Glimmers of hope five years on from the Paris Agreement but progress still too slow to meet climate emergency

“This is an important moment to take stock and recognise the Paris Agreement can work. The commitments governments are making now are significantly stronger and more effective than five years ago when the process began. Given the right political conditions the ratchet mechanism can, as the architects of the agreement intended, produce increased ambition.

“The growing numbers of countries committing to achieve net zero emissions is welcome. Huge technological developments mean it is now possible and affordable to switch to a low-carbon economy, creating green jobs while stimulating a post-COVID-19 economic recovery. The urgency is clear. Worldwide the impacts of the climate crisis on nature and people are alarming. The public voice demanding change is ever louder.

“But wealthy governments need to meet their commitment to support vulnerable countries so they can adapt and thrive in the face of climate change. Much more needs to be done to make sure climate finance actually reaches the millions of women, children and men being hit by floods, drought and other extreme weather while also trying to recover from the devastating effects of COVID-19 on their livelihoods.

“In a year of tight budgets, the richer countries need to do more to build trust with developing countries, reassure them that this money is available and ensure it has as much impact as possible. It is crucial they are more transparent about how they provide this finance. 

“They need to commit to ensuring at least half of all public climate finance specifically targets adaptation action, including efforts that harness the power of nature. This is vital for developing countries to be able to achieve their ambitious climate action plans, and help their societies and businesses adapt and thrive, prepare for shocks such as COVID-19 as well as protect the ecosystems on which all life depends. 

“As host of the Climate Action Summit and next year of the UN climate summit and G7, the United Kingdom is in a powerful position to encourage other governments to follow its lead and commit to substantially cut greenhouse gas emissions. If the least developed countries can do this, so can the richest countries. The big emitters, including laggards such as Russia, Australia and Brazil, need to pick up the pace and take credible steps to make the cuts that are urgently needed to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C.”