“Enhancing Climate Ambition”- is US-China COP26 agreement a milestone?

The 11th of November 2021 could go down in history as a decisive turning point in the global approach to the environment.

We discuss just what makes a milestone and whether this agreement can be counted as one. 

Today the world woke up to the news that the two main emitters of greenhouse gases, the USA and China, signed up an agreement that binds them to tackle global warming together. This is one of the agreements made at COP26 in the past few days. Of course, the USA and China have been opposite sides of political or military divides.  Since the post-world war period and the cold war, these two superpowers have been defining themselves in opposition to each other, politically, culturally and economically. Today, the world woke up to a new dawn, quite literally a shift in the geopolitical world order that has been in place since the middle of the last century.

But, the devil is in the detail, as representatives of environmental agencies, scientists and political activities who have taken part in COP26 have been saying since the conference got underway a week ago. And the agreement that the USA and China signed today is not specific and not binding enough to guarantee change, measurable, quantifiable, actual change, the sort of change we badly need and the sort of change we need now, as opposed to decades away from now, into a future that seems increasingly bleak and hopeless.

So, is today going to go down in history as a milestone in the fight against global warming? Is today going to mark the moment when mankind put aside historical differences and deeply rooted animosity and joined forces to guarantee a better future for itself and all the life forms that populate our planet? Only time will tell, but for now, opinion is divided. Do you see the glass as half full or half empty? This is not just a rhetorical question. Now that we are so thoroughly networked, connected, constantly in touch with each other, mood might make the difference between failure and success. Those who will bet on today’s achievements might inject enough energy and optimism into the environmental movement towards greener economies and greater social justice to take us over the line to save our planet and ourselves from extinction. Those who quibble and critique might be right but might also deflate and detract from this moment of optimism that might indeed make the difference between seeing the way forward and seeing that we are not quite there yet and wanting to get there, against all odds, against all predictions, against what is reasonable to expect will happen next.

What do you think of the agreements made at COP26? Are they glorified formalities or catalysts for change? Let us know via email if you have an opinion that you’d like to share about COP26 or anything to do with the environment. We would love to have your contribution to the blog.