CENARIUM covering COP 26; learn about the environmental importance of the event for the world

COP 26 is the main United Nations (UN) summit that debates issues dealing with human action on the environment. (Art: Ygor Fabio Barbosa)

October 30, 2021

17:10

Gabriel Abreu – from Cenarium Magazine*

MANAUS – This Sunday, 31st, governments, environmentalists, scientists and civil society representatives will be gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), the main summit of the United Nations Organization (UNO) that debates issues that deal with human action on the environment. One of the main targets of the debate schedule is the negative effect of the current energy policies, which include the burning of fossil energy sources and greenhouse gas emissions, contributing directly to global warming.

The event will have special coverage by CENARIUM, which will show, in a series of reports and interviews, the various aspects that involve the issue of climate change. Internet users interested in differentiated content will be able to follow, on the main platforms, online and on Web TV, what will be debated at COP26.

According to the editorial coordinator, Arnoldo Santos, the proposal of the CENARIUM information channels coverage is to bring to Internet users a coverage with analyses from scientists, civil leaders, politicians and state government representatives from the Brazilian Amazon. “At the same time that the issues are being discussed in Glasgow, our team will be directly with a team of professionals to explain, to our consumers, the content”, details Arnoldo.

Exclusive Interviews

One of the main news is that CENARIUM will also have live interviews, direct from COP 26, with authorities such as the Amazonas State Secretary of the Environment, Eduardo Taveira, and the vice-president of the House of Representatives, Marcelo Ramos (PL-AM). Amazonas will have a relevant participation at COP 26, because it is the state that most preserves the standing forest, with 97% of preserved vegetation.Federal Lawmaker Marcelo Ramos (PL-AM) in front of Congress (Promotion)

What is COP 26?

The COP is short for the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an event that takes place annually but was postponed last year because of the pandemic. World leaders are expected to attend the event, but many of the discussions take place among ministers and other high-level officials working on climate issues. The numeral in the acronym represents the 26th meeting of the group.

The COP encompasses several conferences, with many side meetings that attract people from the business sector, fossil fuel companies, climate activists, and other groups with an interest in the climate crisis. Some of these are successful – the Paris Agreement was signed during COP 21, for example.

About 40 world leaders attended the Climate Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden this year. (Reproduction)

What is the Paris Agreement?

More than 190 countries signed the Paris Agreement after the COP 21 meeting in 2015 to limit the increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, but preferably to 1.5 degrees. Half a degree may not seem like a big difference, but scientists say that any additional warming beyond 1.5 degrees will trigger more intense and frequent extreme weather events.

Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees instead of 2 degrees could result, for example, in about 420 million fewer people being exposed to extreme heat waves, according to the UN. Scientists see 2 degrees as a critical limit where extreme weather would turn some of the world’s most densely populated areas into uninhabitable deserts or flood them with seawater.

What are the goals of COP 26?

Alok Sharma – a member of the British Parliament and chairman of COP 26 – said to the international press that he wants this year’s conference to agree on a number of key objectives, including:

  • Keeping the “1.5 degree target alive,” something that some fossil fuel producing countries have resisted;
  • Putting a deadline on ending the use of “unabated” coal, which leaves open the possibility of continuing to use some type of coal, as long as most of the fossil fuel’s greenhouse gas emissions are captured, preventing them from entering the atmosphere. Some scientists and activist groups have said that all coal should be consigned to history;
  • Provide $100 billion of annual climate funding, which rich nations have agreed to, to help developing countries reduce fossil fuel emissions and adapt to the impacts of the crisis;
  • Make all new car sales zero emissions in 14 to 19 years;
    End deforestation by the end of the decade, as forests play a crucial role in removing carbon from the atmosphere;
  • Reduce emissions of methane, a potent gas with more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide.

(*) With information from CNN Brazil