TheScientificTriangle

Finally, the Cop26 Summit ended amid a lot of uproar, anticipations, expectations, essential information, and confusion. This Cop26 summit was so important that it has been deemed to be humanity’s last hope, as we keep incurring debts towards the Earth going forward.

Speculations have hit high where most real time activists prefer to not believe the Cop26 Summit and the world leaders. But, there is nothing that can be done single-handedly towards Nature now. It’s damaged enough to require multiple hands to stand back. Our generations might not even see the fruit of our efforts even if all goes well, thinking optimistically.

A total of 197 countries have signed the contract and including all big pollution contributing countries to even small islands that stand at the highest risk zones due to the continuous water level rise.

What we cannot miss is that we owe this planet every ounce of freshwater, food and clothing, in fact, our entire wellbeing. The worst part is there is no way back without any effort being put towards it.

Before we move on, let’s have a brief look at the shortages we are already facing.

Worst hit countries where water shortage due to global warming and environmental extremes are on the rise.

Water crisis condition in the below countries

Country	Scarcity
India	Almost on the brink of losing clean water with day 0 situation for Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.
South Africa	The Nelson Mandela Bay is on the verge of record-level water shortages. It might run out of water, leave alone clean water anytime the rains are not sufficiently occurring in these regions. South Africa is providing 50 liters of water per person in many regions.
Brazil	Almost 1.2 million lack access to safe water leave alone clean water. Almost 90% of South American wetlands have been lost since 1995. Blackouts are predicted, few hours of water supply to home is being practiced long
Jordan	Water supplies dip as water prices spike. Almost 30% of the groundwater is lost, and the worst hit is the Syrian refugees in Jordan. The government plans to dig seven new levels reaching deeper aquifers predicted to last them another 10 years min. & 30 years maximum.
United Arab Emirates	The country which consumes the highest per capita water consumption. Highly saline groundwater, the high cost of producing clean drinking water, and the decline in the groundwater levels are major contributors to the scarcity being experienced by the country. In the next 50 years, UAE is predicted to be losing all the water they have.
Egypt	With 20 cubic meters of internal renewable freshwater, current water shortages are predicted to hit Egypt by 2025.
Mexico	Another South American country lacking water. An estimated one in five people lacks access to freshwater. Conditions have reached such devastating levels that people in Mexico now pay to receive water from a tanker just once a week.
Iran	It hits the water crisis by 2030 acutely if not taken care of.

Air pollution levels

It needs no introduction, and several countries are already reeling under its pressure.

The air pollution index stands high for these given countries in the order mentioned below.

Country	API
Mongolia	276
India	275
China	253
Bangladesh	199
Turkey	195
Pakistan	171
Tajikistan	167
Serbia & Armenia	160
Macedonia	152
South Korea	144

Data used from the site https://aqicn.org/rankings/

Now that you are aware of the air and water condition, you might have understood that these are renewable resources. But what many of us don’t know is that their renewal process is still in our hands.

If we play around with the process, it is we who are at stake.

These data have also triggered the world leaders who met recently in a 13-day summit in Glasgow to discuss stringent rules around these environmental crises.

Let’s see what these brainstorming sessions inside rooms with some of the best thinking minds plan to contribute in the next ten years towards the Earth’s current condition. How they plan to bring about healing, is what will become evident from these action points they plan to cover.

11 key takeaways for every person breathing on the Earth’s surface

Becoming one is the current test and it is what can only save our crisis preserving a future as beautiful as some of us can discuss even to date. While Antonio Guterres stated topmost priority will be given to reducing the temperatures to just 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial standards, there are many other aspects on which the discussions were held during the summit.

It was found that even though developed nations accounted for merely 12 percent of the population, they almost account for 50 percent of the greenhouse gases. The rich and developed nations like the United States and European nations stressed a quick shift from coal-based energy levels to renewable sources, they in return argued of lack of funds. Nations like India, China, Indonesia, and South Africa countered and labelled developed nations as stingy. But, then all countries came to a few common agreed conclusions.

