What about the climate?
Emissions have only risen further since the Paris Climate Agreement, except for a small dip due to corona. The climate is not going well, according to a number of recent reports. Most importantly, the UN Climate Panel IPCC, last summer. It states, among other things, that warming is happening faster than in at least the past 2000 years, that the world must prepare for more severe weather extremes if drastic measures are not taken, and that warming of 1.5 degrees will be reached ten years earlier than expected. Now that science has spoken, Glasgow is about what countries can do about it.
Who are coming?
Many heads of state and government have pledged to attend and will hold a speech. Many eyes are on US President Biden. His predecessor Donald Trump had little regard for the climate and withdrew his country from the Paris agreement. Now that Biden is back in the game, the question is how the US will behave.
Many European government leaders also travel to Glasgow. But neither Chinese President Xi Jinping nor Russian President Putin are among them. Another high representative will probably come from China. This is important, because China is the largest emitter worldwide. China has already said it wants to peak emissions by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2060.
It is also important who organizes the summit. The chairman is British minister Alok Sharma. He previously said he hoped the conference “gives coal to history”. In addition, Britain is pushing for faster scaling up of renewable energy, stopping deforestation and switching to electric cars more quickly.
Who goes there for the Netherlands?
Prime Minister Rutte goes for our country. In addition, a special climate train will depart next Saturday, carrying about 500 passengers. Rail to the Cop (where Cop stands for Conference of the Parties) is an initiative of the youth group Youth for Sustainable Travel. Rail manager ProRail, the NS and Eurostar helped organize the train journey. In addition to politicians and civil servants, scientists, NGOs and climate activists also travel with them. European Commissioner Frans Timmermans waves goodbye to the train on Saturday.
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