SMMI LEADS DELEGATION TO COP26

The Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) led the University of Southampton to the 26th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021. Nine members of staff from four schools comprised the delegation to Scotland and represented the diversity of University research, collaborations and impact.

The aim of COP26 was to bring together parties to accelerate action towards the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, namely, to take measures to restrict global warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and preferably less than 1.5°C. The SMMI championed the University application to the UNFCCC for Observer status at COP26 and the team headed to Glasgow to participate in the 13-day summit.

Overarching themes highlighted throughout the Summit such as energy, nature, transport, resources, adaptation and the impact of climate change on communities and the environment are at the heart of SMMI activities and interests, through research at the University as well as collaborations with research institutions, civil societies, and industry and policy makers.

Numerous events organised at the delegates’ pavilions in the UN Blue Zone provided ideal opportunities for the Southampton team to network with fellow researchers, knowledge brokers and policymakers. This enabled the exchange of ideas and insights around growing the understanding of the impacts of human interaction with the planet’s natural environment and scope opportunities to translate this understanding into tangible solutions to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Highlights of the summit for the Southampton delegation included Dr Lindsay-Marie Armstrong, from the School of Engineering, attending events which focused on financing a net zero economy, accelerating net zero energy technologies, the legal aspects of achieving net zero and how bioenergy systems will play a critical role.

Lindsay-Marie said: “There was a clear underlying message that all sectors must navigate the climate change challenge collectively if we are to address the challenges in the swiftest manner.”

Her presence at COP26 also allowed her to hold discussions with the Business Secretary, the Rt Hon Minister Kwasi Kwarteng, on the UK priorities towards net zero decarbonisation and also how the UK will work with communities adapting to the consequences of climate change, here and now; through to witnessing the launch of two of the UK industrial decarbonisation clusters, the HyNet and the East Coast (Humber and Teeside) Clusters from the recent UK Cluster Sequencing process.

Professor Damon Teagle, Director of the SMMI, Dominic Hudson, Professor of Ship Safety and Efficiency, and Dr Wassim Dbouk, Marine and Maritime Policy Research Fellow, met with British Virgin Islands (BVI) Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Hon. Vincent O. Wheatley, MHA. The group advanced talks – which were initiated through previous ministerial visits to the University in 2018 in person and 2021 virtually – about how expertise at the SMMI would help deliver practical solutions needed to adapt to climate impacts and help decarbonise the BVI economy.

The SMMI delegation attended the Clean Maritime side event at the City of Glasgow College Maritime campus, including a keynote speech from the Maritime Minister Robert Courts. This event showcased several successful projects that were funded in the recent £23 million Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, including a number of projects involving SMMI researchers.

On ‘Transport’ day, the delegation split across venues to attend the announcement by Minister Robert Courts of the Clydebank Declaration for Green Shipping Corridors in the Blue Zone, and a half-day seminar at the City of Glasgow College, jointly organised by the college and our strategic partners Lloyd’s Register, on how shipping can proactively transition towards net zero.

Back in Southampton, as part of the Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival 2021, the University’s Public Engagement with Research unit organised an online event for the Thursday night before the Summit ended. The event engaged University experts with the public to discuss progress achieved at the Summit and whether the UK was on track to achieve its aim to unite the world to tackle climate change.

Following that event, Professor Damon Teagle, Professor Abubakr Bahaj and Dr Wassim Dbouk delivered a seminar as part of the Southampton Business School Evening Seminar series, focusing on what COP26 entails for the Solent. The event was delivered in person with registrations from business stakeholders from the region, and included presentations on general reflections on COP26, the climate challenge and impacts of decarbonisation on the Solent region, the repercussions of the Summit on the wider shipping industry, and how cities in the Solent can become more sustainable in line with climate objectives.

Attending COP26 was an experience that exemplified the University’s ambition to work with industry, governments, and research institutions on multidisciplinary projects to help inform our understanding of key environmental issues and deliver global solutions for the existential climate crisis that the planet is facing.

Attending the summit allowed the delegation to get a first-hand experience of the diplomatic challenges at a global summit of this magnitude and to get a better sense of the situation faced by minority groups, indigenous people, civil society groups, and gender equality and youth activists. Efforts to raise awareness around the rights that these groups champion and for action for greater inclusion are essential components of sustainability.

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Dr Wassim Dbouk, Marine and Maritime Policy Research Fellow, specialises in creating and delivering policy engagement opportunities for researchers within the SMMI and in translating their research outcomes into policy-informing evidence. Wassim attended COP26 with a particular interest in the environmental impacts on the oceans and ways to mitigate this. Here, he gives us his personal summary of the summit and what he would like to see happen next.

