COP26

Western observers want to blame India for the failure of the UN climate talks. Not so fast.

Every day that goes by in which wealthy nations fail to hold themselves accountable for achieving net zero reductions is a declaration that they don't care if developing nations drown or dry up.

New global agreements notwithstanding, the world remains woefully behind in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions at the rate necessary to prevent catastrophic climate-change scenarios. Businesses are increasingly embracing the green challenge, but they need policymakers to meet them halfway.

Developed nations like the US, which is responsible for almost 25% of historical greenhouse gas emissions, simply must do more to decarbonize across the whole of their economies if we are to mitigate the worst impacts of global heating. Failure is not an option.

Resolving the climate crisis isn't just about shifting from one technology to another; it's about shifting our ways of thinking and being. It’s a point that often gets missed in conversations about major greenhouse gas emission sources.

"We should call it the 'Glasgow suicide pact' for the poorest in the world."

The environmental destruction in our future will be so profound that anything less than the emergence of a new form of global governance—one capable of protecting the planet and the human rights of all its inhabitants—will mean that wars over water, land, and people are likely to erupt across the planet amid climate chaos.

Copenhagen was a failure that demotivated activists, while Paris merely placated them. But Glasgow has radicalized a generation.

We must continue to demand that international climate negotiations focus on the experiences of those most affected by the climate crisis and their solutions to mitigating it while ensuring that those who speak out against climate-damaging activities are not subjected to repression or violence.

The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow suffered the same lack of trust between developing and developed countries that has burdened global climate negotiations for almost three decades. Financing is at the heart of the rupture, and the time has come for a new approach.