Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of the environment organization Greenpeace International poses for a photo during an interview with the Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. The head of environmental group Greenpeace warned against efforts by countries and corporations to “greenwash” their ongoing pollution of the planet at the upcoming U.N. climate talks. Morgan said leaked documents show how countries such as Australia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia recently tried to water down a U.N. science panel report on global warming. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
BERLIN (AP) — The head of environmental group Greenpeace on Thursday warned against efforts by countries and corporations at the forthcoming U.N. climate talks in Glasgow to “greenwash” their ongoing pollution of the planet.
The summit hosted by Britain has been described as “ the world’s last best chance ” to prevent global warming from reaching dangerous levels, and is expected to see a flurry of new commitments from governments and businesses to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases.
But climate campaigners say behind-the-scenes lobbying before the summit could hamper efforts to achieve an ambitious deal that would ensure the world stands a chance of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) as agreed in Paris in 2015.
“This Glasgow meeting really is a vital moment where governments need to be courageous,” said Jennifer Morgan, the executive director of Greenpeace International.
“They need to show they’ve understood the science, listen to their people and go much further than they’ve been stating thus far,” she told The Associated Press in an interview.
By doing so, governments would “give that kind of hope and confidence to their people that they got this and that they’re willing to do things that their corporate interests don’t want them to do,” she added.
Morgan pointed to leaked documents showing how countries such as Australia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia are apparently trying to water down an upcoming U.N. science panel report on global warming as evidence of the way in which some governments’ public support for climate action is undermined by their efforts behind closed doors.
Documents obtained by Greenpeace indicate how those countries wanted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to remove references to the need to shut down coal-fired power stations, reduce meat consumption and focus on actual emissions cuts rather than ways to capture carbon already released into the atmosphere.
A spokesman for the IPCC’s secretariat in Geneva downplayed the impact such lobbying efforts have on the panel’s final reports.
“Review by governments and experts is a fundamental part of the IPCC process for preparing reports,” said the spokesman, Jonathan Lynn. “The IPCC principles are designed to ensure that this review contributes to a comprehensive, balanced and objective assessment in an open and transparent way.”
Greenpeace’s Morgan said much of the lobbying is driven by corporations, some of which will also be at the so-called COP26 talks — including as part of government delegations.
“They’ll try and use this COP to show that they care, that they are really doing a lot,” said Morgan. “There’ll be a big greenwashing effort in Glasgow that needs to be called out and recognized.”
Governments, too, are likely to use the U.N. talks to announce new climate measures, even as they lobby against others, she said.
“If you look at what they’re doing to try and hold back the world from moving forward, it’s stunning,” she said. “It’s immoral, it’s unacceptable.”
Greenpeace and other environmental campaign groups have been critical of a wave of announcements by countries and industry groups, ranging from airlines to shipping firms, to aim for ‘net zero’ emissions. Rather than cut greenhouse gas emissions to nil, those aiming for net zero pledge to release only as much carbon dioxide or other pollutants into the atmosphere by a certain date as can be captured again.
The math around net zero is murky and activists say if it’s not scientifically rigorous that target risks detracting from the effort to cut emissions as quickly as possible.
“(Some companies) want to continue what they’re doing, but they want to pay just to plant trees somewhere else,” said Morgan. “That is not the solution to the nature and biodiversity crisis.”
She cited a recent report by the International Energy Agency which concluded that there can be no more new coal mines or oil and gas wells if the Paris goal is to be achieved. Yet last week, a separate U.N.-backed study found that even current fossil fuel production plans for the coming decade would result in over twice the emissions allowed for the world to maintain a chance of meeting the Paris goals.
Morgan said the spotlight being put on the talks in Glasgow and some parties’ efforts to bloc agreements on sensitive issues could embolden those countries that want an ambitious deal.
“They have to be ready to move, go beyond their comfort zones and come together because you can see the level of opposition that’s coming in at them,” she said.
A group of nine nations, including Costa Rica, Sweden and the Marshall Islands, on Thursday called for countries that haven’t yet done so to update their climate targets ahead of the Oct. 31-Nov. 12 talks in Glasgow. They also backed a long-standing demand from poor nations for rich countries to make good on their pledge of providing $100 billion in aid each year to tackle climate change.
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Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s climate coverage at http://apnews.com/hub/climate
Leaks show attempts to water down UN climate report, Greenpeace says
Some countries tried to remove findings threatening their economic interests from an IPCC report, documents seen by Greenpeace have revealed. The report comes before a critical round of UN climate talks.
A number of nations want to continue using fossil fuels despite their detrimental effects on the climate
Australia, Saudi Arabia and Japan were among countries that have tried to make changes to an upcoming UN climate report outlining ways to curb global warming, environmental organization Greenpeace reported on Thursday, citing a major leak of documents.
