COP26 President Alok Sharma has called on governments to beef up their commitments to tackling climate change even as the immediate urgency of the coronavirus pandemic usurps attention and funding.  

"We are calling for new, more ambitious, nationally determined contributions and long-term strategies setting out a pathway to net-zero emissions," said Sharma during the opening session of the United Nations' two-week Climate Dialogues, which kicked off virtually on Monday.  

Sharma also called for enhanced climate finance commitments to support the most vulnerable and "crucially, ambitious adaptation plans and underlying policies."   

 

World leaders will have the opportunity to present more aggressive climate strategies, if they choose, at the Climate Ambition Summit to be held on December 12.  

"This summit will provide a platform for leaders to come forward with announcements under the three pillars of the Paris Agreement: mitigation, adaptation, and support," said Sharma.  

 

Until then, the Climate Dialogues are meant to keep climate negotiations on track so a comprehensive agreement can be reached at COP26 in Glasgow. 

The international climate change summit was meant to take place in November 2020, but was delayed by a year due to the pandemic. It's billed as the most important gathering of world leaders since the Paris Agreement was struck in 2015.  

Europe to increase climate targets 

Europe has set the ambitious goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050. Part of the plan to wean the continent off fossil fuels includes a massive scale-up in offshore wind capacity. 

The European Commission put forward an EU Strategy on Offshore Renewable Energy, which aims to boost the current wind capacity of 12 gigawatts to 300 gigawatts by 2050 by harnessing ocean energy and emerging technologies such as floating wind and solar farms. Brussels estimates that $1 billion in investment will be needed to pull it off by mid-century. 

Earlier this year, the European Commission also proposed upping its 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target from 40 percent to 55 percent. The European Parliament went even further. It voted for a 60 percent reduction target in October. 

EU leaders discussed the plan at a summit last month but held off on making a final decision until their December meeting. Several East European countries, led by Poland, have refused to give the go-ahead without "in-depth consultations" on what impact increasing the target will have on each country.