UN Climate Change Conference
The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference is bringing countries together to accelerate efforts toward meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.Taking place in Glasgow from October 31 through November 12, the conference has already yielded significant actions. Among them:
Twenty countries have agreed to end financing for fossil fuel projects. Several countries already agreed to end international financing for coal, but this agreement is the first of its kind to include oil and gas projects as well. The US, UK, Canada, Italy, Switzerland and New Zealand, among others, were party to the agreement.
More than 100 world leaders have promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, in the COP26 climate summit's first major deal. The countries who have signed the pledge—including Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the US and the UK (the full list is here)—cover around 85% of the world's forests.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on December 12, 2015, and entered into force on November 4, 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
Americans Are Willing to Pay More in the Energy Bills to Combat Climate Change
Almost 60 percent of Americans in a recent poll believe the pace of climate change is increasing. Most support policies to confront climate change and are willing to pay more in their energy bills to combat it. These are findings from a new survey conducted by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and The Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The nationwide poll was conducted between September 8 and 24, 2021.
About half of survey respondents said they were willing to pay something to combat climate change. Options ranged from $1 to as high as $100 for a carbon fee on energy bills. On average, survey respondents were willing to pay $40 a month as an additional fee on their energy bills, an increase from $27 when asked a similar question in 2018.
For context, this is roughly equal to a carbon price of $30 per ton—double the $15 per ton carbon price being debated in the Senate and more than the projected cost of previously proposed policies that would have cost the average household about $15 per month, researchers reported.
Slightly more than 31% of respondents supported a fee even if it meant paying $100 more for their energy every month. That is more than double the share who said so in the 2018 survey.
Virtual Event: Adapting Cities for a Changing Climate
December 9, 10–11 am
The climate crisis is here, and cities are at the heart of it. New technologies enable innovative solutions to reduce emissions and mitigate the most severe effects, yet cities face a host of challenges in adopting and implementing them. Climate impacts and the technologies that could address them are often experienced unequally within and across cities. Can cities, governments, and the private sector overcome the obstacles to face the new climate reality together?
Join Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Pritzker Forum on Global Cities, and the Financial Times to explore how technology can help cities create a more equitable and resilient future. Register to attend.