Biden backs landmark methane pact at COP26 climate summit

Henry Fernandez, chairman and CEO of MSCI and CNBC ESG Council member, told CNBC earlier on Tuesday that many publicly listed companies were still "not aligned to a 1.5 or a 2 degree world."

He said that MSCI had been tracking data from around 9,300 companies and found that in aggregate they were responsible for the emission of around 11 billion metric tons of carbon and that this was on track to rise to 17 billion metric tons.

"Currently a lot of these publicly traded companies are aligned on a path to a 3 degree world, not a 1.5 or a 2 degree world, " he said.

— Vicky McKeever

Costa Rica President Carlos Alvarado Quesada told CNBC earlier on Tuesday that the world was locked in a "false dilemma" on who should go first on delivering on climate targets, or wait for cooperation from other nations.

However, Quesada acknowledged that "the clock is ticking and we are all, all in danger" from the climate crisis.

He said that if countries pointed fingers on taking action on climate change, combating the crisis would become more of a "geopolitical game."

"It's a matter of life and death for your children and grandchildren, my children and future grandchildren, everybody's," he said.

— Vicky McKeever

UBS Chairman Axel Weber told CNBC earlier on Tuesday that developing a greener capital market was one area where Europe was ahead, "at least for now."

However, he added that there was a risk that Europe could build a capital market model that is not "exportable" and was too "inward looking" but was optimistic that this wouldn't be the case.

— Vicky McKeever

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told CNBC's panel that the world needs to create new thought processes when it comes to the energy transition.

"We need to reimagine how we could rapidly deploy new capital into the greening of the world, but not the avoidance of hydracarbons in the short run or we're going to have $120, $140 oil, and that's not a fair or just transition," he said.

— Chloe Taylor

U.S. President Joe Biden has said one of the most important things the world can do is reduce methane emissions as quickly as possible.

"It's one of the most potent greenhouse gases there is," he told COP26 attendees at the launch of the Global Methane Pledge, a pact to cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade. "It amounts to about half the warming we're experiencing today."

Biden said signatories to the pact "could probably go beyond" the pledge's 30% reduction target.

"Today [almost] 100 countries are signing on to the pledge, accounting for half of global methane emissions or 70% of global GDP," he said. "It's going to make a huge difference, not just when it comes to fighting climate change — it's going to improve health, improve food supply and boost economies."

— Chloe Taylor

Fink told CNBC's panel at COP26 that "we can't just ask public companies to move forward without the rest of society."

"It's going to create the biggest capital market arbitrage, and we're seeing that more hydrocarbons have been sold to private companies in the last two years than almost any time ever," he said. "That doesn't change the world at all, it actually makes the world even worse because it moves from public disclosed companies to opaque private enterprises. So, the mission is failing if that's all you're doing."

Fink added: "If we don't ask society to move forward, if we don't ask private companies to move forward alongside public companies, we're never going to get to a decarbonized world, we're fooling ourselves."

— Chloe Taylor

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has said it's essential for the public and private sectors to come together in the fight against climate change.

The bank announced a partnership with the French and German governments today, which saw the company raise $670 million to invest in sustainability in the emerging world.

"If we're going to be serious about climate change in the emerging world, we're going to have to really focus on the reimagination of the World Bank and the IMF," Fink told a panel at COP26.

"They are the senior lender, and not enough private capital's coming into the emerging world today because of the risks associated with the political risk, investing in brownfield investments — if we are serious about elevating investment capital in the emerging world … I'm urging the owners of those institutions, the equity owners, to focus on how we reimagine these institutions and rethink their charter."

— Chloe Taylor

Addressing delegates at COP26, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said Japan "will be working in full force to take on climate change."

"To bring about a decarbonized society Japan will produce renewable energy as much as possible and lead the way in the clean energy transition with a focus on Asia," he said.

He announced that Japan would provide up to $10 billion in the coming five years to assist with decarbonization across Asia, and would double its funding to help other nations adapt to climate change to more than $14 billion.

— Chloe Taylor

CNBC's Julianna Tatelbaum will speak with a panel that includes BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Standard Chartered Chairman José Viñals.

The panel discussion, taking place at COP26, is due to begin at 12:45 p.m. local time (8:45 a.m. ET).

German officials at COP26 said on Tuesday that the country would provide 700 million euros ($812 million) to help South Africa phase out coal, Reuters reported.

Maria Flachsbarth, Germany's parliamentary state secretary for development aid, told the news agency the funding was part of an initiative with the World Bank and the private sector to mobilize $8.5 billion for the promotion of renewables in South Africa.

— Chloe Taylor

Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has pledged $2 billion in funding for restoring nature and transforming food systems.

The funding, which will come from the Bezos Earth Fund, is part of Bezos' commitment of $10 billion to be spent on fighting climate change this decade.

"Nature is beautiful but it is also fragile," Bezos told COP26 delegates. "I was reminded of this in July when I went into space with Blue Origin. I was told seeing the earth from space changes the lens through which you view the world, but I was not prepared for just how much that would be true."

