The 2021 Emissions Gap report shows that we are on track for a global temperature increase of 2.7°C by the end of the century, way over the estimate in the Paris Agreement. Yet many countries are delaying the implementation of their reduction plans until after 2030. The world needs to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by half in the next eight years. Carbon markets can deliver real emissions reductions, as long as they are backed by agreements to track and make progress transparent.

Ahead of this weekend’s final agreement at the UN climate summit, delegates took to the podium in Glasgow for family photos while bottles of wine were uncorked. But this latest global pact is not the celebratory and game-changing moment many had hoped for.

“I don’t think the outcome of COP26 has many things for humanitarians to celebrate,” Gernot Laganda, the World Food Programme’s climate and disaster risk reduction chief, told The New Humanitarian, summing up the mood in an emergency aid sector that came in Glasgow with the clear message that it can’t handle the consequences of the climate crisis alone.

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The emergency aid sector, which is already struggling to respond to current needs, has been warning that every increase in temperature means millions more people will be affected, especially if more resources aren’t made available for adaptation and disaster risk reduction. (…)

“What we have is humanitarian aid as a response mechanism, and this is totally widespread internationally with the number of protracted crises underfunded”, Melchior Lengsfeld, executive director of Swiss NGO Helvetas, told The New Humanitarian.

– Abstract from the article “Why COP26 leaves humanitarians wanting more,” by Paula Dupraz-Dobias, for The New Humanitarian.

Full article: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2021/11/15/why-COP26-leaves-humanitarians-wanting-more

Start Network has had an active and important participation in COP26, which will come to an end in a few days. In this forum, one of the most important issues of action against climate change at a global level, a total of six sessions have been held:

 1) CLOSING THE PROTECTION GAP: HOW DISASTER FINANCE PARTNERSHIPS CAN PROTECT MORE PEOPLE ON THE FRONTLINE OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS (November 3); 2) DELIVERING ON RESILIENCE & ADAPTATION: BUILDING EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT & PROTECTION SYSTEMS FOR THE FUTURE (November 3); 3) WELCOME TO 2025; WHERE EARLY ACTION IS THE DEFAULT (November 8); 4) WHICH FINANCING MECHANISMS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO INCLUSIVE LOCALLY LED ADAPTATION IN FRAGILE AND CONFLICT SETTINGS? (November 9); 5) CAN LOCALLY LED ANTICIPATORY ACTION BE LEVERAGED TO ADDRESS CLIMATE IMPACTS AT SCALE? (November 10); 6) LOCALLY-LED SOLUTIONS TO DRR AND ANTICIPATORY ACTION: CHALLENGES, LESSONS LEARNED AND IDEAS FOR SCALING UP. (November 10) Its purpose? To generate awareness at all levels, and to serve as a constant reminder to one of the indisputable truths of this century: the climate crisis is a humanitarian crisis.

COP26 has begun. Its mission: to help ensure that world leaders know that the climate crisis is a humanitarian crisis, and that urgent action is needed. Start Network will be part of the event, so it has set itself the goal of addressing four key messages:

1. The climate crisis is a humanitarian crisis. All humanitarians, particularly local actors, must play a proactive role in addressing the growing climate risks.

2 Early action is one of the practical ways in which societies can address the growing climate risks. We must expand this work to address the challenges of the climate crisis.

3. The global approach to addressing the crises is not adequate enough. The climate crisis is exacerbating humanitarian needs and humanitarian funding cannot keep pace with growing demand.

4. We need a more proactive and localized system, where communities are supported to analyze risks, create plans and have access to pre-established funding to put plans into action.