition of climate finance must continue its mission.

All advisors who give advice should be appointed as soon as possible, as work needs to begin immediately.Advisors also need to be experts in a variety of research disciplines, for example, in groups that advise on net-zero metrics, physicists collaborate with economists and researchers on how to create financial indicators. There is a need to.We must also hear the views of researchers belonging to institutions in low- and middle-income countries.This cannot be emphasized enough.

From the COP26 venueNatureResearchers have not been fully incorporated into climate policy planning, according to reports.In fact, when researchers asked to enter the room where COP26 was being negotiated, they were often refused by the organizers.The United Nations allows researchers to directly observe the negotiations and apply that experience to research projects and case study lectures.The Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has promised to investigate how these disturbances took place.This experience should not be repeated in future COPs.

Global warming cannot be stopped without partnerships between nations, or agreements trusted and accepted by all parties.At present, there is a wide gap between the claims of countries with different degrees of economic development and vulnerability to climate change.Researchers and their findings have helped fill this gap since the early days of the COP.Researchers must continue to do so now and in the future.
 

(Translation: Kaname Kikukawa)

 
* This article is reprinted from "Nature Digest".
Reprinted from: Nature Digest 2022 No. 1
"Scientists must continue to be involved in climate change COP'
Nature Digest Vol. 19 No. 1 | doi: 10.1038 / ndigest.2022.220149