Jared Huffman calls for continued climate action following COP 26
Global leaders gathered in Glasgow, Scotland earlier this month for the 26th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP 26, to explore adaptive strategies and creative solutions to the global climate crisis. After two weeks of negotiations, diplomats from almost 200 countries signed off on the Glasgow Climate Pact and agreed to ramp up carbon-cutting commitments.
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) joined United States representatives at this year’s conference and told the Times-Standard about the experience.
What was your main takeaway from this year’s Climate Change Conference?
“I would say the big takeaway was incremental progress and a lot of unfinished work.”
One of the main concerns going into COP 26 was whether we will meet the goal of limiting temperature rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, as outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. Emissions would need to fall by about 45% in the next 20 years to achieve that goal. Is that an achievable goal?
“The goal of this conference was not necessarily to conclusively lock-in that goal because there’s just a huge amount of work needed to make that happen. The goal was to do some things that at least just keep that larger goal in reach because if we don’t make major changes in this decade, it will be out of reach entirely and we will be having a very different climate conversation.”
What were some of the strategies outlined to position us to meet that goal in the next 10 years?
“There’s the text that all countries of the world have to sign off on before it can be finalized. So, there was a lot of haggling over how specifically the text would talk about phasing out fossil fuels, committing financial resources for loss of damage to developing countries, and a few other things. …I think it was much more significant that the U.S. and China had a bilateral agreement that increased China’s ambition that accelerated their phase-out of coal and the peaking of emissions. Frankly, we’ve got to move China further. There were also a bunch of bilateral agreements involving methane. That could be very significant because methane is something like 80 times more potent than CO2 is as a greenhouse gas. That’s something that can actually bend the temperature quickly.”
President Donald Trump officially withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Accord in 2020. The United States has since signed back on to the agreement under President Joe Biden. How did that impact the way the United States was perceived at this year’s conference?
“Most of the world views the U.S. as an essential leader and that’s why our absence was so disruptive during the Trump years and it’s also why I think there was a palpable sense of optimism in Glasgow because the U.S. was once again leading. The only thing that tempered that optimism were questions about whether the political pendulum in the United States is going to continue to swing. That’s part of why I was there and part of why Speaker Nancy Pelosi put together such a large delegation. We really wanted to assure the world that the U.S. is back and we’re here to stay.”
Returning to the subject of coal, can you elaborate on commitments made during COP 26 to reduce the use of coal? How does that tie into the prospect of coal being exported out of Humboldt Bay?
“My understanding is that India was one of the big problems in preventing stronger language. Pretty much everyone in the world understands we’ve got to end coal-burning if we’re going to have any chance. But for India and a few other countries, they’re just not ready to state that in the terms that we need, that’s why we got more soft language. There was progress with more and more countries agreeing to end the financing of coal projects around the world. We now have the European Union, the United States, and even China has said it’s going to stop. Unfortunately, that shadowy coal LLC would be trying to get into markets in countries like Japan and Australia…that are still buying and developing coal.”
Can you talk more about conversations at COP 26 surrounding renewable energy, such as the offshore wind energy project as proposed off of Humboldt County’s coast?
“Scotland happens to be home to the largest planned offshore wind project in the world and we had a chance to learn a little bit more about that. It’s using fixed platforms and not floating platforms like the ones that we would be using on the North Coast. There’s a huge enthusiasm for offshore wind.”
Several media organizations have criticized the number of people in attendance at COP 26 noting the ironic carbon footprint left behind the 40,000 conference attendees. Can you respond to criticism?
“Obviously, there will be a big carbon footprint when you do a conference like this because there’s no way to get there other than jet airplanes which currently have no alternative but burning fossil-based jet fuel. They can poke fun at the contradiction but this is the only way to get all the countries in the world together to talk about solving the climate crisis, and to me, that’s the bigger picture. If we did not do this, we would be making the climate crisis much worse. By all means, let’s get to alternative fuels, cleaner transportation and technology as fast as we can, but we’ve got to keep meeting as a global community.”
Do you have any closing thoughts on COP 26 and how it relates to your constituents?
“The conferences are in some ways all of the things they are criticized for. A lot of people just go to put on glitzy presentations and speeches and do selfies and burn fossil fuels, but these conferences play a really important role. There’s no other way to bring every country in the world together and try to make tangible progress. I think we’ve got to keep doing it and we’ve got to keep engaging. Sometimes there’s a sense of disappointment when these conferences don’t lead to the transformative breakthrough that everybody wants. I don’t think any one summit or any one agreement is going to do that. I think we are going to be making progress at every opportunity, every summit and every bilateral agreement we can find. There will never be time to rest on our laurels or to declare mission accomplished, we’re too far behind.”
Isabella Vanderheiden can be reached at 707-441-0504.
By: Isabella Vanderheiden
Source: Eureka Times-Standard
Next Article Previous Article