In recent years, climate change has become a global priority, due to the climate phenomena that the planet is facing, and which are becoming increasingly extreme and frequent. Current climate changes are the result of human activities, which over time have generated an extreme increase in greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. This has led to the spread of occurrences such as droughts, floods, agricultural system crises, water crises, extinction of species, hydro-geological disruption and the spread of diseases.
It is therefore imperative that action is taken to limit global warming.
This is what COP26, the 26th annual UN climate change summit, is all about: climate change. The summit is chaired by the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy, and is currently taking place in Glasgow (31 October to 12 November).
An important event that brings together leaders from countries from all over the world, with the object of reaching an agreement on how to intensify global action – through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, specific measures and funding for climate action -, to solve the climate crisis. An opportunity to act together and quickly.
The birth of the COP and the role of the United Nations
The first COP happened almost 30 years ago, when the UN first brought together world leaders to address the issue of climate change, inviting them to sign a climate convention that would commit each country to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Since then, the signatory countries to the convention – known as “parties” – have met annually to discuss progress and new challenges. Hence the name COP, “Conference of the parties”, of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The objectives of COP26
Given its extraordinary urgency, COP26 is much more challenging than previous editions.
During COP21 in 2015, the countries involved signed the Paris Agreement – the first universal and legally binding agreement on climate change -, committing to work together to limit the temperature increase to a maximum of 1.5 degrees, through a national plan outlining the extent of their own emission reductions.
However, this is no longer sufficient, because the 2030 time window within which this objective is to be reached is closing. Countries will have to go much further than what was envisaged in Paris and therefore their action plans need to be updated, especially since many of the promises made in recent years have sometimes been broken.
According to Ipcc (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) calculations, at the current rate of emissions, the amount of CO2 – our carbon budget – that we can still emit, in order to have a two in three chance of not exceeding the set threshold, will be exhausted in about seven years.
What we can do
The correlation between human intervention and climate change is crucial to help the planet.
In addition to the actions of nations and governments, each of us must feel involved in the fight against climate change, focusing, as a first step, on energy efficiency and energy savings.
FITT is also committed to this, working with its employees in developing a strategy to reduce its own CO2 emissions, including through synergies with all the stakeholders in the supply chain, to protect the natural ecosystems and the community.