I attended the COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow, Scotland. It turned out to be one of the most eventful meetings ever, but still far short of what’s needed to keep climate change in check.
Absolute Zero
A lot of countries and companies have set targets for eliminating their contributions to climate change, but prefaced by the term “net zero.” I looked into what this actually means and whether it leads to meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
All Talk, No action
Representatives from around the world gathered at the United Nations in a last-ditch effort to spur countries to do more to fight climate change. And many countries did announce new commitments to curb their emissions. But the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world barely budged.
ENERGY APARTHEID
"Apartheid" is a loaded term, but it's how World Bank President Jim Kim described the growing gap between industrial economies and countries lacking energy and resources to develop.
He made this point to scientists and engineers gathered at the ARPA-E summit, arguing that technology advances need to provide ladders out of poverty for the billions that are struggling.
General Electric's full-scale supercritical CO2 turbine on display at the ARPA-E summit
Double Down
The Obama Administration has proposed doubling clean energy research and development spending. The move is part of an agreement forged between 20 countries in November 2015 during the Paris climate change negotiations.
¡Viva la Revolución!
Mexico is undergoing an energy revolution, opening up its energy sector to private companies for the first time in more than 70 years. At the same time, the country has set some of the most ambitious climate change mitigation targets in the developing world. Reconciling the two policies may prove difficult.
This story is part of our Greater Expectations series, where we profile different countries and what's at stake for then in the run up to the climate change negotiations in Paris in December.