Important progress was made during COP26 but the pace must be increased to ensure climate goals will be met. Now it is important to maintain momentum, and to continue to put pressure on more countries to shoulder their responsibility to create the necessary conditions to reduce emissions, writes Jesper Gyberg Ek, Climate Policy Director at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
– There are reasons to be positive about the agreements reached during COP26, says Jesper Gyberg Ek, climate policy director.
COP26 was a crucial opportunity to maintain the pace of global climate efforts. Swedish business is already in the process of the climate transition. However, given the nature of the climate issue, global efforts are crucial. You can always wish for more from these meetings, but there are also reasons to be positive about the agreements that were reached during COP26.
– It’s good that the countries of the world have now been able to agree on a rulebook and that they are taking substantive steps forward in climate efforts. This means that we’ve received a clear signal, which provides the necessary conditions for business to continue their investment, and which may also open up new markets for Swedish climate innovations, says Gyberg Ek.
Business is currently driving progress: it is companies that are identifying the new technical solutions for a fossil-free world. But we can’t deliver in a vacuum, many political trade-offs are needed. We must therefore continue to put pressure on several countries to take responsibility to create the necessary conditions to reduce emissions. With clear rules, the pace of change can accelerate further.
– Now it’s important to strive to take the next important step in climate efforts. Swedish Enterprise believes that focus must be put on negotiations to ultimately introduce a global minimum price for emitting CO2. We must move on from the time when countries were allowed to compete in the absence of a price on CO2, says Gyberg Ek.
Climate changeCOP26