NRDC President: After COP26 the Climate Fight Begins Anew

WASHINGTON – COP26, the global climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, is concluding with modest successes on nations committing to stronger climate measures; to expand clean energy; to end financing fossil fuel projects overseas; to ramp up sales of all-electric vehicles; and other measures aimed at addressing the climate crisis. Now the focus turns to holding countries accountable for their pledges and promises and pushing them to do more, so the world avoids the worst impacts from climate change.

Manish Bapna, president and CEO of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), made the following comments:

“COP26 decisively moved the world forward but now the climate fight must begin anew if we hope to hold global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Promises made in Glasgow—on climate ambition and clean energy, on helping vulnerable communities rebuild and climate finance, and on curbing dangerous fossil fuels and protecting forests—must be kept, strengthened, and accelerated, beginning today.

“Amid the certain, if measured, progress at Glasgow, youth activists around the world spoke up to remind us that there’s far more to be done, that a world that fails its children is failing, and in so many ways, the climate fight has, truly, only just begun. First up, all eyes are on Congress to pass the Build Back Better Act and demonstrate that the U.S. is committed to doing its part to overcome this global challenge.”

A Manish Bapna blog on COP26 outcomes and what’s still needed is here: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/manish-bapna/what-we-got-out-cop26-and-whats-still-needed


NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

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