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The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th
United Nations Climate Change conference The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties (Conference of the Parties, ...
, held at the
SEC Centre The SEC Centre (originally known as the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre until 2017) is Scotland's largest exhibition centre, located ...
in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The president of the conference was UK cabinet minister
Alok Sharma Alok Sharma (born 7 September 1967) is a British politician who served as the President for COP26 from 2021-2022. Resigning his previous position as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in order to lead COP26, he r ...
. Delayed for a year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, it was the 26th
Conference of the Parties A conference of the parties (COP; french: Conférence des Parties, CP) is the supreme governing body of an international convention (treaty, written agreement between actors in international law). It is composed of representatives of the memb ...
(COP) to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...
(UNFCCC), the third meeting of the parties to the 2015
Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, Climate change a ...
(designated CMA1, CMA2, CMA3), and the 16th meeting of the parties to the
Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...
(CMP16). The conference was the first since the Paris Agreement of
COP21 The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Conve ...
that expected parties to make enhanced commitments towards mitigating climate change; the Paris Agreement requires parties to carry out a process colloquially known as the '
ratchet mechanism A ratchet (occasionally spelled rachet) is a mechanical device that allows continuous linear or rotary motion in only one direction while preventing motion in the opposite direction. Ratchets are widely used in machinery and tools. The word ''r ...
' every five years to provide improved national pledges. The result of COP26 was the
Glasgow Climate Pact The Glasgow Climate Pact is an agreement reached at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). The pact is the first climate agreement explicitly planning to reduce unabated coal usage. A pledge to "phase out" coal was change ...
, negotiated through consensus of the representatives of the 197 attending parties. Owing to late interventions from India and China that weakened a move to end
coal power A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts capacity. They generate about a th ...
and
fossil fuel subsidies Fossil fuel subsidies are energy subsidies on fossil fuels. They may be tax breaks on consumption, such as a lower sales tax on natural gas for residential heating; or subsidies on production, such as tax breaks on exploration for oil. Or ...
, the conference ended with the adoption of a less stringent resolution than some anticipated. Nevertheless, the pact was the first climate deal to explicitly commit to reducing the use of coal. It included wording that encouraged more urgent
greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...
cuts and promised more
climate finance Climate finance is "finance that aims at reducing emissions, and enhancing sinks of greenhouse gases and aims at reducing vulnerability of, and maintaining and increasing the resilience of, human and ecological systems to negative climate change i ...
for
developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
to adapt to climate impacts. In the midst of the conference, on 6 November 2021, a march against inadequate action at the conference, as well as for other climate change-related issues, became the largest protest in Glasgow since anti-Iraq War marches in 2003. Additional rallies took place in 100 other countries.


Background


Presidency

The United Kingdom holds the presidency of COP26 until the start of
COP27 Cop or Cops commonly refers to: * Police officer Cop and other variants may also refer to: Art and entertainment Film * ''Cop'' (film), a 1988 American thriller * ''Cops'' (film), an American silent comedy short starring Buster Keaton * ''The ...
. Initially, the Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth,
Claire Perry Claire Louise Perry O'Neill (' Richens; born 3 April 1964) is a British businesswoman and former politician who is the managing director for climate and energy at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, having previously served a ...
, was appointed as president of the conference, but she was removed on 31 January 2020, several months after she had stepped down as an MP. Former
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
and former
Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
declined to take the role. On 13 February 2020, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary
Alok Sharma Alok Sharma (born 7 September 1967) is a British politician who served as the President for COP26 from 2021-2022. Resigning his previous position as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in order to lead COP26, he r ...
was appointed. On 8 January 2021, Sharma was succeeded by
Kwasi Kwarteng Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng (born 26 May 1975) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne in northern Surrey since May 2010. He was Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industria ...
as Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary and moved to the
Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...
, in order to focus on the presidency full-time. Nigel Topping, the former CEO of climate change action organization We Mean Business, was appointed the UK Government's High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26. Italy partnered with the UK in leading COP26. For the most part, their role was in preparatory work such as the hosting of a pre-COP session and an event for young people called Youth4Climate 2020: Driving Ambition. These events took place between 28 September and 2 October 2020 in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
.


