Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

 Guest blog b y Nigel Topping, UN High-Level ClimateAction Champion for COP26  A world driven by hydrocarbons is a more conflict driven world. The adoption of the  Versailles Declaration  – where EU Member States asked the Commission to prepare a detailed plan by the end of May to cut gas dependency – is a signal that this crisis can and must accelerate, rather than derail, the march towards cheaper, more secure, clean energy. The reasons for this are well known but have become blurred recently amid some calls to ramp up oil and gas exploration and production to fill the gap left by Russia. Such calls mistake a short-term political reflex with the structural changes driving the long-term direction of travel. As the  International Energy Agency  has made clear, responses to the emerging energy crisis do not need to – and indeed should not – compromise our international climate goals, which means no new oil and gas exploration and development this ce...

Guest blog by Nigel Topping: High Level Champion for Climate Action at COP26. Originally published here. At COP26, our national and global self interests aligned in a way that drove cooperation and resulted in the Glasgow Climate Pact, COP26 President Alok Sharma said in a  recent speech  at Chatham House. That pact is a success. It recognizes the science and calls on countries to phase down unabated coal-fired power and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. It asks countries to revisit and strengthen their 2030 emission reduction targets by the end of this year. And it commits countries to scale up climate finance and double finance for adaptation by 2025. “Yet, at the moment they are just words on a page,” Sharma said. “And unless we honour the promises made, to turn the commitments in the Glasgow Climate Pact into action, they will wither on the vine.” And the world is still far off the path to stabilizing global warming at 1.5°C, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Pat...

Guest blog by Nigel Topping High Level Champion for Climate Action at COP26. Originally published here. If there is one lesson we can take from 2021, it's that climate action is going to have to grow much faster to keep up with the climate change impacts we’re already seeing. Our two weeks at COP26 last year showed us the growing speed and determination with which businesses, investors, cities and regions are committing to halve emissions within this decade and reach net zero before 2050. At the same time, we need to adapt and build resilience to the unfolding impacts of climate change. 2021 saw catastrophic wildfires in California and Greece; floods in India, Australia, Turkey, China, Belgium, Germany and South Sudan; locust plagues in East Africa; deadly cold in Texas and melting of the permafrost that supports infrastructure and homes in Russia. There is no time to lose. If global warming reaches 1.5°C by 2030, nearly half the world’s population will be at risk from haz...