SINCE 1994 the United Nations (UN) has convened almost every country on Earth for an annual summit known as the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This year's two-week 26th meeting, COP26, is described as "the most significant climate event since the 2015 Paris Agreement" which committed nations to limiting global warming to well below 2°C (preferably 1.5°C), and "the world's best and last chance to get runaway climate change under control."
United States President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo were among the 200 world leaders attending the first two days of the conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
Malaysia is ably represented by the savvy Secretary-General of the Water and Environment Ministry Datuk Seri Dr Zaini Ujang.
The conspicuous absence of more senior representation, though, seemed to many a sign that Malaysians were nonchalant about the event. That is, until a big headline appeared saying that more than 100 world leaders had promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030.
Signatory countries include Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the US and the United Kingdom, which together contain 85 per cent of the world's forests.
The pledge includes almost US$19 billion of public and private funds, some of which will help developing countries restore damaged land, tackle wildfires and support indigenous communities.
After last Wednesday's cabinet meeting, our government declared Malaysia's commitment to the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forest and Land Use, and that Water and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man will travel to COP26 to deliver the message.
Hopefully, Malaysia's signature on this new pledge exceeds our long-standing promise to maintain at least 50 per cent of the country's landmass as forests and tree canopies.
Uncertainty about the pledge arose a day after it was announced, when Indonesian officials said the pledge was ending "net forest loss".
Indonesia's vice-foreign minister said his country had only agreed to keep its forest cover steady over the period, meaning trees could still be cut down and replaced.
Then, Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said that Indonesia's development agenda must take precedence and it was "inappropriate and unfair" to interpret its addition to the pact as a zero-deforestation pledge.
Other reports said CO2 emissions had almost fully rebounded from a dip caused by the pandemic and the world had just 11 years of emissions left in its carbon budget if we hoped to avoid catastrophic warming.
According to President of Sahabat Alam Malaysia Meena Raman, in the Paris Agreement, negotiations included proposals by some key developing countries for the adoption of an "equitable access to atmospheric space approach," that considered the historical and current emissions of every country in a cumulative manner, including on a per capita basis.
Such proposals for a fair and equitable allocation of the remaining carbon budget did not see the light of day.
The developed world opposed taking stock of historical emissions, as this would mean assuming major responsibility to reduce emissions.
Instead, all countries need make an emissions reductions pledge, however limited or insignificant their emissions might be.
This bottom-up approach led to the concept of Nationally Determined Contributions, without any reference to equity or historical responsibility between developed and developing countries.
This approach is inequitable and contrary to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.
The developed world should also be held accountable for failure to mobilise by last year the US$100 billion per year agreed to in 2010 under the UNFCCC to enable more climate action in the developing world and sustainable development with technology transfer.
As Meena explained: "There are so many critical issues being advanced by developed countries at COP26, such as net zero emissions for all countries by 2050, and carbon market mechanisms with offsets linked to nature-based solutions in developing countries, which are bound to further exacerbate the inequities between developed and developing countries."
It is crucial for us to stand with the Global South.
At the same time, we must all do everything in our power through sincere change and actions here at home and diplomatically abroad to make sure that coming generations inherit a liveable world.
As matters stand, even after all the pledges in Glasgow, there's no guarantee of that.
The writer was one of the original negotiators of the UN Biodiversity Treaty and currently sits on the Climate Action Council chaired by the prime minister. He is ambassador and science adviser to the Campaign for Nature.
