The third day of the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow saw big announcements of action – and a Hollywood star act.
Here are some of the takeaways from day three.
Great chainsaw massacre
📢 NEWS: At COP26, over 100 leaders have committed to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.
"To have any chance of keeping below 1.5°C of global warming, we must halt deforestation" -- Sir David Attenborough
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👉 https://t.co/KEQU6kbnaS#COP26 pic.twitter.com/uTSR63qw7L— COP26 (@COP26) November 2, 2021
Some big news on saving and restoring forests on day three of the world leaders’ summit at Cop26, as 110 nations – home to 85 per cent of the world’s forests – signed a declaration to halt and reverse the destruction of forests and land.
Tackling climate change cannot be done without ending the loss of forests which are the lungs of the planet, according to British prime minister Boris Johnson.
“Let’s end this great chainsaw massacre,” he urged leaders.
Amazon delivers
Also stepping in to help the natural world was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who announced $2 billion (€1.72 billion) for restoring land in Africa.
The billionaire announced the funding as he told Cop26 his flight to space in July had made him realise how fragile the planet was.
The amount of cash appeared to have doubled overnight, after an event with the Prince of Wales on Monday where Mr Bezos indicated the investment would be $1 billion – but that is the advantage of being one of the world’s richest men.
Leaders pledge to cut the gas
I'm very glad to launch the Global Methane Pledge with @POTUS.
83 countries are now joining us in this worldwide initiative to reduce methane emissions.
This will slow down global warming and keep the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees within reach. https://t.co/P9tDfU9xsBAdvertisement— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) November 2, 2021
The announcements of positive action continued with news that scores of countries – it was not entirely clear how many, but somewhere over 80 and close to 100 – had signed a pledge to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
The announcement fronted by the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen and US president Joe Biden was delayed as they turned up late.
That left special climate envoy John Kerry to fill the time with some off-the-cuff remarks to assembled dignitaries, including possible good news out of Japan that means the $100 billion dollar (€86 billion) climate finance goal may be met next year.
Catch me if you can
Actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio turned up at Cop26, prompting a frenzy as the world’s media tracked him down.
He visited Kew Science’s Carbon Garden, where he is said to have seen the display of plants and messages about solutions to the crisis that rely on nature, while delegates enjoyed a little Hollywood stardust added to the event.
Political Squid Games
Contemporary culture met climate change as protesters dressed as Mr Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr Johnson, French president Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders playing children’s games in a Squid Game-themed demo.
The “leaders” played climate hopscotch, tug-of-war, kicked around an inflatable world and rolled dice.
At one point “Vladimir Putin” and “Joe Biden” could be seen tussling with an inflatable Earth as boilersuit-clad protesters watched in front of a sign that urged them to “stop playing climate games”.
An apology
Great to talk to Israel’s Energy Minister @KElharrar at @COP26 this morning about green energy generation and using technology to wean the world off hydrocarbons. pic.twitter.com/5xv9J5A8FX
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) November 2, 2021
Karine Elharrar, Israeli energy minister, has received a flurry of apologies after she criticised organisers when she could not access the campus on its opening day on Monday due to a lack of wheelchair accessibility.
Organisers of Cop26 apologised to her, as did Mr Johnson and UK foreign office minister James Cleverly, who met Ms Elharrar when she was able to get to the conference on Tuesday.
