Reflections from COP26
By: Yihana von Ritter
Despite a flurry of media outlets casting COP26, the UN Climate Change conference in Glasgow, as a failure before it even began, we at Align remain determinedly optimistic. I went to the COP climate frontlines to meet with government delegates, angry youth and enthusiastic entrepreneurs, to synthesize their perspectives and determine where, collectively, we're excelling, and where there are critical gaps to be filled. It allowed me to get sharper on how we at Align can most effectively amplify and accelerate our contribution to solutions.
The most important achievements ensuing from COP 26 include:
1. The global community has coalesced behind the goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C – a position held by only the most ambitious countries not long ago during the Paris Agreement of 2015. Recent IPCC reports demonstrated that a 2°C warming would be exponentially more catastrophic.
2. Countries' commitment to bring forth their next round of mitigation plans in 2022 rather than 2025 will change the trajectory of the planet. Waiting an additional three years to ratchet up ambition in this highly decisive decade would translate to irreparable damage and countless more lives lost.
3. Adaptation – the increasingly important counterpart to mitigation – finally received more attention, as did the nexus between biodiversity and climate. It's been a long time coming.
4. Establishing the rulebook of carbon markets was paramount – though some remaining loopholes still need to be plugged.
5. Countries, industries, and the financial sector declared their commitment to go green through pledges including the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, Deforestation Pledge, Global Methane Pledge, Clean Construction Coalition, and the Glasgow Declaration of Forests and Land Use – though those all remain loose promises until implemented.
While this meaningful progress is worthy of celebration, attending the COP also reminded me of the pain and grief already resulting from our collective delay in addressing climate change.
This was acutely evident when I met an Ecuadorian Indigenous man to whom I posed the question of what he hoped to achieve at the COP. He replied softly in broken Spanish:
"This is the first time I've left Ecuador. It's the first time I've left my village in the Amazon. I'm 19 years old, and all I want is for my future children and grandchildren to be able to live at home, in the rainforest."
Like this man, those who are least responsible for triggering climate change are the ones who will suffer most from it. Despite the significant positive momentum at COP26, far more is needed to secure the wellbeing of the planet's human and nonhuman inhabitants.
While the road ahead is a long one, it will be exhilarating and driven by purposeful innovation. A key linchpin to unlocking this great transition is finance. Some of the most exciting impact investment opportunities discussed at the COP were
Nature-based solutions including tropical forest conservation, oceans, and regenerative farmland
Frontier technology like green hydrogen and long-duration battery storage
Renewable energy infrastructure leapfrogging fossil fuel development in emerging markets
These investment arenas are particularly well-suited for private investors who can take a proactive stance, underscoring the importance of greater engagement of family offices and foundations in multi-stakeholder conversations at future COPs.
Looking ahead, I am excited to integrate opportunities like these in our 2022 pipeline and to relay insights from COP26 into our analyses. Amid the many takeaways, my encounter with the Ecuadorian stands out as the most important awakening I had at the COP: some of us are already losing our homes, and climate change is only getting started. Let's meet it head on and give our all for a future where all our children and grandchildren can thrive.