The health of our oceans and its biodiversity are at risk. Marine pollution from land and ocean-based activities, overfishing, and air pollution in ports and at sea are some of the factors exposing entire marine ecosystems to rapid change and threatening their existence. Moreover, there is growing evidence that our oceans, central for regulating the planet’s climate, are becoming more acidic due to the increasing amounts of human-induced carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and dissolved in sea water. As a result, marine habitats such as mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs are corroding and losing their vital carbon sequestration and storage functions.

With current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) tabled to the UNFCCC by signatories to the Paris Agreement projected to cause an increase of global greenhouse gas emissions by about 16 per cent in 2030 compared to 2010, the global response to climate change is still inadequate and too slow. The vital role of the oceans in that response must not be overlooked.

Following two years of preparations, which culminated in two weeks of tense negotiations in the Blue Zone at COP26, the Glasgow Climate Pact was published on 13 November 2021. But has it lived up to the not-so-ambitious aims of COP26, and where does it leave our oceans?

I can say that progress has been achieved at COP26, notably with commitments to ‘phasing down unabated’ coal power and ‘inefficient’ fossil fuel subsidies and to reduce methane emissions, making a first appearance. However, despite noticeable growth in renewable power generation, urgent action is still required: 2021 saw the largest absolute increase in CO2 emissions – over two billion tonnes – as spikes in energy markets led to more coal being burnt and resulting emissions reaching an all-time high of 15.3 billion tonnes. (International Energy Agency, ‘Global CO2 emissions rebounded to their highest level in history in 2021’, 8 March 2022)

Other achievements from the summit also include the unprecedented US-Chinese reconciliation around climate action, amidst an overwhelming environment of political differences on other fronts. Although the language of the deal is in parts vague, allowing ample leeway for the two highest global emitters of greenhouse gases to carry on with business as usual, the significance of the announcement should not be understated, and the momentum it creates is a reason for optimism for many.

Another key takeaway from COP26 was the agreement that states reconsider their 2030 NDCs ahead of next year’s summit in Sharm El-Sheikh (COP27), rather than in 2025, sending a clear statement of urgency in ensuring that national climate plans do not continue to derail.

As such, COP26 appears to have succeeded in “keeping 1.5 degrees alive” and in affording a clearer sense of the direction the world must be on by November 2022. This means that significant progress must still be done to meet the Paris Agreement targets and ensure a sustainable future for our planet – the targets are still achievable but only just (on “life support”).

However, as we come towards the end of the second year of the United Nations Ocean Decade, too little attention was given to essential global efforts to protect our oceans to preserve their role as carbon and heat sinks vital for regulating Earth’s climate. The Glasgow Climate Pact merely ‘emphasised’ the importance of protecting marine ecosystems by protecting biodiversity, without the use of any language which demands concrete action.

The little progress made in global commitments to protect our oceans came as a surprise to some, especially given that naturebased solutions (NBS) were under the spotlight at the summit. Presentations during an event on NBS at the Nature Pavilion celebrated the traction that we are beginning to see in ecosystem-based adaptation initiatives but bemoaned the limited investment in them.

The danger is that with increased acidity of their waters, and global emissions being projected to continue to rise, the world’s oceans are soaking up less and less carbon, and studies suggest that they will even begin to emit carbon in the future.

The UK Government recently renewed its commitment to dedicate funding to further protect the oceans and restore marine ecosystems and to support developing countries protect the marine environment, but unfortunately with no clear pathways as to how those funds will be spent and a lack of strategic clarity.

It is no secret that outcomes of a global summit like COP26 were going to be limited to the ‘lowest common denominator’, but time is not in our favour. The cost of inaction may be too great to bear, and the damage caused to our oceans may be irreversible. The UK must set higher ambitions and deliver more immediate action if it intends to truly act as a global leader in ocean protection.

It is given the basis to do just that through the Environment Act 2021, which recently passed into law. The Act sets out the UK’s environmental policy framework for subjects such as climate change and the conservation of biodiversity post-Brexit; and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is currently inviting views on the environmental targets set thereunder. The Department is also seeking views on its Nature Recovery Green Paper, which reflects the Government’s initial views on achieving recovery via protected sites and species protections, including at sea. At a global level, DEFRA is consulting on its 2030 Strategic Framework for international climate and nature action to determine its approach around encouraging international climate and nature action over the next decade. We will do all we can at the University to feed into these calls and beyond with research, data and knowledge.