COUNTDOWN CARBON BRIEFING 101: TO COP26 - Gong Communications
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CARBON BRIEFING 101: COUNTDOWN TO COP26
THERE ARE 4 MONTHS
TO GO UNTIL COP26 —
BUT WHAT
IS IT?
This event builds on the promises undertaken updated plan that would reflect their highest
at COP21 (officially known as the ‘21st possible ambition at that time.
The UK will host the Conference of the Parties’), which took place
in Paris in 2015. As part of the resulting Paris 2020 marked the first of these five year cycles,
26th annual UN Climate Agreement, 196 countries agreed to work but was delayed due to the covid pandemic.
Change Conference of together to limit global warming to below This means that countries are expected to
update their 2030 targets before they meet in
2 degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees. They
the Parties (known as committed to bringing forward national plans Glasgow this year.
COP26) in Glasgow on setting out how much they would reduce their
emissions – known as Nationally Determined
1 – 12 November 2021. Contributions, or ‘NDCs’. They agreed that
every five years they would come back with an
COP26:
STATISTICS 36 industrialised countries
and the European Union,
which were set binding
emission reduction
200
targets in the first
agreement established
by the UNFCCC, known
as the Kyoto Protocol.
countries who are
‘party’ to the United
Nations Framework
Convention (UNFCCC)
68%
and meet annually
at the UN climate
change conference.
1.5˚C the UK’s Nationally Determined
Contribution (NDC) as stated
on 12 December 2020. The
the global temperature
NDC commits the UK to
rise goal figure cited in the
reducing economy-wide
Inter-governmental Panel
greenhouse gas emissions
on Climate Change (IPCC),
by at least 68% by 2030,
which presents Assessment
compared to 1990 levels.
Reports (AR) every five years
and from which the UNFCCC
takes scientific guidance.
A
The global coalition for net zero emissions is growing, with increasing numbers of companies, financial
institutions, cities and countries setting targets to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.
SNAPSHOT The Climate Ambition Alliance is the overarching organisation behind the UN-backed ‘Race to Zero’
campaign. It unites countries, businesses, investors, cities and regions who are working towards
achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Country engagement in this Alliance is led by the
OF THE governments of Chile and the United Kingdom, with support from UN Climate Change and UNDP.
Meanwhile, mobilization of non-government actors is led by the High-Level Climate Champions for
WORLD’S Climate Action – Nigel Topping and Gonzalo Muñoz – again, under the ‘Race to Zero’ campaign.
BIGGEST The Climate Ambition Alliance lists the following as the Race to Zero partners:
HEROES BUSINESSES
Business Ambition for 1.5 C,
B Corporation, Business Declars,
INVESTORS
UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner
Alliance, Net-Zero Asset Managers
THAT HAVE The Climate Pledge, SME Climate Hub,
Exponential Roadmap Initiative, Business
Declares and Pledge to Net Zero
Initiative, and the Paris Aligned
Investment Initiative
COMMITTED CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE
REGIONS/STATES
Under2Coalition
TO NET
International Chamber of Commerce
Chambers Climate Coalition
COUNTRY-WIDE
CITIES
ZERO
Japan Climate Initiative Race
Cities Race to Zero, including C40’s to Zero circle
Deadline 2020, RED Argentina de
Municipos Frente al Cambio Climatico,
ICLEI’s Climate Neutrality Framework UNIVERSITIES
Global Universities and Colleges for
SECTORAL INITIATIVES the Climate, Second Nature
Health Care Without Harm, Fashion
Industry Charter for Climate Action, Water
UK, and International Wineries
for Climate Action
Many financial institutions 2016
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network, please feel free to email us at group of organisations involved today. It gives a very real sense of the
intertwined 50–100
NetZero@gongcommunications.comevolving scale of the movement, and increasingly makes the 'Race to Zero'* look like an
and we will include them. achievable goal. 5–50
FIVE The planet’s average surface
temperature has risen about
2.12 degrees Fahrenheit
THINGS
(1.18 degrees Celsius) since
the late 19th century. The years
2016 and 2020
are tied for
YOU
the hottest on
record.
The global sea level
rose about 8 inches (20
centimetres) in the last
MIGHT
century. The rate in the last
two decades, however, is
nearly double that of the last
century and accelerating
slightly every year.
NOT HAVE Since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, the
acidity of surface ocean
KNOWN
waters has increased by
about 30%. This increase is
the result of humans emitting
more carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere and hence
ABOUT
Did you know that cement production is
more being absorbed into
responsible for 8–12% of the world’s CO2
the ocean. The ocean has
emissions? In fact, if the cement industry
absorbed between 20% and
were a country, it would be the third largest
30% of total anthropogenic
carbon dioxide emitter in the world with up
CLIMATE
carbon dioxide emissions in
to 2.8bn tonnes. Learn more in our Africa Net
recent decades (7.2 to 10.8
Zero series, in which we speak to Wolfram
billion metric tons per year).
Schmidt about his research into alternative
materials like cassava and other agricultural
CHANGE
residues as a source of ‘green’ African-made
cement for future sustainable construction on
the Continent.
SET
YOURSELF
A PERSONAL
CHALLENGE
OR TWO!
Can you cut a tonne of carbon from your own lifestyle?
Here are a couple of CO2
This is the challenge from Nigel Topping and the Race to Zero team:
https://racetozero.unfccc.int/reduce-replace-repair-cut-a-tonne-in-21/
ideas to try at home, as
we all do our personal bit Can you guess which foods have large or small carbon footprints?
to fight climate change: Watch the Horizon programme Feast to Save the Planet to see which you get right:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qzydFAQs WHAT IS A CARBON SINK?