Postponement

Because of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, in April 2020 the conference was postponed to 31 October–12 November 2021. Both host countries,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and the UK, were heavily affected by the pandemic, and the venue of the conference, the SEC Centre in Glasgow, was converted in May 2020 into a temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients in Scotland. Convention Secretary
Patricia Espinosa Patricia Espinosa Cantellano (born October 21, 1958) is a Mexican diplomat who served as the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2016 to 2022. She was Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet o ...
tweeted that "in light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive, COP26 in November 2020 is not possible." She also indicated that economies restarting would be an opportunity to "shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, just, safe and more resilient." The rearranged date was announced in May 2020. Earlier in 2021, the UK and Italy hosted summits of the G7 and
G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...
respectively. Independent observers noted that though not directly related, the postponement gave the international community time to respond to the outcome of the
United States presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not dire ...
, held in November 2020. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
had withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement, although this could not take effect until the day after the election; while his Democratic challengers pledged to immediately rejoin and increase ambition to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Joe Biden did so upon being elected as president. At the conference, Biden apologized for Trump's withdrawal from the agreement.


Sponsors

Previous summits have been sponsored by fossil fuel companies. To reduce this influence, the UK government decided that sponsors "have to have real commitments in place to help them reach
net zero Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...
in the near future". The first principal partners included three British energy companies and a banking and insurance company.


Location and participation

Before the summit councils in and around Glasgow pledged to plant 18 million trees during the following decade: the Clyde Climate Forest (CCF) is projected to increase tree coverage in the urban areas of the Greater Glasgow region to 20%. In September 2021, the conference was urged by
Climate Action Network Climate Action Network - International (CAN) is a global network of over 1,300 environmental non-governmental organisations in over 130 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecolo ...
to ensure attendees would be able to attend in spite of
travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries and regions imposed quarantines, entry bans, or other travel restrictions for citizens of or recent travelers to the most affected areas. Some countries and regions imposed global restrictions th ...
. In the months before the conference, the British government had restrictions on travel from certain countries in place, and COVID passports were required in certain venues. Critics suggested unequal
deployment of COVID-19 vaccines , 12.7billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, with 67.9 percent of the global population having received at least one dose. While 4.19million vaccines were then being administered daily, only 22.3 percent of people i ...
worldwide could exclude the participation of representatives of poorer countries most affected by climate change. The UK subsequently relaxed travel rules for delegations. Only four Pacific Islands nations sent delegations due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, with most island nations compelled to send smaller teams than they otherwise would have. Organizers have in place numerous COVID-19 rules for attendees, dependent on vaccination status. On 4 June 2021, a nighttime light projection onto the Tolbooth Steeple was installed, under the
Climate Clock The Climate Clock is a graphic to demonstrate how quickly the planet is approaching 1.5 °C of global warming, given current emissions trends. It also shows the amount of CO2 already emitted, and the global warming to date. The Climate Clock ...
initiative. The projected Deadline and Lifeline statistics count the time window before 1.5 °C warming would become inevitable, and the percentage of global energy delivered through
renewables Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
, respectively. The Scottish Events Campus (SEC), known as the Blue Zone, temporarily became United Nations territory: the other main venue is the Green Zone at
Glasgow Science Centre Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located in the Clyde Waterfront Regeneration area on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Queen Elizabeth II opened Glasgow Science Centre on 5 July 2001. It is one of Scotland's m ...
. The summit was described as receiving "the cleanest electricity in the UK", as 70% was supplied from
low-carbon A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
from plants in Torness and
Hunterston B Hunterston B nuclear power station is a shut down AGR nuclear power station in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Located about south of Largs and about north-west of West Kilbride on the Firth of Clyde coast. It is currently operated by EDF Energy, and ...
, while the rest mostly came from
wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
.


Medical Cover

The provision of medical services for the event was provided by
BASICS Scotland The British Association for Immediate Care Scotland (BASICS Scotland) is an organisation involved with prehospital care. It has the aims of providing encouragement and aid with the formation of immediate care schemes and to provide training to s ...
, Amvale Medical and the Scottish Ambulance Service. The medical centre was visited by both Scottish National Clinical Director
Jason Leitch Jason Andrew Leitch (born 25 October 1968) is the National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government. He is a Senior Clinical Advisor to the Scottish Government and a member of the Health and Social Care Management Board. Leitch provided ke ...
and Scottish Health Secretary
Humza Yousaf Humza Haroon Yousaf (born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care since 2021. He is the first non-white and first Muslim cabinet minister in the Scottish Government. A member of the Sco ...
during the conference.


