COP26 is a two-week United Nations climate summit held in Glasgow, Scotland, where world leaders are gathering to discuss climate change and efforts to limit rising global temperature. Today, Friday, November 5, is the conference’s “Youth Day.” Today we saw world leaders and representatives relinquish the stage to younger campaigners while a march led by Greta Thunberg takes place outside the SEC Centre. While the fifth day of the summit commences in the UK, we outline four energy industry and green investment highlights.
Bezos Earth Fund Pledges $500 Million to Renewable Energy Causes
Bezos Earth Fund President, Andrew Steer, spoke to CNBC today with IKEA foundation CEO, Per Heggenes, about philanthropy’s role in combating the climate change crisis. Both said that it won’t be enough with governments leading the way; pressure has to be applied from other sectors to accelerate development. Steer also stated that their goal is for the fund to be extended to “small and medium enterprises” and to “parts of the world where we still have some work to do.”
Energy Secretary Says US Committed to Moving Away From Coal
“We are committed to 100% clean electricity by 2035, net zero by 2050 and cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030.”
– Jennifer Granholm
Yesterday at the conference, 28 countries pledged to quit coal. The US, despite being one of the three biggest coal-burners worldwide, neglected to do so. However according to US Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, the current administration is committed to the transition away from coal. Granholm stated that a “building out clean” initiative in congress is critical in this transition. She described this initiative to mean deploying technologies the US already has in place, which include decarbonization of fossil fuels.
2% of Passive Investments are in ESG Products
Stephan Leithner, executive board member at Deutsche Börse, made a statement claiming that greenwashing was not going away. Deutsche Börse is a German company that offers marketplace organization for trading shares and other securities. In his statement Leither also pointed out problems within ESG investing, such as regulation and mislabeling of ESG products. While ESG investments are trending and in-demand, Leithner believes that these problems need to be solved for in order for it to be effective.
Greta Thunberg: “COP26 is a Failure”
In her speech today during a strike in Glasgow’s city center, Thunberg stated that COP26 is merely a “PR event” and that it should be obvious that the world cannot solve climate crisis with the same methods that began the crisis. While COP26 has generated some impressive commitments, like the 1.5 degree Celsius target, it remains to be seen if these commitments will be kept.
“The COP has turned into a PR event, where leaders are giving beautiful speeches and announcing fancy commitments and targets, while behind the curtains governments of the Global North countries are still refusing to take any drastic climate action.”
– Greta Thunberg
Looking Forward to Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Saturday, November 6, is “Nature Day” at COP26. Discussions lead by campaigners and businesses will center around protecting the natural world, boosting wildlife and emphasizing the importance of sustainable land use. We also anticipate more marches through Glasgow and cities across the UK. Sunday is a day off from the conference, which will resume Monday and continue throughout the next week and consist of further negotiations. If you would like to stay updated on all COP26 and the latest energy news, click the button below and subscribe to our blog. Click to read updates from Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the conference.
