In a Watershed Year for Climate Change, the Commonwealth Secretary-General Calls for Urgent, Decisive and Sustained Climate Action

Sep 8, 2021 | Alison Kentish
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London — This November, five years after signing the Paris Agreement and pledging to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with a further target of below 1.5 degrees Celsius, world leaders will meet in Glasgow, UK amid COVID-19 pandemic shocks, rising hunger and an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that warns of more extreme temperature, droughts, forest fires and ice sheet loss due to human activity. The leaders are expected to submit more ambitious targets to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Out of the 197 countries which signed the Paris Agreement, 54 are members of the Commonwealth. That association has been helping its members to craft their national climate targets and follow through with implementation. IPS spoke to Commonwealth Secretary-General the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC about the Association's climate initiatives, the unique challenges faced by small states, its focus on gender mainstreaming and access to financing for critical adaptation and mitigation projects.