Valdai Club

The number of natural disasters and industrial accidents caused by climate change is steadily on the rise. However, global climate policy remains plagued by differences. In 2019, during the 25th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the countries were unable to agree on Article 6, which describes, among other things, the financial mechanisms underlying the Paris Agreement. 

In 2020, it was decided to postpone the key UNFCCC 26th climate conference until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the climate agenda is gaining ground despite the pandemic, and the green transformation that is based in many ways on digital technologies, is becoming a subject of rivalry between countries and corporations. Many countries, banks and international corporations have already become part of it with the EU being an undisputed leader. 

Why is the global green transformation picking up pace despite the crisis and differences between the UNFCCC parties during UN climate talks? 

The Paris Agreement with its goal of keeping global heating within well below 2 degrees Celsius and aspiring for 1.5 degrees has set a new trajectory for the global economy and formed a macro trend for decarbonisation. Despite the above UNFCCC differences on a number of issues, many leading economies and corporations have voluntarily declared carbon neutral targets. This is largely due to a growing demand from their populations for bold action to stop global heating but also due to companies that are wary that they may otherwise miss out on new technology developments and market opportunities.
Climate change and its impact pose a real threat to GDP and the well-being of most countries worldwide. The economic losses from natural disasters and extreme weather run into billions of US dollars annually. The effects of climate change also include melting permafrost and new diseases.