1)     Restore the fossil fuel level by saving their use

The first impetus is being given to curbing the use of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal. It was found that their use will itself be a huge step to keep the temperatures up to 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, major coal dependent countries like India, China, Australia and even the United States have declined to sign the deal.

It’s alarming to know that despite planning to curb down their use, major countries invest 420 billion USD annually to create subsidized rates for the use of these fuels.

It is noteworthy, that fossil fuel levels and their controlled use were discussed for the first time in the COP26 summit.

2)     Shift to renewable energy resources for all sectors

Decarbonization seemed to be the only critical goal to bring down the temperature meter, and in cooling down the Earth’s atmosphere. It was decided that wind and solar power must be targeted by 2050. The use of renewable resources seemed to be the only way to fuel net-zero levels of carbon emission.

Less wind and no sunny days could mean less energy generation but then, better storage is being aimed to save the remaining energy to be used only in need.

3)     Cut down on methane emissions by 2030

Methane emissions are induced by many human activities including;

1. Mining of coal
2. Carrying out agricultural activities
3. Industrial processes
4. Mobile and stationary combustion processes
5. Landfills
6. Wastewater treatment plants

Activities that can be cut down among these to bring down the methane level must be cut down.

Did you know methane is also a GHG (greenhouse gas)?

4)     Plant trees, the least every human can contribute towards the world

If every human on this planet plants at least one tree that grows big with time eight billion trees can be contributed to the world currently.

Wondering if that will help as decided in COP26 Summit? They are the natural curtains of the environment and unlike our dead ones; these trees release oxygen and soak in carbon dioxide. Well, carbon dioxide is food for them and poison for us?

This reminds me of a saying,

“One man’s food is another man’s poison?” Why not use this simple technique that requires just a few bucks and often nothing.

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)

5)     Stop using petrol & diesel completely

Tying to chop down will benefit us or our future generations in the long run. Try to walk, drive electric or solar cars, bicycles for a change. But with the intricate pattern of our lifestyle and the daily innovation of newer vehicles, this might be a hard target right now.

6)     Eliminate greenhouse gases from the air

There is some ray of hope in this area so far. People have built machines that can eliminate greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

What are the options? We etch them out here. But, they are costly and controversial to date.

Technology	Companies developing them	Technique used
Direct Air Capture	Carbon Engineering in Texas and Climeworks in Switzerland	Huge fans push the air through large filters designed to absorb carbon dioxide
Carbon Capture & storage	15 such firms operate currently, and Occidental Petroleum is one of them	Captures carbon emissions from locations where they are mass produced

7)     Developed countries pledged to double their adaptation funds

Funds are the major concern for developing and growing nations. Poor nations cannot afford any of these facilities unless they have funds. The world will double the funds passing them from developed to developing nations is what is promised in the COP26 summits.

8)     Nature-based solutions to be eliminated going forth

Even though nature-based solutions were being discussed in the first half of the COP26 summit, it was removed in the last rounds. Nature-based solutions are massive consumers of natural resources. This point was quoted in the beginning.

9)     Paris rule book for the environment is finalized

People in the COP26 summit have pledged to retain the Paris rule book going forth.

Read more about the Paris rulebook here.

10) Youth, children and indigenous populations are to be brought to the forefront

Children, youth and indigenous populations are being promoted with the COP26 summit. Indigenous ways of life will be promoted going forth by the world leaders as per the summit resolution.

11) End of deforestation by 2030

Planting more trees is an easy resolution, but increased populations are promoting the use of woods for necessary and unnecessary reasons. Civilizations are built around the fire, and the major source of heat and fire at a time were the trees. Moving from woods to other mediums and sources of fire is not easily achieved even with so many technological advancements.

Parting Lines

The world is dependent on us as much as we are dependent on them. Conferences and summits like Cop26 are not required to know we can lose our children.

The word of this decade must be co-existence which people have almost forgotten amid the competition people endure to live only to die in the end.

If we can acknowledge a few basic truths, life and Earth can still be healed.

Afterthought:

If we truly love our children and want them to be well, wouldn’t we have tried saving the Earth than destroying it?

