The long-awaited COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow has officially begun. The international event aims to unite heads of state, climate experts and campaigners to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change. The event will host talks on how we can make changes that will benefit our climate in the race against devastating environmental impacts.
It’s clear, the human race is not doing everything in our power to lower carbon emissions and we’re running out of time. With the looming net-zero 2050 target, it’s imperative we start acting now to implement systemic changes in the ways we produce and consume energy. As such, the Government’s recent Net Zero Strategy outlined measures on how we will embrace a green and sustainable future, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. It comes as no surprise that these commitments were presented, yet are they enough?
In the lead up to COP26, conversations have been hyper-focused on how we will best navigate our journey to net-zero. This journey will highlight the importance of industry, government and the global population uniting effectively to achieve the ambitious goals laid out worldwide. It’s saddening that world leaders such as China’s Xi and Russia’s Putin don’t value the gravity of attending COP26, especially when China is the largest emitter of CO2.
The climate crisis race is on, but it’s a relay we all have a part to play in that shouldn’t be rushed. As such, we simply can’t abandon the less sustainable gas-powered methods we rely on today and adopt sparkly new hydrogen methods wholesale. It just doesn’t work like that. We must migrate and adopt new technologies and approaches efficiently and steadily - an upskilling and shift towards a greener workforce is necessary to further these changes.
Government released its climate focused strategies ahead of COP26, which were welcomed by many, but have also been criticised for their gaps, which in turn invited discussions on these overlooked areas by government. COP26 will lead pivotal debates on the climate crisis, setting out the necessary measures to meet our emission goals and uniting world leaders to form an allied commitment to achieve these targets together.
At the ADE, we engage across government and key decision makers to effectively advocate for decentralised energy, while championing the role of industry towards a more sustainable green transition. We are therefore leading a delegation of ADE staff and members to play a proactive role in the COP26 activities. We want to be as involved in the current energy discussions as possible, at the forefront of the action, to harness relevant sector insights that will benefit the climate.
Our COP26 delegation includes members across the energy sector, including Danfoss, Vattenfall, E.ON and Open Energi. Over the next few days, our delegation will be broadcasting their takeaways and insights from the discussions led in Glasgow across the ADE and Green Recovery websites. We’ll be interviewing industry leaders and participating in activities to learn, and feedback how we can best work together to meet our global climate targets.
Original Source: The Association for Decentralised Energy
Comments