Many people may have seen much news and media coverage on COP26 (the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties) in early November. Delayed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, COP26 is the most important international climate conference since COP21, which was held in Paris in 2015. Delta Foundation held a peripheral meeting centered on "The Transformative Power of Urban Living Labs" theme in the official negotiation zone.

According to statistics, apart from the official negotiators from nearly 200 countries, about 50,000 participants from all walks of life, including online and offline, gathered at the conference. During the conference, two protests were held in front of the venue with more than tens of thousands of people rallying.

COP26 consensus reached after extending the conference for another day

Important progress from COP21 includes phasing out coal, conserving forests, and cutting methane emissions
Firstly, according to the Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change (AR6 WG I) just released by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the average surface temperature of the Earth has increased by 1.07 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial revolution, and the 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold could be breached in less than a decade. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has published the "Emissions Gap Report" for 12 consecutive years and the recent Emissions Gap Report 2021 has directly pointed out that there is still a huge gap of 13 billion to 28 billion tons between the current situation and the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 2030 carbon reduction target of 1.5 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius as previously proposed by various countries. Unsurprisingly, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that "the world is on a disastrous path to 2.7 degrees Celsius of global warming" before the meeting.

After 15 days of heated discussions and negotiations, COP26 finally reached the Glasgow Climate Pact after an extended meeting. The pact specifies that countries must strengthen their 2030 emissions reduction targets by the end of next year, cut unabated coal which doesn't use carbon capture technology, and phase out "inefficient fossil fuel subsidies." The Paris Agreement Rulebook was also finalized, including Article 6, which drives the global carbon market, and the conference consensus pledges to increase financial assistance to developing countries. Although the results were met with some resistance from a few countries at the last minute, COP26 still achieved a milestone by moving forward on the international carbon reduction plan that was delayed for two years due to the pandemic. This also makes the Glasgow Climate Agreement the first UN climate agreement to signify the removal of fossil fuels.

Despite the difficult journey, Delta still held a successful peripheral meeting at COP26. Second from the right is Mr. Wim Chang, CEO of Delta Foundation
The COP26 consensus includes the signing of the "Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use" by more than 120 countries. Accounting for more than 90% of the world’s forests, the countries have committed to work together to halt deforestation by 2030. Secondly, the Global Methane Pledge, initiated by the U.S. and EU in September, was echoed by hundreds of countries at the meeting,
agreeing to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels. There is also the global coal to clean energy transition statement, which is supported by 40 countries, in which 23 countries have already made plans to phase out coal.

Other areas ranging from climate finance, low-carbon transportation, and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) also show good results. The World Energy Agency (IEA) recently hypothesized that if all countries implement these new commitments, warming could be curbed to 1.8 degrees Celsius in this century. Even the world's top two sources of emissions—the U.S. and China, which had few interactions before the conference, issued the last-minute "U.S.-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s." The Declaration is a climate cooperation commitment between the two nations to work together to reduce methane, develop clean energy, and move towards the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal in the next decade.

Delta and international opinion leaders host peripheral conference to share low carbon solutions
Due to the pandemic situation, COP26 is arguably the most restricted and difficult climate conference in history. For 14 consecutive times, the Delta Foundation has participated in the United Nations Climate Conference. This time, the Foundation, together with international opinion leaders from the Virginia Tech, UN-Habitat, Technical University of Berlin, and Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), successfully hosted a peripheral meeting in the official negotiation zone of the conference, allowing the international community to witness Taiwanese companies' experience in carbon reduction.

The 8K environmental documentaries produced by Delta Foundation were screened at COP26
CEO Wim Chang, representing Delta Foundation, pointed out that low-carbon transportation and microgrid applications not only play an important role in increasing urban energy resilience but are also the key to moving towards net-zero emissions in the future. Delta has provided power systems and power conversion solutions for major vehicle manufacturers around the world. Charging solutions combines innovative technologies such as energy storage and V2G (vehicle-to-grid) to enhance the scheduling flexibility of urban power grids and resilience to unexpected events through the installation of decentralized energy systems. This year, the Foundation further promotes mobile pollution source monitoring networks. Working with electric vehicle companies, we will install PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) and carbon monoxide sensors that turn real-time data into the easy-to-understand "Street-level air pollution monitoring roadmap." We hope to promote a wider area of air quality maintenance and accelerate the spread of zero-pollution electric vehicles. In addition to organizing peripheral meetings, Delta also produced several 8K environmental documentaries such as "The Birth" and "Life in the Coral Reefs," which were screened at the United Nations official negotiating zone. The videos featured stunning images of marine ecology, in hopes of raising public awareness towards the impact of climate change on the oceans. With the closure of COP26, next year, COP27 will be held in Egypt. Delta Foundation will then bring back first-hand updates to share with everyone.

References:
1. Final Consensus for COP26: https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/11/1105792
2. Delta periphery conference live video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1j2syyrOfI
3. Street level air pollution monitoring: https://www.delta-foundation.org.tw/newsdetail/543
4. Delta's "Nurturing the Oceans" 8K environmental documentaries:
"The Birth": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qmjKFih6oI
"Life in the Coral Reefs": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrFN4Vcdj4Y