— Chloe Taylor

Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin is optimistic that climate discussions are going well at the COP26 summit.

"We're making progress and I think there's a real strong sense of momentum here in relation to the whole agenda around climate change," Martin told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick in Glasgow.

"With the major commitments made by individual countries but also collectively, the tone was very strong yesterday at the opening," he said. Nonetheless, Martin added that there needed to be more progress made in the arena of climate finance.

"[We need to see] concrete reality to the pledges around finance," he said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Speaking to delegates in a recorded video message, Russia President Vladimir Putin said the conservation of forests was crucial to limit global warming.

On Monday, Russia pledged its support for a landmark deal between more than 100 countries to end deforestation by 2030.

In Russia's objective to be carbon neutral by no later than 2060, Putin said, the country was relying on its "unique resource of forest ecosystems."

"Russia supports the draft joint declaration on forests and land use," he told the climate summit on Tuesday. "We expect its implementation to facilitate closer partnerships between all the stakeholders."

— Chloe Taylor

President of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali has said countries must provide $100 billion a year to fight climate change.

"Climate change affects us all, but its effects are most severe on the poorest and most vulnerable – especially small island developing states and low-lying coastal states," he said during an address to delegates. "For us, it's a question of survival."

Ali urged countries to honor the pledge made as part of the Paris Agreement to spend $100 billion per year on climate action.

"Dishonored pledges are a recipe for disaster," he said.

— Chloe Taylor

Chinese leader Xi Jinping had to deliver his message to COP26 in writing as he was not given the option to speak to the summit via video, Beijing has reportedly claimed.

Xi is not in Glasgow for the climate summit and sent a written message to world leaders participating in the talks on Monday.

"As I understand it, the conference organizers did not provide the video link method," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

— Chloe Taylor

Bank of America President Brian Moynihan has told COP26 that the bank is working toward net zero emissions by 2050.

"To get there, we will provide $150 billion in financing through 2030 over $1 trillion, to the effort," he told the climate conference.

Moynihan said he is also serving as co-chair of Prince Charles' Sustainable Markets Initiative – a private sector-led effort to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy.

— Chloe Taylor

Hyginus 'Gene' Leon, president of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), has said that small island developing states are facing some of the worst impacts of climate change.

"For the past 40 years, islands have been battered by natural hazards, yet access to finance remains completely inadequate," he said at a COP26 plenary session on Tuesday. "To better finance our development needs, we need to address economic recovery, climate action and human welfare. Partnerships will be critical."

The CDB, along with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Green Climate Fund, is proposing the creation of a multi-donor financing facility to enable private and public investments into Caribbean states.

— Chloe Taylor

Speeches from world leaders will continue on Tuesday, starting at 9:00 a.m. Glasgow time (5:00 a.m. ET).

Speakers will include Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Makati.

The leaders of some island nations already facing the impacts of climate change are also billed to speak on Tuesday, including Keith C. Rowley, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, and Philip E. Davis, prime minister of the Bahamas.

— Chloe Taylor

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis have spoken to CNBC at COP26.

Kerry said he has high hopes for the summit as it seems "people are certainly talking urgently."

Sweden's Lofven said it was down to wealthier nations to show that they can and want to contribute when it comes to financing, while Mitsotakis said Greece could play a leading role in tackling climate change on various fronts, such as shipping.

Watch the video below to hear more of what they had to say.

— Chloe Taylor

More than 100 world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, China's Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, have committed to end deforestation by 2030.

The deal was agreed on Monday evening, but countries will become signatories on Tuesday.
Countries participating in the scheme pledged to work collectively "to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030."

They also promised to facilitate trade and development policies that promoted sustainable development and sustainable commodity production and consumption, and said they would implement or redesign agricultural policies to incentivize sustainable agriculture.

— Chloe Taylor

Tuesday saw the launch of The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, which is pledging to unlock $100 billion in public and private financing to give 1 billion people in developing and emerging economies access to renewable energy.

Partners in the scheme include the Bezos Earth Fund, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and The Rockerfeller Foundation.

By making availability of renewable power more equitable, the alliance claims that 4 billion tons of carbon emissions will be avoided and more than 150 million jobs will be created or improved.

— Chloe Taylor

World leaders are heading back to Glasgow's Scottish Event Campus on Tuesday for the third day of the much-anticipated COP26 climate summit.

Here are some of the key developments from Monday's session:

More than 100 world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, China's Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, committed to end deforestation by 2030.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, a date two decades beyond the target set by COP26 organizers.

U.S. President Joe Biden said the world was "still falling short" when it came to tackling climate change, warning there was "no more time to hang back or sit on the fence."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that it is "one minute to midnight" in the race to prevent global heating from surpassing a critical threshold.

Queen Elizabeth II called on world leaders to create a "safer, stabler future" for the planet.

— Chloe Taylor