A forest, ocean, or other natural environment viewed in terms of its ability to absorb carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere.
Coal, oil, natural gases, methane hydrate and limestone are all examples of carbon sinks. After long
processes and under certain conditions, these sinks have stored carbon for millennia. On the contrary,
the use of these resources, considered as fossil, re-injects the carbon they hold into the atmosphere.
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CARBON SEQUESTRATION
AND CARBON REMOVAL?
Carbon removal is not the same as carbon capture.
After capture, carbon dioxide (CO2) can be compressed and then transported to a site where it is
injected underground for permanent storage (also known as “sequestration”). Carbon is sequestered in
soil by plants through photosynthesis and can be stored as soil organic carbon (SOC). Agroecosystems
can degrade and deplete the SOC levels but this carbon deficit opens up the opportunity to
store carbon through new land management practices.
Carbon removal is the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Products that are
carbon net negative lock up more CO2 in their creation than the processes to make them emit. This is
known as carbon capture and usage (CCU). Wooden building elements produced in a carbon neutral
process lock the carbon up for at least 50 years, or in the case of biochar as a soil improver, potentially
for hundreds of years. Scaling these products and many of others like them could help to slow climate
change — but it is not a substitute for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
WHAT ARE THE BEST EXAMPLES OF CARBON CAPTURE?
We have written a blog outlining our favourite examples from around the world:
https://gongcommunications.com/looking-for-carbon-capture-inspiration-we-have-you-covered/
WHAT’S REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE?
“Regenerative Agriculture” describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, mitigate
climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity – resulting in
both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle.FAQs WHAT IS THE UNFCCC?
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
WHAT IS ARTICLE 6 OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT?
Article 6 is a much debated element of the Paris Agreement,
(UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty against climate which contains three separate mechanisms for “voluntary
change, negotiated and signed by 154 states at the United cooperation” towards climate goals: two based on markets and a
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, informally third based on “non-market approaches”.
known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14
June 1992. In simple terms, the first mechanism would allow a country that
has beaten its Paris climate pledge to sell any overachievement
to a nation that has fallen short against its own goals. This
WHAT IS THE UN’S REDD+ PROGRAM? overachievement could be in terms of emissions cuts, but might
also cover other types of target. For example, some countries have
REDD+ is a voluntary climate change mitigation approach set goals for renewable energy capacity or forest expansion.
that has been developed by Parties to the UNFCCC. It aims
to incentivize developing countries to reduce emissions from The second mechanism would create a new international carbon
deforestation and forest degradation, conserve forest carbon market, governed by a UN body, for the trading of emissions
stocks, sustainably manage forests and enhance forest carbon reductions created anywhere in the world by the public or private
stocks. It was established in September 2008 and counts 65 sector. Carbon credits could, for example, be generated by a new
partner countries among its members. renewable power plant, an emissions-saving factory upgrade or
the restoration of an area of forest. This new market is sometimes
referred to as the “Sustainable Development Mechanism” (SDM).
WHAT IS THE KYOTO PROTOCOL’S CLEAN
DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM? The final Article 6 mechanism for “non-market approaches” is less
well defined, but would provide a formal framework for climate
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) operated under cooperation between countries, where no trade is involved, such
the predecessor to the Paris Agreement, known as the Kyoto as development aid. This could include similar activities to those
Protocol, and gave developed countries legally-binding emissions under the other mechanisms – support for a new windfarm, for
targets that applied from the start of 2008 until 2012. example – but without any buying and selling of the resulting CO2
savings.
The CDM allowed emission-reduction projects in developing
The three separate mechanisms – under Article 6.2, 6.4 and 6.8
countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each
– all became part of the Paris deal in recognition of the different
equivalent to one tonne of CO2. These CERs could be traded and
interests and priorities among parties to the agreement.
sold, and used by industrialized countries to a meet a part of their
emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
The mechanism stimulated sustainable development and
emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some
flexibility in how they met their emission reduction limitation
targets.FAQs WHAT IS ADDITIONALITY?
This is a controversial concept, relating to carbon offsetting.
constraints. This could lead to an increase in their total
emissions.
It focuses on whether a carbon offsetting activity would have
occurred if all else were constant. If it would, then the project WHAT ARE NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS?
would not be ‘additional’. Additionality is often hard to measure Nature-based solutions (NbS) involve working with nature to
and, therefore, to prove. address societal challenges, providing benefits for both human
well-being and biodiversity. Specifically they are actions that
WHAT IS PERMANENCE? involve the protection, restoration or management of natural
and semi-natural ecosystems; the sustainable management
This relates to sequestration projects ensuring that emissions
of aquatic systems and working lands such as croplands or
are kept out of the atmosphere for a reasonable length of time.
timberlands; or the creation of novel ecosystems in and around
cities. They are actions that are underpinned by biodiversity and
WHAT IS DOUBLE-COUNTING?
are designed and implemented with the full engagement and
Double counting refers to a situation where two parties claim consent of local communities and Indigenous Peoples.
the same carbon removal or emission reduction.
Learn more in our blog on the economic potential of NbS here:
WHAT IS LEAKAGE? https://gongcommunications.com/economic-potential-of-nature-
based-solutions/
Carbon leakage refers to the situation that may occur if, for
reasons of costs related to climate policies, businesses were
to transfer production to other countries with laxer emission
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