Cop26’s worst outcome would be giving the green light to carbon offsetting | Jennifer Morgan

This greenwashing tactic has failed - to pursue it now would be to blow a huge hole in the Paris agreement

• Jennifer Morgan is executive director of Greenpeace International

From the signing of the United Nations framework convention on climate change in 1992, to the first Conference of the Parties in 1995, to this week's Cop26, we have heard many words from world leaders, but have not seen anywhere enough action. To undo the damage caused by this lack of commitment, the world needs to sign up to some big things. For starters, that means a rapid end to the era of fossil fuels, with an immediate halt to all new fossil fuel projects. And it means ambitious emission-cutting plans from every country to halve global emissions by 2030, with rich countries moving fastest.

In 1992, all countries not only agreed to the UN framework's objective to protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity", but also that developed countries take the lead" as they bore the heaviest responsibility for historic emissions. Based on equity, richer countries should live up to the commitment to move fastest to meet the 1.5C goal, and the phasing out of fossil fuels should be accompanied by support for workers, Indigenous peoples and all affected communities. A fossil fuel phase-out would deliver energy independence and a more secure economic future, creating millions of stable, well-paid jobs in green, hi-tech renewable energy. Just witness the crisis caused by the recent hike in wholesale gas prices to see where dependence on fossil fuels takes us.

Jennifer Morgan is executive director of Greenpeace International