The Road to COP26: In-conversation with Lord Deben

In conversation with Lord Deben, Chair of the UK Committee on Climate Change and Geoffrey Norris, GC Senior Adviser, on the UK’s climate leadership role as the co-host of COP26 and how the UK may approach its role post-Brexit and in light of covid-19.

The session explored:

• The conversation explored the success of the Climate Change Committee as the government’s independent advisors on climate change for over ten years, with Lord Deben reflecting that the key factors for its success lies in its independence, the timetabling, and the long-term nature of the advice given allowing government to approach its conclusions objectively.
   
• In identifying the key takeaways from the CCC’s Sixth Carbon Budget released in December, Lord Deben argued that the most important thing to recognise is the feasibility and affordability of reaching the net zero by 2050 target, as long as the next decade has a sufficient amount of policy delivery taking place.
   
• For COP26 to be a success, it would succeed in delivering:
  - Nations agreeing to ambition beyond the Paris Agreement, with a programme in place to reach this;
  - An agreement on how to deliver the $100 billion a year financing for developing nations that was promised in the Paris Agreement;
  - Better ways of measurement of reaching these targets;
  - Agreement on the role of offsetting.
   
• Private sector investment will be fundamental to the process of reaching the net zero target, but to ensure this is delivered in the right places the government needs to provide long-term clarity with a positive example being the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.