'Our last, best hope' at Cop26
A look at the flurry of announcements and promises made at the Glasgow climate summit this week
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, November 5, by Justin Giovannetti. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: Auckland’s summer is still uncertain; state of emergency in Tairāwhiti; Night ’n Day wants to grow; but first, the Glasgow climate summit.
The world has about eight years to start reversing decades of emissions. (Getty Images)
The last best hope to halt climate change. Six years after a global breakthrough at the Paris climate summit, most of the world’s leaders are in Glasgow this week to try to finish the job. The pledges made by nearly all the world’s countries in 2015 to cut greenhouse gases were an unprecedented commitment, but they weren’t enough. That’s the pressure at Glasgow and Cop26, an attempt to complete the negotiations, increase previous targets and turn vague promises into binding actions to stop the world’s seas from rising. The early returns are cautiously promising, as Reuters reports, most of the world’s economies have joined calls to slash methane emissions (including New Zealand) and halt deforestation by the end of the decade.
The target is still 1.5 degrees Celsius. Greenhouse gas emissions have fallen in a number of countries over the past decade, but the world still isn’t on course for a cut to 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to The Guardian, emissions are now shooting up as Covid-19 lockdowns ease and emissions are expected to hit a record next year. Calling it a “reality check”, models show the world is on course to hit the level of emissions within 11 years for 1.5 degrees of warming. The summit’s president, Alok Sharma, called it the world’s “last, best hope to keep 1.5 degrees in reach”.
There are positives. India has now pledged to hit net zero emissions by 2070 and experts say it could mark a substantial shift in projected levels of global emissions. Others have called the target lacklustre and not aggressive enough from the world’s third largest emitter. China’s goal is for carbon neutrality by 2060, but president Xi Jinping has been criticised for skipping Glasgow. China is by far the world’s largest emitter and growing fast.
There’s a lot going on at the climate summit. As Rod Oram writes for Newsroom, the climate pledges are coming in fast but contentious issues remain to be solved over another week of negotiation. Along with methane and forestry, there have been promises on low-emissions steel, hydrogen, agriculture and roading. Over 40 countries have promised to quit coal. Trillions of dollars have been pledged to move the world to net zero emissions in the coming decades. New Zealand’s climate change minister, James Shaw isn’t at the summit yet but will be there for the final week. Most of the world’s leaders have now left, ending some of the drama on the sidelines. Now the hard stuff really starts – not the big splashy promises, but the small details on how they’ll happen.
Cop26 runs through to November 12.
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An unknown plan for Auckland travel this summer. A few hours after yesterday’s newsletter was released, the deputy prime minister tried to walk back a proposal to create time slots for fully vaccinated Aucklanders to leave the city this summer. Then in an unusual move, Covid-19 minister Chris Hipkins released a statement trying to clarify his position. As The Spinoff’s live updates report, the minister said he wants vaccinated Aucklanders to be able to travel, but also wants a boundary to keep Covid-19 from spreading. It did little to clear up confusion.
A state of emergency in Tairāwhiti/Gisborne after rain hammers district. The NZ Herald reports that inflatable rescue boats have been used to evacuate residents from flooded homes in parts of the district. Over 200mm of rain fell in a day, with more heavy rain expected to keep falling through the night.
The Covid numbers: There are 64 cases in hospital and 5 in ICU/HDU. There are now 2,141 active cases in New Zealand. 136 new community cases were reported in Auckland yesterday, 2 in Waikato and 1 in Northland. 26,999 people were vaccinated on Wednesday.
The Spinoff’s Covid data tracker has the latest figures.
Night ’n Day would consider a big push into the grocery sector. The Dunedin-based firm is already the country’s third-largest grocery, after giants Foodstuffs and Woolworths. According to the Otago Daily Times, Night ’n Day is now focused on coffee and takeaway, but the company would pivot to groceries if it faced a level playing field buying products. That’s a challenge now because the wholesalers are owned by…Foodstuffs and Woolworths.
With debt levels high across NZ, the Reserve Bank holds ‘the biggest wand’ ever. Former prime minister John Key has warned that the Reserve Bank now can cause great changes in the economy, particularly in housing, with small changes to the interest rate because so many people are carrying so much debt. He pretty much compared it to a wizard’s wand. As Stuff reports, Key doesn’t expect house prices to collapse, something the current prime minister is unlikely to allow to happen, but he does think prices are unsustainable and will stop soaring.
Next week is Apec Leaders' Week. As part of the Voices of the Future summit New Zealand’s youth are helping shape a declaration to Apec Leaders as the region sets a plan for the next 20 years. The Spinoff spoke to three delegates ahead of the event. Read the story here – created in partnership with Mfat.
Dreaming of Mt Fuji. Few New Zealanders are travelling internationally these days, but that doesn’t stop people from planning trips for the coming years. Simon Day (partner content) writes in The Spinoff about his dream of heading back to Japan and travelling from Osaka to Shikoku. After months of lockdown in Auckland, he won’t be the only person feeling wanderlust at the moment.
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Right now on The Spinoff: Reweti Kohere speaks with Allbirds founder Tim Brown as the footwear company lists on the Nasdaq. Toby Manhire looks at why there are barely any new Auckland locations of interest despite an unprecedented rise in cases. Bernard Hickey reports on the $100bn climate elephant in NZ as tens of thousands of homes could become uninsurable within decades. Duncan Greive finds that an unlikely smash hit might save TVNZ 2. Charlotte Muru-Lanning explains why cabbages are the unsung hero of the produce section.
For a longer read today, why China wants to take control of Taiwan. While it might be more than 9000km from New Zealand, what happens in Taiwan matters to us, writes Lucy Craymer for Stuff. Tensions continue in the area as Chinese president Xi Jinping has hinted that he might be willing to take the island by force in a “unification” of China. Here’s some of what she wrote:
“With New Zealand’s principle-based foreign policy, it would be difficult for the country to ignore an invasion of an island with a democratic, peaceful, law-based population the size of Australia… It would also increase the spread of authoritarianism.”
The All Blacks roadshow heads to Rome. Newshub reports that the team has put forward its second-string lineup as it prepares to face the Italians, with Richie Mo'unga at number 10 and Sam Cane named captain. After demolishing the US and Wales, the team is resting as much of its frontline as possible before tough matches in Ireland and France later this month. It’s still a strong team and the All Blacks want to keep their undefeated streak going.
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