COP26: Where things stand 1 week into the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland
GLASGOW, Scotland — One week into the United Nations Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as COP26, there are still many unknowns about whether a final agreement will be reached that is sufficient to keep global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
While more than 100 nations signed an agreement to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 as well as to end foreign development of new coal-fired power plants, global greenhouse gas emissions have returned to their pre-pandemic levels, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that sweeping action is needed to avert the worst consequences of global warming.
Yahoo News editors David Knowles and Ben Adler have been covering the conference for the past week, interviewing members of the Biden administration, several U.S. senators, activists and entrepreneurs.
While President Biden traveled to Glasgow without having passed any of the climate provisions of his agenda through Congress, Friday night’s passage of the infrastructure bill gives him a much-needed boost at home and at COP26.
Eager to reestablish American leadership on the world stage, John Kerry, Biden’s special envoy for climate, can now point to the climate change provisions the president will soon sign into law as proof that the U.S. can be trusted to begin the hard work of halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
For this episode of “The Climate Crisis Podcast,” Adler and Knowles spoke with Yahoo News video producer Eve Hartley about the mood at the conference, what they’ve learned so far and what the world should expect from the final week at COP26.
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