COP24: When will we finally get rid of the “but”?

Kateřina Davidová addresses the latest COP24 climate conference in Katowice.

“The UN’s latest climate meeting ends positively. But there is a lot more to do if global warming is to be stopped” says The Economist about the 24th UN Conference of Parties, the so-called COP24, which came to an end in Katowice on Saturday 15th December.

“The agreement struck in Poland is not strong enough, but the UN process is all we have,” writes The Guardian. And the Washington Post chimes in with its headline: “Global climate talks end in progress but fail to address the galloping pace of climate change.”

Nevertheless, there are reasons for hope. More and more non-state actors – from businesses, investors, municipalities to individuals – are realising the dangers of uncontrolled climate change and are aware that the sooner we start to dramatically reduce our emissions, the easier (and cheaper) it will be. Across the world, these actors are putting their hands to work even despite the weak ambitions of their political leaders.

In the United States, more than 3 000 actors, ranging from businesses and investors through cities and counties to universities and cultural institutions, gathered in the initiative We Are Still In and have pledged to continue to honour their Paris commitments even despite Trump’s announced withdrawal from the deal. In Europe, a growing number of cities and businesses are joining the Step Up Now initiative, seeing climate change as an opportunity for their developments and working towards a carbon-neutral EU by 2050.

Full text is available here.

Kateřina Davidová
Senior Research Fellow

Expertise: EU climate and energy policy, environmental protection