This week at COP26 – what does it mean for geoscience?

Flo Bullough and Megan O’Donnell share some updates from the first week of the 26th UN Conference of the Parties in Glasgow.

Transitioning away from coal  

As part of the coal announcements during the world leaders summit that kicked off the conference a high-level panel discussed what is needed for this phase-out.  

• ¾ of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the energy sector and coal is a substantial part of this – making it a priority for progress.  
• Currently, 80% of global electricity comes from fossil fuels –  we need a massive increase in new renewable energy capacity to support the transition away from coal 
• Kwasi Kwarteng, Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spoke about the sense of urgency and the need for the transition to clean power to go at 5 times the current rate. As part of the phase-out, OECD countries will end unabated coal by 2030 and the rest of the world by 2040.
• Here in the UK, 9 years ago 40% of our electricity came from coal, today it’s less than 2% and will be completely phased out by 2024. 
• Representatives from the World Bank and other financial institutions set out their plans to mobilise investment into clean energy alternatives.  
• And Jennifer Granholm, the U.S Energy Secretary spoke of the need to create economic incentives to transition where there is an absence of political will, as this can create an economic opportunity and pathway to cleaner energy opportunities.  

What we haven’t heard yet? 

Delegate Nick Gardiner highlighted that there has still been precious little discussion on the enormous amount or critical raw materials that will be needed to deliver the energy transition and how this can be managed with the lowest carbon footprint possible. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for update on this next week. 

There was mention of the very important role of skills in delivering the energy transition at a Bellona Europe event on Friday by the Director of the Aldersgate Group who noted that STEM skills will be in high demand to deliver the transition but that some skills will drop in demand while others increase. We need a low carbon skills strategy to help manage the coming changes while also mainstreaming the teaching of climate change and sustainability in the curriculum.  

Check back next week for more COP26 updates, and find out more about our work in this area on our website.