Image: Number 10 [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0], via Flickr
UK prime minister Boris Johnson says world leaders have “learned not to ignore” scientists
The first voice to be heard at the opening ceremony of the COP26 climate summit was that of a scientist: Brian Cox, professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester and of public engagement in science at the Royal Society.
“Imagine that the Earth is the only place in the galaxy where intelligent life exists,” he said over a video to stress how vital the meeting was. “The only place where collections of atoms as old as time have come together into improbable patterns that can think and feel and bring meaning to an otherwise meaningless universe. How should we behave?”
More than 120 world leaders will gather in Glasgow, Scotland, to consider this question at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which opened yesterday and runs until 12 November. The UN wants to keep global warming limited to 1.5C by 2100, but at the current trajectory the increase will hit 2.7C.
Science and research will be pivotal to redressing the balance and, making his opening address at the summit, UK prime minister Boris Johnson (pictured, left, at COP26 with US president Joe Biden) urged the 25,000 delegates from about 200 countries to heed the warnings of researchers.
“We know what the scientists tell us and we have learned not to ignore them,” he said. “Two degrees more [warming] and we jeopardise the food supply for hundreds of millions of people, as crops wither and locusts swarm. Three degrees and you can add more wildfires and cyclones—twice as many; five times as many droughts and 36 times as many heat waves. Four degrees, we say goodbye to whole cities: Miami, Alexandria, Shanghai.”
Johnson said that COP26 would not be the end of the climate emergency, but that it could be a “turning point”.
“Even if this conference ends with binding global commitments for game-changing real-world action, two weeks from now smokestacks will still belch in industrial heartlands; cows will still belch in their pastures even if some brilliant Kiwi scientists are teaching them how to be more polite; cars powered by petrol and diesel will still choke congested roads in the world’s great cities,” he said.
“No one conference could ever change that…but while COP26 will not be the end of climate change, it must mark the beginning of the end.”
Follow the science
Scientists have been at the forefront of highlighting the dangers posed by climate change, and they will also be central to the development of solutions that may turn the tide. A string of announcements that will affect researchers is expected in the coming days.
Speaking ahead of COP26, Frans Timmermans—the European Commission executive vice-president for the environment—said it was “essential that we draw upon the weight of science, popular support and the intense public scrutiny that the next two weeks will bring” in order to “take bold steps forward for global climate action”.
“Only by working together can we protect the future of humanity on this planet,” he said. “We must all act now to finalise the [COP21] Paris Agreement Rulebook, accelerate our emissions reductions, and deliver the climate finance that the world needs.”
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen added that the “world’s race for net zero by mid-century is on”—and that Europe has “everything in place to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and cut our emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030”.
“In Glasgow, I will be urging other world leaders to do the same; to innovate and to invest in a new, more sustainable growth strategy,” she said. “In short, to prosper and build healthier societies while ensuring a better future for our planet.”
Ahead of the meeting, leaders of the G20 nations issued a joint declaration placing R&D at the heart of their sustainability policies. It states that in order to deploy “the full potential of zero, low-emission, innovative, modern and clean solutions”, the nations have committed to “scale up public research, development and deployment”.
“We will increase our cooperation on enhanced country-driven capacity-building and technology development and transfer on mutually agreed terms, including through key global initiatives and joint or bilateral projects on the most efficient solutions in all sectors of economy,” the declaration states. COP26 could see further details of how this increased cooperation might affect researchers.
A role for universities
Meanwhile, universities will also have a role to play in making COP26 a success.
Judith Petts, vice-chancellor at the University of Plymouth and chair of Universities UK’s Climate Task Force, believes that the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed universities and researchers to the fore in the battle against climate change.
“Throughout the pandemic, the voice of science and of scientists has been dominant to an extent rarely before seen—from government insistence that the policy response was ‘led’ by science, to the individual ‘star’ scientists who have become part of regular media briefings and reports,” she wrote in an article for Research Professional News.
“Public questioning, confidence and responses have been supported by the independent interpretation, expertise and explanation of complex information that these scientists offered. Can we duplicate this scientific leadership and voice for climate action? Of course, there is a myriad of experts on climate change across multiple disciplines and sectors, and even more [non-governmental organisation] voices than for Covid.”
Responding to climate change requires “transformation—at pace—across interrelated systems of infrastructure, regulation, finance and behaviour, and across highly interconnected global systems”, Petts said, because otherwise, “tensions in these systems make it possible that some good actions in terms of reducing carbon emissions might result in negative impacts in terms of biodiversity loss or sustainable development objectives, such as the reduction in poverty or provision of good jobs”.
“COP26 must focus on the best kind of net zero, aiming for net gain,” she added.
Meanwhile, the presidents of the four UK branches of the National Union of Students urged Johnson to reach a deal at COP26 that commits to “divesting from fossil fuels, the arms trade and other harmful industries, and decarbonising education and the UK economy”.
In a joint statement, Larissa Kennedy (NUS UK), Matt Crilly (NUS Scotland), Becky Ricketts (NUS Wales) and Ellen Fearon (NUS-Union of Students in Ireland) said that “systemic change is needed—in society, government, and in our education”.
“It is the responsibility of governments to hold exploitative corporations to account and fix the emergency that they have created,” they said. “Students are tired of watching our politicians go through the motions, wheel out catchy soundbites about deadlines decades away, only to find that nothing has fundamentally changed.
“We only have one planet, and our prime minister only has one job. With the world’s most powerful people in one room, Boris Johnson has one chance to get a deal which secures the urgent changes we need on divestment and decarbonisation.”
Research Professional News will bring you the latest R&D news from the COP26 summit in Glasgow as it happens. The conference runs until 12 November 2021.