The documents seen by Greenpeace's Unearthed team consist of comments made by governments and other interested bodies on the draft report of an internationally composed working group of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report is due to be released next year.
Although most of the comments submitted to the IPCC by national governments were intended to improve the report, several major coal, oil, beef and animal feed-producing nations pressed for changes to suit their economic interests, Unearthed reported.
The attempts at lobbying were brought to light just days before the COP26 climate negotiations open in Glasgow, Scotland. The conference is seen by many as crucial in determining whether human-made global warming will cause irreparable damage to the planet.
Drought in many countries is being made worse by the effects of global warming
What did some countries say?
In one comment seen by Unearthed, a senior official from Australia questioned the report's finding, considered as incontrovertible by scientists, that phasing out coal-fired power stations was a significant step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming. Australia derives a large part of its national income from coal exports.
Major beef and animal feed producers Brazil and Argentina lobbied the IPCC team to remove mention of plant-based diets and reduction of meat and dairy consumption as being beneficial to the climate, Unearthed said.
The leaked comments showed Saudi Arabia, Iran, Australia, Japan and OPEC, a group of petroleum exporting countries, all arguing that carbon capture and storage could be used to prevent greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sites rather than stopping CO2 production at the source. This goes against research saying that previously employed methods of keeping CO2 out of the atmosphere have been largely unsuccessful.
OPEC is particularly against phasing out fossil fuels and, according to the leaks, told the report authors to cut the sentence: "More efforts are required to actively phase out all fossil fuels in the energy sector, rather than relying on fuel switching alone."
Flooding likely exacerbated by global warming recently devastated parts of Germany
Some countries tried to remove findings threatening their economic interests from an IPCC report, documents seen by Greenpeace have revealed. The report comes before a critical round of UN climate talks.
A number of nations want to continue using fossil fuels despite their detrimental effects on the climate
Australia, Saudi Arabia and Japan were among countries that have tried to make changes to an upcoming UN climate report outlining ways to curb global warming, environmental organization Greenpeace reported on Thursday, citing a major leak of documents.
The documents seen by Greenpeace's Unearthed team consist of comments made by governments and other interested bodies on the draft report of an internationally composed working group of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report is due to be released next year.
Although most of the comments submitted to the IPCC by national governments were intended to improve the report, several major coal, oil, beef and animal feed-producing nations pressed for changes to suit their economic interests, Unearthed reported.
The attempts at lobbying were brought to light just days before the COP26 climate negotiations open in Glasgow, Scotland. The conference is seen by many as crucial in determining whether human-made global warming will cause irreparable damage to the planet.
Drought in many countries is being made worse by the effects of global warming
What did some countries say?
In one comment seen by Unearthed, a senior official from Australia questioned the report's finding, considered as incontrovertible by scientists, that phasing out coal-fired power stations was a significant step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming. Australia derives a large part of its national income from coal exports.
Major beef and animal feed producers Brazil and Argentina lobbied the IPCC team to remove mention of plant-based diets and reduction of meat and dairy consumption as being beneficial to the climate, Unearthed said.
The leaked comments showed Saudi Arabia, Iran, Australia, Japan and OPEC, a group of petroleum exporting countries, all arguing that carbon capture and storage could be used to prevent greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sites rather than stopping CO2 production at the source. This goes against research saying that previously employed methods of keeping CO2 out of the atmosphere have been largely unsuccessful.
OPEC is particularly against phasing out fossil fuels and, according to the leaks, told the report authors to cut the sentence: "More efforts are required to actively phase out all fossil fuels in the energy sector, rather than relying on fuel switching alone."
Flooding likely exacerbated by global warming recently devastated parts of Germany
What do climate scientists say?
The vast majority of climate scientists are of the opinion that a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels is necessary if the world is not to suffer from the catastrophic effects of global warming, many of which have become apparent in the past years.
In its draft Summary for Policymakers, which was itself leaked earlier this year, the IPCC said limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and 1.5 degrees Celsius will "involve substantial reductions in fossil fuel use, major investments in low-carbon energy forms, switching to low-carbon energy carriers and energy efficiency and conservation efforts."
The vast majority of climate scientists are of the opinion that a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels is necessary if the world is not to suffer from the catastrophic effects of global warming, many of which have become apparent in the past years.
In its draft Summary for Policymakers, which was itself leaked earlier this year, the IPCC said limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and 1.5 degrees Celsius will "involve substantial reductions in fossil fuel use, major investments in low-carbon energy forms, switching to low-carbon energy carriers and energy efficiency and conservation efforts."
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