The Lid is On

At times it seemed that a COP26 resolution was still hours or even days away but, on Saturday evening, a final document was finally adopted, despite the misgivings expressed by many countries at revised language regarding fossil fuels.

COP26 President, Alok Sharma, seemed close to tears at one point, betraying the enormous pressure felt by so many of those closely involved with the negotiations.

In the last episode of the Lid Is On from COP26, Conor Lennon and Laura Quiñones discuss the outcome of the conference, the Glasgow Climate Pact.

With negotiators still haggling over the details of the COP26 final declaration, Conor Lennon and Laura Quiñones look back over two extremely busy, sleep-deprived weeks of announcements, protests and hopeful pronouncements.

Thanks for tuning into the Daily Lid Is On episodes from Glasgow, and please subscribe to our flagship news podcasts! You can also subscribe to our newsletter: https://news.un.org/en/newsletter/climate-change 

In theory it is the penultimate day of COP26, but this is dependent on negotiators reaching a final agreement, with many thorny details still to be ironed out.

Thursday was also Cities, Regions and Infrastructure day, and our team in Glasgow – Conor Lennon and Laura Quiñones – talk to mayors, activists, and a record-breaking explorer, to get a feel for the progress that is, and isn’t, being made to make cities more liveable and inclusive.

Music: "Within the Earth', Ketsa
 

It’s looking more and more likely that electric vehicles will dominate the roads of the most developed countries within the next few decades. But will the Global South become the world’s dumping ground for old, polluting cars?

In today’s episode of The Lid Is On from COP26, Conor Lennon and Laura Quiñones speak to some leading experts from the road, shipping and aviation sectors about sustainable fuels and electrifying transport, and get some of the reactions to the draft COP26 final text, released by the UK presidency on Wednesday morning.
 

Little Amal, the giant puppet of a Syrian refugee girl was, literally, the biggest figure at COP26 on Tuesday, where the main theme was gender.

She took to the main stage today, alongside Samoan climate activist Brianna Freuan, who reminded delegates that women and girls bear the brunt of the climate crisis.

Even if we were to cut all the world's greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, we would still be left coping with rising temperatures and an unpredictable climate. That’s why adaptation is, literally, a hot topic at COP26.

Nevertheless, the annual $100 billion promised for climate finance in the 2015 Paris Agreement – half of which was to be earmarked to help developing countries to cope with the climate crisis – has yet to materialize. 

Mankind’s impact on the planet is causing it to react against us, provoking extreme weather events in every corner of the world.

But there is a growing realization that, rather than inventing new technology to tackle the climate crisis, we can harness nature to help us solve the problem.

In today’s episode of the Lid Is On, Conor Lennon and Laura Quinones explore nature-based solutions, from forests to seaweed, and mangroves.

Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa
 

The anger of climate activist Greta Thunberg, one of the leading voices of the demonstrations in Glasgow City Centre on Friday, threatened to drown out the events taking place within the COP26 conference centre.

Yet, there were many youth voices inside, engaging with government leaders, the UN and others. On today’s episode of The Lid Is On, Conor Lennon was at the venue, whilst Laura Quinones stayed in town to follow the protests.

Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa

Energy was the main theme of COP26 on Thursday, with a particular focus on ending the world’s reliance on coal. 

However, to achieve the UN’s aim of achieving clean and reliable access to energy for all by 2030, all countries need to speed up the transition away from all fossil fuel sources, and switch renewable sources.

Day three of COP26 was dominated by climate finance: how to ensure that the financial sector moves definitively away from fossil fuels and instead invest in initiatives that push the global economy towards sustainability.

Conor Lennon and Laura Quinones share the main stories of the day, and explain why, in the context of climate change, insurance is interesting (it really is!).

They also share some words in Welsh, Doric, Quechua, and Cuyonon!