Focus on Arts and Ecology

As leaders, negotiators and activists head to the Scottish city of Glasgow this week for the Sunday start of the COP26 U.N. climate change negotiations, one thing is missing: money.

Wealthier countries who promised to deliver $100 billion a year starting by 2020 to help poorer nations grow cleanly and adapt to worsening climate change impacts admitted this week they wouldn't reach that goal until 2023.

That means some of the most climate-vulnerable countries - who contributed least to global warming - will struggle for the cash to put their climate plans into effect, hamstringing global efforts to keep the planet safe for people.

"It is shameful that rich countries are only now – one week before COP26 – trying to explain how they intend to try to make good on a commitment they have known about for 12 years," said John Nordbo, a senior climate advisor with aid group CARE International.

Vulnerable countries also say they have been forced to scale back their delegations to the summit as a result of COVID-19-related border closures, quarantine rules and resulting high travel costs.

"We know that not having a presence in the way that we would have in a normal year is a big disadvantage to the smallest countries," Satyendra Prasad, Fiji's ambassador to the United Nations, told correspondent Beh Lih Yi.

On the ground outside the COP26 venue, however, climate action is pushing ahead. 

Sierra Leone just named Africa's first "chief heat officer", with the aim of holding down risks from rising heat extremes. And in Lebanon, worsening cuts to state-run electricity supplies - and expensive diesel costs for backup generators - have more residents turning to solar power to keep the lights on.

How well democratic leaders fare in tackling rising climate threats may determine whether democracies thrive in the future, or are replaced by more authoritarian or populist regimes, researchers warned Tuesday.

Worsening disasters and the resulting societal upheaval could "be used as an excuse for autocratic ... regimes to curtail democratic freedoms, as experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic," a new report warned.

But democracies can take steps now to shore up their ability to deal with climate change, from lowering the voting age and making it easier to file class-action lawsuits to tackling disinformation and setting a carbon price, it said.

"This is the time to be bold, and experiment and rethink," said Kevin Casas-Zamora, the Costa Rican secretary-general of International IDEA, which produced the report.

See you next week! If you're at COP26, look us up....

Laurie

'Shameful' failure to meet climate finance goal risks undermining COP26 talks
A delivery plan for money promised to climate-vulnerable countries shows a 2020 goal won't be reached until 2023, which could hamper progress at key U.N. summit

Sierra Leone names Africa's first chief heat officer
From floods to droughts to landslides, the West African nation has been battling the realities of climate change for more than a decade

'Giving life to dying land': Solar water pumps quench thirsty Kenyan farms
Kenya's farmers have built sand dams to hold onto scarce river water - but solar-power water pumps are making access hugely easier

Can solar power solve Lebanon's energy crisis?
Lebanon's total solar power is set to double this year. Can it solve the country's decades-old energy crisis?

COVID-19 challenges 'disadvantage' smaller nations in COP26 climate talks
Border closures, quarantine rules and high travel costs will see vulnerable nations sending smaller delegations to the U.N. climate talks - and just four Pacific leaders are due to attend in person

Democracies that fail to act on climate change face 'existential' threat
Authoritarian rule could surge if efforts to curb threats founder and catastrophic impacts surge - but changes now could prepare democracies, researchers say

Climate migration predicted to rise in India as extreme weather worsens
A new survey finds 70% of respondents left home after extreme weather shocks hit their livelihoods, in a bid to find work elsewhere

Renewable energy jobs grew globally in 2020 despite COVID-19 crisis
Clean energy jobs rose to 12 million last year even amid the pandemic but officials say green employment must come with decent conditions and bring in more women

Turning infrastructure green offers huge savings on top of climate benefits
Swapping concrete and steel for natural solutions such as mangroves could save world $248 billion a year, study finds

EXPLAINER: What is 'net zero' and why does it matter?
A growing number of countries, cities and companies are aiming for 'net zero' emissions to meet climate goals - but it will require huge changes in how we live and work