COP25: the climate protection mirage
The fact that Madrid's COP25 was a long UN climate conference ever makes its insufficient concrete results particularly disappointing. After two extra days of negotiations, the best delegates could cobble together was a group of boilerplate pledges-for example, a milquetoast statement that parties have to address the space between what's scientifically required to avoid dangerous levels of climatic change and also the current state of play. The parties also approved a watered down intend to further cut CO2-emissions before the next climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021.
With the COP25 dubbed “a climate summit to forget”, pressure is piling on PM Boris Johnson to deliver tangible results if London wants to be seen like a global climate leader. Johnson might be emboldened by his recent electoral victory, but he nevertheless has his work cut out for him if he wants to mount an effective summit the coming year in Scotland. His ambitious infrastructure plans face firm opposition from climate activists, while he must juggle Washington's need to exclude any climate-related chapters from the trade deal with Brussels' threat to position a border tax on countries that do not reduce emissions.
Corporate deception
Following the disappointments of COP25, Johnson has been urged by a number of government advisers to obtain the UK's climate action back on track and implement far-reaching policies to reduce carbon emissions – specially in the buildings, transport, electricity, industry and agriculture sectors. If the UK is to become a global leader in environmental protection, a major step forward would be for London to out throughout the COP26 the firms bearing the lion's share of the responsibility for such emissions.
It was once again made clear how urgently big industries and their corporations need to be reined in earlier this month when the head of the panel responsible for investigating the environmental impact of major fossil fuel companies concluded Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Total might be held legally accountable for the negative effects of their carbon emissions on the region's communities. Described by a Greenpeace spokesperson like a 'landmark victory for climate justice', the report accuses gas and oil giants of masking the risks of global warming.
The threat of legal repercussions is unsurprising, considering that fossil fuel producers majors have spent around $1bn since the introduction from the Paris Agreement on climate-related branding and lobbying made to mislead and misinform in the face of overwhelming evidence of global warming. These disingenuous efforts have included funding climate studies and climate action groups in a bid to cover a polluting industry behind a 'clean' facade.
Sinar Mas a poster child for that paper industry's duplicity
But such deceptive behaviour in no way the exclusive privilege of the fossil fuel industry-and its prevalence in other industries must be tackled to prevent the most damaging consequences of global warming. The paper sector is definitely an especially overlooked polluter. Like a case in point, Indonesia's biggest industry manufacturer, Sinar Mas Group's Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) was recently hauled within the coals for failing to honour its flagship zero-deforestation policy. Based on the Rainforest Action Network, the business's CO2 emissions stood between 67 and 87 million tonnes in 2006, a figure exceeding the carbon footprint of 165 countries in the world.
In reaction to criticism, the organization introduced its Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) in 2021, designed to reassure investors and also the public of APP's commitment to sustainability. But a 2021 review by a group of NGOs figured APP was still taking part in deforestation. Exploiting the lack of oversight and independent monitoring in Indonesia's paper sector, APP did not progress on restoring degraded peatland and it has sparked land disputes with local neighborhoods.
The devastating consequences of APP's clearcutting have not yet received the global attention they deserve. But Sinar Mas' problems are not restricted to Asia alone. Certainly one of its other subsidiaries – Paper Excellence – has been facing criticism from the provincial government for discharging large amounts of treated effluent from its Boat Harbour Facility in Quebec. Northern Pulp was found responsible for heavy sludge in nearby waters, which pushed the federal government to pass through the 2021 Boat Harbour Act, giving the company five years to figure out a secure method to discharge the effluent. With the deadline looming, the company proposed building a 15 km effluent pipeline to the waters from the Northumberland Strait. The program was slammed by environmental groups for “failing to deal with information gaps identified by the province”, and also the government declined to approve it in December 2021. As a result, the guarana plant is now slated to shut down by the end of January 2021.
Climate and environmental justice
While Quebec might be balking at Sinar Mas Group's latest doubtful environmental proposal, other big polluters are fighting back against any attempt to restrain their industries-and have even scored some important recent victories. In December, Exxon Mobil triumphed in a US lawsuit alleging the corporation hid the real cost of global warming regulation from investors after a judge ruled within the company's favour.
Strong action by governments around the world is going to be essential to turning the tide and convincing these industrial groups to wash up their operations rather than use duplicitous tactics to cover the true damage their companies are wreaking while paying lip service to environmental protection. The COP25 raised serious issues about whether world leaders are capable of taking a sufficiently firm line on environmental issues.
Particular questions have been voiced about Boris Johnson and his capability to deliver a more encouraging result at next year's COP26. Johnson's diplomatic efforts happen to be uneven at best; the nation is on the path to miss its climate targets; and the prime minister has, only days after earning a handsome governing majority at the polls, sparked fears that the UK may ditch environmental safeguards after Brexit. Next November's climate conference in Glasgow will be Johnson's golden opportunity to prove the naysayers wrong.
