Climate Change : Whither From Glasgow?

The year 2021 bore all the hallmarks of “a-deal-in-the-making” on climate change mitigation. With those concerned about the state of Planet Earth looking forward with much eagerness to the major international gathering in the last quarter of the year. The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (or the Conference Of Parties, COP26) - the 26th of such summits - finally held in the Scottish city of Glasgow from October 31-November 13, 2021. 
Billed as the conference to deliver on trailblazing commitments to contain global warming - the cause of the negative impact of climate change observed across the globe today - the gathering did not afterall live up to expectations. The COP26 final statement, known as the Glasgow Climate Pact, calls on 197 countries to report their progress towards more climate ambition next year at COP27 in Egypt. 
The statement promises to accelerate action on climate this decade, and urges governments - among others - to provide tighter deadlines for updating their plans to reduce gas emissions. The text also emphasises the mobilisation of climate finance “from all sources to reach the level needed to achieve the goals of The Paris Agreement, including significantly increasing support for Developing Country Parties beyond $100 billion a year.”
In spite of its shortcomings, the conference heard many encouraging announcements. Leaders of over 120 countries, representing about 90 per cent of the world’s forests, pledged to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. The date by which the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs on curbing poverty and securing the planet’s future are due to be achieved.
There was also a methane pledge, led by the United States and the European Union, by which more than 100 countries agreed to cut emissions of the greenhouse gas by 2030. On the other hand, over 40 countries - including major coal users like Poland, Vietnam and Chile - agreed to sh...