Take a step forward plant a tree today.

Arranged annually by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN COP26 conference is held to discuss the progress made in terms of climate change in the world. It is also a center where the Kyoto protocol is negotiated every year to ensure the developed nations comply with the boundaries set by the protocol.

Introduction & History of UNFCCC

Not many know that this initiative was established for the first time in 1995 when the world stood up to voice a single opinion towards climate change. Climate change had already begun, but as nations, not many were aware of its consequences. But with the first conference held in Berlin, they laid the foundation for specific measures that could make the world a better place.

Almost 196 countries have adopted different solutions to bring down the aftermath of climate change largely. It was right in the 1996 conference that the scientific and research findings around the proposed climate change were accepted for the first time.

During the 1997 session, the United States was instructed to reduce carbon emissions by 7%. In this way, every year several steps were taken towards eliminating the growing hazards of climatic changes and global warming.

In 2016, the need to use low carbon energy sources was recognized giving way to the concept of green fuel. Every year, there are discussions around some essential points that are decided upon, and the whole of the next year is given to the countries for their suitable implementation.     

When is UN COP26 happening?

Originally scheduled from 9^th to 19^th November 2021, but was preponed to 31^st October 2021 and is scheduled till 12^th November 2021. The main reason for the shift is the COVID-19 pandemic and is right now an ongoing event.

Venue for UN COP26

It is held in SEC Center Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Attendees of UN COP26

Twenty five thousand delegates have joined hands from 200 countries for the conference. Alok Sharma, an Indian born and a Brit politician is serving as the President of UN COP26. Sharma left his position as Secretary of State to take on the Presidential position of UN COP26 as a full-timer. He holds the chair position of the climate action committee and is a full member of the cabinet.

Agenda

The list contains agendas given that climate change is already taking a toll on the lives of many.

1. One of the primary agendas agreed upon is the use of sustainable agriculture agenda. There are several laws and regulations laid out for making farming less polluting and more sustainable. India is among the 27 countries that have signed the deal.
2. The common goal of every nation is to prevent the rise of temperatures above 1.5 degrees Celsius. As per current estimates, the Earth’s surface temperature is already increased to 1.2 degrees Celsius.
3. Coal as an energy source is being currently phased out from almost 40 countries to incorporate greener solutions.
4. The seas also need protection and almost 10 nations have come together signing the pledge to conserve almost 30% of the seas by 2030. Nations included in this pledge are India, Qatar, Bahrain, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Samoa, Gambia and Georgia.

Almost 4 billion USD as per UN COP26 is being estimated for implementing new agricultural innovations that include the development of crop breeds that are resilient to Nature’s changes and also implementing regenerative solutions for the soil.

Britain’s role in UN COP26

Britain is ready to boost the economy with a 500 million dollar contribution to this entire project. Protections will be laid down with this money over 5 million hectares of Earth’s surface area. The projected surface area is estimated to equal an area, equal to 3.5 million football pitches. It involves the protection of tropical rain forests and spreading green jobs for countries like Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace while, addressing the UK media, focused on the fact that even though the Summit is trying to find some joy and relief but, it is indeed hard to obtain, as there is an uprising concern of being played by almost everyone.

The net zero state is being aimed by 2050 by the United Kingdom.

Promises made by the US President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden apologized for Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

He further emphasized that given the history of active deforestation. The US as a nation owes to place words into actions that Biden promises to be happening right now throughout the nation.

The US plans to hit net zero by 2050.

India’s PM Narendra Modi’s resolve in UN COP26

India promised to hit net zero carbon emission or at least reaching a carbon neutral state by 2070. India currently is the fourth biggest carbon emitter in world.

This is a promise India made apart from other promises mentioned in the agenda.

What does Amazon head have to say?

Jeff Bezos’ plans to give $2 billion for climate conservation.

Some activists like Greta Thunberg are skeptical that these high ended goals may never be achieved at all. As the conference is ongoing, many are still pinning their hopes, wishing for desirous results in the mid of growing concerns of rapid climatic changes.