Did Cop26 do enough?
The UN climate summit in Glasgow produced a lot of promises, but will they come close to stopping global warming?
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, November 14, by Madeleine Chapman. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: The vaccine deadline for some sectors is today; the Black Caps lost this morning; Michael Parekōwhai breaks records; but first, what happened in the final days of Cop26?
Peruvian climate activists before an Extinction Rebellion march at the end of Cop26 (photo by Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)
The big promises. The UN climate summit (Cop26) concluded in Glasgow over the weekend with the signing of the Glasgow Climate Pact, an agreement between nearly 200 countries to phase down coal use (the worst of the fossil fuels) and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
Words matter. The original wording in the pact referred to a “phase out” of coal but on the final day of discussion, India requested that they be changed to “phase down”. India is currently the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China and the US. Their opposition to the “phase out” wording was supported by China and eventually accepted by the assembly in order to pass the deal.
At the same time, the US led an opposition to the wording of the original proposal to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, resulting in the inclusion of the words “unabated” and “inefficient”. It’s not yet clear how a fossil fuel subsidy’s “efficiency” will be measured, reports Stuff’s Olivia Wannan, whose analysis from Glasgow is unmatched.
The 1.5 degree target remains. The Paris Agreement in 2015 (Cop21) raised a goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The pledges made in Glasgow are a step in the right direction but are not expected to meet the requirements to achieve that goal. The softened wording certainly won’t help.
More “loss and damage” for developing countries. It is now widely understood that the countries doing the least to cause the climate crisis are the ones suffering the most as a result of it. Our Pacific neighbours the Marshall Islands fall into this category, as reiterated by activist Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner on Q+A. Developing countries sought a firm pledge from developed countries to provide financial assistance for this loss and damage, but while the damage was acknowledged in the Glasgow pact, financial discussions have been pushed to Cop27.
As a bigger power in the region, the onus is on New Zealand to act in the interests of all Pacific countries, but as KDee Aimiti Ma'ia'i and Marco de Jong wrote for The Spinoff, we don’t exactly have a track record to be proud of in that regard.
In fact, New Zealand is already underperforming. On the penultimate day of Cop26, the Climate Action Network awarded New Zealand the “Fossil of the Day” which recognises “countries that have done the most to block or undermine progress in the negotiations”. The “win” was roundly criticised by environmental groups in New Zealand.
For a simple, objective assessment of New Zealand’s pledges and targets, see the Climate Action Tracker. Spoiler alert: our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) have been given the rating of “Highly Insufficient” and even with a new, more ambitious target, “still not consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree limit”.
A verdict from Oxfam International executive director Gabriela Bucher: “Developing countries, representing over 6 billion people, put forward a loss and damage finance facility to build back in the aftermath of extreme weather events linked to climate change. Not only did rich countries block this, all they would agree to is limited funding for technical assistance and a “dialogue”. This derisory outcome is tone deaf to the suffering of millions of people both now and in the future. It’s painful that diplomatic efforts have once more failed to meet the scale of this crisis.”
A message from… me:
Like any good door-to-door salesperson, I’m about to cheerily introduce myself and then, in the very next breath, ask you for money. Hi! I’m Madeleine (or Mad) Chapman, previously an intern at The Spinoff, then a staff writer, senior writer and now editor. It certainly wasn’t the plan to step into this role in the middle of a delta outbreak, nor did I think my first weeks on the job would unfold alongside New Zealand’s largest city slowly coming out of stagnation. But despite the strange and unfortunate circumstances, The Spinoff team has stepped up once again, working tirelessly (and mostly from our bedrooms) to bring you the most important news when you need it, and the lighter moments when things are looking a little bleak. We’ve been able to continue this work because of the ongoing contributions from our members and I can’t thank you enough.
