In 2015, the world came together in Paris to tackle climate change. Six years later, COP26 in Glasgow will aim to deliver on the promises of the Paris Agreement. World leaders and national delegations, representatives from businesses, civil society and youth are gathering for two weeks to accelerate progress.
What’s at stake?
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released in August 2021, was a code red for the planet: with dangerous and irreversible tipping points coming closer.
: unchecked, it will push 132 million people into poverty over the next 10 years, undoing hard-won development gains. And according to the World Bank’s most recent research, climate change impacts could drive 216 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050.
A core goal of COP26 is to keep “1.5 alive”, that is to limit temperature rise to the 1.5-degree Celsius limit agreed in Paris.
COP26 is also particularly critical because it marks the moment when countries are supposed to update their original climate pledges (the national targets or NDCs that were submitted ahead of COP21) and make these more ambitious. As of October 27, 2021, 116 countries plus the EU 27 have submitted new NDCs.
Alok Sharma, COP26 President, has laid out four core goals that will strive to “keep 1.5 alive” and deliver a successful outcome:
- Reducing emissions, including by setting more ambitious national targets (NDCs and LTSs), getting out of coal and halting deforestation
- Boosting adaptation efforts, particularly for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable
- Mobilizing finance, including meeting previous commitments and supporting efforts to transform global financial flows
- Working together to finalize Paris Agreement rules and make Glasgow a success
