Good COP, Bad COP? The Hopeful News in COP26…and Beyond

The briefing highlights the role of non-state actors in driving climate action despite insufficient national pledges. It identifies four mechanisms—certification schemes, demand aggregation, climate-aligned finance, and national alliances—that create 'ambition loops' to scale low-carbon solutions. Examples include India's Shoonya initiative for electric delivery, the US-based Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, the Poseidon Principles for shipping finance, and the America Is All In coalition.

• Current national emissions reduction pledges are insufficient to meet the 1.5°C goal and are likely to result in a world 2.7°C warmer by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels.
• Non-state actors can accelerate climate action through 'ambition loops'—cycles of leadership and followership where collective action helps policies and technologies spread rapidly. Four successful mechanisms are identified: certification schemes, demand aggregation, climate-aligned finance, and national alliances.
• In India, the Shoonya coalition uses customer engagement and a verification system to transition last-mile e-commerce deliveries to electric vehicles, aiming to reduce urban freight CO2 emissions by 39 million tons by 2030.
• The Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) in the US drove a significant increase in corporate renewable electricity purchases, which grew from 0.1 GW in 2010 to over 10 GW in 2020, accounting for 40% of all new carbon-free electricity capacity added in the US in 2020.
• The Poseidon Principles demonstrate how climate-aligned finance can decarbonize capital-intensive sectors; in its first year (launched June 2019), over $1.2 billion in Poseidon-linked loans were provided to the shipping sector.
• The 'America Is All In' coalition, representing two-thirds of the US economy, leverages non-state actors to advocate for federal climate policy and demonstrate the viability of voluntary climate actions.

APA

RMI (2021). Good COP, Bad COP? The Hopeful News in COP26…and Beyond. https://rmi.org/resources/good-cop-bad-cop-the-hopeful-news-in-cop26-and-beyond/

Chicago

RMI. Good COP, Bad COP? The Hopeful News in COP26…and Beyond. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/good-cop-bad-cop-the-hopeful-news-in-cop26-and-beyond/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Good COP, Bad COP? The Hopeful News in COP26…and Beyond |date=2 November 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/good-cop-bad-cop-the-hopeful-news-in-cop26-and-beyond/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2021good, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Good COP, Bad COP? The Hopeful News in COP26…and Beyond}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/good-cop-bad-cop-the-hopeful-news-in-cop26-and-beyond/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }