COP26 Glasgow climate conference

The word ‘COP’ stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’. In the climate change sphere, ‘the Parties’ are the governments which have signed the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC). The COP brings these signatory governments together once a year to discuss how to jointly address climate change.

The conferences are attended by world leaders, ministers, and negotiators but also by representatives from civil society, business, international organizations, and the media.

What is COP26?

COP26 is the 26th climate change COP and is hosted by the UK in partnership with Italy. COP26 was originally scheduled to take place in November 2020 in Glasgow in the UK but was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now due to take place 31 October-12 November 2021.

COP26 is a critical summit for global climate action. To have a chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, global emissions must halve by 2030 and reach ‘net-zero’ by 2050.

The 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report underscores it is still possible to achieve the 1.5-degree-target but only if unprecedented action is taken now.

The NDCs submitted in 2015 were collectively not ambitious enough to limit global warming to ‘well below’ 2 degrees, never mind 1.5 degrees. The signatories of the Paris Agreement are, however, expected to submit new – and more ambitious – NDCs every five years, known as the ‘ratchet mechanism’.

COP26 is the first test of this ambition-raising function. One of the main ‘benchmarks for success’ in Glasgow is that as many governments as possible submit new NDCs and, when put together, these are ambitious enough to put the world on track for ‘well below’ 2 degrees, preferably 1.5.

Negotiation issues

At COP26 delegates aimed to finalise the ‘Paris Rulebook’, the rules needed to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement, and conclude outstanding issues from COP25 in Madrid. They also sought to deliver on all essential negotiating items for 2020 and 2021.

The most commonly raised priorities included:

• Enabling ambition through carbon markets
• Rules for the transparent reporting of action and support 
• Common timeframes for emission reduction commitments 
• Enabling enhanced adaptation action 
• Averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage 
• Means of implementation, including the initiation of deliberations on a new goal for global climate finance after 2025 
• Responding to the latest science and the ambition of current emission reduction targets 
• Promoting fair, inclusive climate action

There were many other issues discussed at COP26, including several important sector specific topics not listed above.

Source: https://ukcop26.org/