'Plenty Of Reasons For Hope': What 30 Years Of Climate Talks Have Achieved

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Thousands of delegates, scientists and world leaders are gathered in Turkey for the latest United Nations climate summit, COP31. Their task is familiar: agree on how to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help countries cope with a warming planet.

But after more than three decades of negotiations, global emissions remain stubbornly high and the world is on course to overshoot the critical threshold of 1.5°C of warming. So have these annual summits actually achieved anything?

Dr Wesley Morgan, a climate diplomacy expert at UNSW Sydney, tells The Conversation Weekly podcast the answer is yes:

Agreed in 2015, the treaty brought more than 190 countries together around shared climate goals. Morgan says it has helped shift the trajectory of global warming:

This year's summit presents a particular diplomatic challenge for Australia because its climate and energy minister, Chris Bowen, is leading the negotiations.

Morgan says Australia can“tell a very positive story about what's happening domestically in Australia”, including by pointing to significant strides in rooftop solar, which is now installed on one in three homes.

But Australia's role as President of Negotiations at COP31 is controversial because Australia remains one of the world's biggest exporters of coal and gas.

“It really is a tightrope,” Morgan says.

In September, the federal government approved an expansion of BHP's Saraji coal mine in Queensland, while authorities in New South Wales gave the green light for a major Hunter Valley coal mine to keep operating until 2045.

The negotiations also face a major setback following the Trump administration's withdrawal in January from international climate cooperation Morgan notes that no other country has followed the United States out of the talks.

He points to the influence of Pacific island nations as evidence that smaller countries can shape global agreements. In 2015, The Republic of the Marshall Islands helped build the High Ambition Coalition, which was instrumental in securing the Paris Agreement and its 1.5°C goal.

For Pacific countries, Morgan says, that target is a matter of survival:

One possible outcome from COP31 is a new global electrification target dubbed“35 by 35”: meeting 35% of the world's final energy demand with electricity by 2035 sees it as another step towards economies powered by clean energy – and despite the setbacks, he insists the transition is already underway:

Disclosure statement

Wesley Morgan is a fellow at the Climate Council of Australia.

Credits

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Miki Perkins and Grace Jennings-Edquist. Sound mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Ashlynne McGhee is head of editorial innovation. Gemma Ware is head of audio. Misha Ketchell and Stephen Kahn are editors-in-chief.

News clips in this episode from The Australian, ABC, CBS News, CBC News and NDTV Profit.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.

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