COP26 President Alok Sharma has warned that progress made during the summit risks “withering on the vine”.
Mr Sharma said the deals reached at the Glasgow climate meeting had been a “fragile win” for the world.
But unless the commitments made are translated into action this year, the chances of keeping global temperatures under control will be lost.
Quoting from the popular film Don’t Look Up, he said this is no time to “get stuck and judge.”
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The United Nations COP26 climate summit in November ended with an agreement to stave off severe climate change. This pact was the first ever UN climate deal that specifically called for reducing coal – the worst fossil fuel for greenhouse gases.
But the pledges did not go far enough to limit temperature rises to 1.5°C, which scientists believe is the threshold for dangerous global warming effects.
Exactly 12 weeks to the day of the start of COP26 (so called because it was the 26th meeting of the Conference of the Parties), Alok Sharma delivered his first major speech since the gathering at an event at Chatham House in central London.
Mr. Sharma is mainly responsible for the negotiation process leading up to the next big conference COP27 in Egypt in November.
He stressed the fact that despite the pandemic and frayed international relations at COP26, countries had worked together to make the Glasgow Climate Pact a reality.
This agreement, he said, is a significant achievement.
In Glasgow, countries had agreed to return with new and improved 2030 carbon reduction plans by the time of the next major summit in Egypt in November.
The hope is that each nation will increase its national efforts to limit global warming to below 1.5°C.
Mr Sharma also underlined the progress made in Glasgow towards phasing out the world’s most polluting fossil fuel.
“As my team and I considered whether we should seek to leave coal power to history, I was warned that we would never find the word ‘coal’ in a COP text,” Mr Sharma said.
“Nevertheless, every country at the COP agreed to phase out coal-fired power generation.”
But the achievements in Glasgow will not survive unless global leaders take concrete action this year, he said.
“If we don’t deliver on the promises made to deliver on the Glasgow Climate Pact commitments, they will wither on the vine,” Mr Sharma told the audience.
“We will not have mitigated any risks. We will not have seized opportunities. Instead, we have broken the trust built between nations. And 1.5°C will slip away from us.
Mr Sharma outlined four main priorities for this year, the first of which is getting countries to step up their carbon reduction action. He would focus on getting the wealthier G20 group of nations to do more.
There is also a renewed need to focus on helping countries adapt to climate change and make progress on addressing loss and damage.
Money is crucial to progress, he reiterated.
In November, the leaders of the richer countries must be able to show that the promised $100 billion (£74 billion) every year from 2020 is finally being delivered.
At several points in his speech, Mr Sharma referred to the agreement with South Africa negotiated at COP26.
Countries, including Britain, are dumping money for South Africa to get off coal. Mr Sharma pointed out that this approach can certainly be reused.
“Where we can support them, as we’re doing with South Africa, in the transition from coal to a clean energy transition, that’s something developed countries increasingly need to do.”
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