COP26

A MANIFESTO FOR JUSTICE FOR COP26 AND BEYOND Equality and fairness must be at the heart of all future climate change talks to allow the poorest, who are hardest hit by global warming, to have a say in their future. Farhana Yamin explains why

A corner shop in the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu has a mural of a mermaid and a heartfelt message. Tuvalu is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by global warming

The United Nations Climate Summit being held in Glasgow takes place against a backdrop of concerns about safety, growing inequalities and social demands to ‘build back better’ after the Covid pandemic exposed risks and vulnerabilities based on systemic injustices across the world.

Consequently, Glasgow is not only crucial for delivering climate ambition and finance in line with Paris Agreement, it is also a litmus test for safer, more just and inclusive forms of economic restructuring and global governance.

Fragile economies, based on tourism, rain-fed agriculture and exports are reporting record levels of indebtedness caused by the impact of climate change intersecting with the pandemic and one of the worst recessions in living memory. Many small islands and least developed countries are already spending as much as per cent of their gross domestic product on coping with climate-induced problems.

Leaders from ‘red list’ countries are making the difficult journey to COP because they have little choice but to ask for deep emissions reductions and for debt relief. They desperately need rapid delivery of the $ billion in financial support from richer countries as promised at COP held in . Half of this sum was to go towards adaptation and resilience in the face of the climate crisis.

However as rising global emissions are expected to breach the Paris Agreement temperature target of restricting a rise in temperature to . C by cutting carbon dioxide emissions by half by , this appears wholly inadequate.

A recent assessment by United Nations confirmed that current pledges will actually increase global emissions by per cent.

As a participant in climate negotiations for more than years, I have attended of the COPs to date. COP is facing insurmountable problems in delivering on promises already made and meeting targets already set because previous COPs have been unfair. They did not secure just outcomes even if they may have passed the procedural justice test of representation.

Glasgow cannot contribute meaningfully to global solidarity and the ‘build back better’ agenda if it does not trigger a more profound ‘justice reset’ to make future COPs fairer in a deeper way than simply flying in delegates to secure its quorum requirements.

‘Building back better’ requires a globally just transition based on correcting

I M AG E S

G E T T Y

14