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The Black Caps lost another final (sorry). This bulletin was written while ignoring, then watching, then wishing I could unsee the Twenty20 final between Australia and New Zealand. I asked The Offspin host Simon Day to send through his thoughts in “a couple lines” and he sent me three paragraphs. Here they are:
When Australia beat Pakistan in the second semi final I pretended to be excited by the opportunity for the Black Caps to prove themselves against the one team that continues to dominate them. Honestly, I was terrified.
Sadly, the inevitable happened. Despite a genius innings from Kane Williamson the Black Caps always seemed a step behind. And then David Warner (of all people) and Mitchell Marsh took the game away by the end of the ninth over of the Australian innings and never gave it back.
To be finalists in all three formats of the game is a huge achievement for the New Zealand cricket team. Being a Black Caps fan in 2021 is an entirely different experience to the first 30 years of my life. But the horrible feeling of losing to the Australians remains intensely familiar.
The Covid numbers: Sunday’s total of 207 new confirmed cases was the highest since the pandemic began. There are 90 cases in hospital and nine in ICU/HDU. A woman in her 90s has died in North Shore hospital with Covid-19. She was a resident of Edmonton Care Home where there has been an outbreak with 25 cases among staff and residents.
The Spinoff’s Covid data tracker has the latest figures.
Covid-19 is making its way around the North Island. On Friday there were confirmed cases in Auckland, Waikato, Northland and Taranaki. By Sunday, there were new cases found in Rotorua, Taupō and the Tararua district. With the virus also detected in wastewater samples from Tauranga and Mount Maunganui on November 10 and 11, the Bay of Plenty DHB has been preparing for Covid-19 to arrive any day now, reports NZ Herald (paywalled). "Both hospitals (Tauranga and Whakātane) are both pretty full at the moment ... so we're having to be really thoughtful about how we will react to outbreaks and make sure we've got multiple plans for different scenarios,” said DHB chief executive Pete Chandler.
Today is the first dose deadline for workers in education, health and disability sectors. Secondary schools are expecting about 800 staff won’t be in school on Tuesday due to being unvaccinated, reports Stuff. Many schools and hospitals around the country will be looking for solutions to lessened capacity as unvaccinated staffers and contractors are encouraged to find work elsewhere. The full impact on each sector won’t be known for days, if not weeks.
New Zealand’s most expensive artwork has sold. Michael Parekōwhai’s “A Peak in Darien” sold on Saturday for $2,051,900 in what is now the highest-grossing art auction this country has ever seen. RNZ reports the piano-based sculpture (part of Parekōwhai’s “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer” exhibition for the 54th Venice Biennale) sold at Art + Object’s two-day auction, which sold two other pieces for more than $1 million each: Colin McCahon’s “St Matthew: Lightning” and “Entombment after Titian”, which sold for $1,961,375 and $1,093,090 respectively.
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Getty Images; additional design by Tina Tiller
Right now on The Spinoff: Child psychologist Emma Woodward reassures parents that children’s social skills will continue to develop even with teachers’ faces covered by masks. Chris Schulz spoke to Guyon Espiner about his drinking, and why he stopped. Sam Brooks looks into how Auckland theatre is managing when no one has been able to put on or see a show in months. A year 12 student speaks to Justin Latif about what it’s like to return to school in the middle of an outbreak. Jean Sergent celebrates a landmark anthology of queer New Zealand writing. Stewart Sowman-Lund and Tara Ward recap the strange, virtual auctions of The Block NZ.
Losing comes in threes, I guess? It was a truly unprecedented weekend of losses for team New Zealand. The All Blacks lost to Ireland 29-20 in Dublin after being outplayed the full 80 minutes. Then the Black Ferns suffered their third heavy defeat in a row, this time falling to France 38-13. The loss(es) have made glaringly obvious the difference funding can make, as England and France have invested more in their national sides since the last time the Black Ferns toured Europe, while the Black Ferns are still semi-professional. And then the Black Caps lost this morning. So on that note, have a great week!
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