Attendees

Twenty-five thousand delegates from nearly 200 countries were expected to attend, and around 120
heads of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...
came. Among the attendees were UN secretary-general
António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...
, American president Joe Biden, Canadian prime minister
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
, Dutch prime minister
Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unilever ...
, Egyptian president
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...
, European Commission president
Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...
, French president
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
, German chancellor
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...
, Spanish prime minister
Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...
, Indian prime minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
, Indonesian president
Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elite ...
, Israeli prime minister
Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett ( he, נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, Transliterated: , ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minist ...
, Japanese prime minister
Fumio Kishida is a Japanese politician serving as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2021. A member of the House of Representatives, he previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017 and ...
, Nigerian president
Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...
, Polish Prime Minister
Mateusz Morawiecki Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki (; born 20 June 1968) is a Polish economist, historian and politician who has served as prime minister of Poland since 2017. A member of Law and Justice (PiS), he previously served in the cabinet of prime minister Beata ...
, Swedish prime minister
Stefan Löfven Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially ''Löfvén''; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who serves as the Party of European Socialists, President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden fro ...
, and Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
Former American president
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and English broadcaster and natural historian
David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
, who was named COP26 People's Advocate, spoke at the summit. Australian Prime Minister
Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...
spoke. Czech prime minister
Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...
denounced the proposed
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
Fit for 55 Fit for 55 is a package by the European Union designed to reduce the European Union's greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. The package was proposed in July 2021 by the European Commission. Under an accelerated legislative process, the plans m ...
laws, part of the
European Green Deal The European Green Deal, approved 2020, is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making the European Union (EU) climate neutral in 2050. An impact assessed plan will also be presented to increase the ...
, saying that the bloc "can achieve nothing without the participation of the largest polluters such as China or the USA".
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
addressed the opening ceremony in person. Queen Elizabeth, having been advised to rest by doctors, addressed the conference by video message.
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
called for a "green industrial revolution" to beat the climate crisis. The fossil fuel industry was the largest delegation at the conference, with 503 people accredited.


Non-attendees

In October 2021, China's leader
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
announced he would not be attending the conference in person and instead delivered a written address as the organizers did not provide an opportunity for a video address. With
greenhouse gas emissions by China Greenhouse gas emissions by China are the largest of any country in the world both in Greenhouse gas emissions accounting, production and Greenhouse gas emissions accounting, consumption terms, and stem mainly from Coal in China, coal burning in ...
being the world's largest, ''
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...
'' said this made it less likely the conference would result in a significant climate deal. However, a Chinese delegation led by climate change envoy Xie Zhenhua did attend. The
2021 global energy crisis The 2021 global energy crisis is an ongoing shortage of energy across the world, affecting countries such as the United Kingdom and China, among others. Background In December 2020, after months of restrictions, China fully blocked coal import ...
intensified pressures on China ahead of the summit. The prime ministers or heads of state of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, Iran, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Malaysia and Vatican City also did not attend the meeting. Russian president Vladimir Putin said his non-attendance was due to concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi did not attend; a formal request had been made by Struan Stevenson and Iranian exiles of the National Council of Resistance of Iran to the Scotland police, to arrest Raisi for crimes against humanity if he attended based on the legal concept of universal jurisdiction. Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman also did not attend the summit. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who faced international condemnation over rising deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, also decided not to attend the summit personally. The non-attendance of both Putin and Xi received criticism from U.S. president Joe Biden and former American president Barack Obama. Myanmar and Afghanistan were entirely absent; both countries had their UN-recognized governments ousted militarily in 2021. The Myanmar Tatmadaw, military junta was blocked from entry to the summit. Six exiled Afghan climate experts had their applications rejected by the UNFCCC. Additionally, the island nation of Kiribati did not send participants, while fellow island nations Vanuatu and Samoa registered but did not send a delegation.


Ratchet mechanism

Under the Paris Agreement, countries submitted pledges called Nationally Determined Contributions, nationally determined contributions, to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. Under the framework of the Paris Agreement, each country is expected to submit enhanced nationally determined contributions every five years, to ratchet up the ambition to mitigate climate change. When the Paris Agreement was signed at
COP21 The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Conve ...
, the conference of 2020 was set to be the first ratcheting up. Even though the 2020 conference was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of countries still had not updated their pledges by early October 2021. Collective progress towards implementation of the Paris Agreement in mitigation, adaptation and finance flows and means of implementation and support will be measured by global stocktakes, the first of which is due to be completed in 2023.


Outcomes

On 13 November 2021, the participating 197 countries agreed a new deal, known as the Glasgow Climate Pact, aimed at staving off dangerous climate change. The pact "Reaffirms the Paris Agreement temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels" and "Recognizes that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires rapid, deep and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, including reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 relative to the 2010 level and to net zero around midcentury, as well as deep reductions in other greenhouse gases." However, achieving the target is not ensured, as with existing pledges the emissions in the year 2030 will be 14% higher than in 2010. The final agreement explicitly mentions coal, which is the single biggest contributor to climate change. Previous COP agreements have not mentioned coal, oil or gas, or even fossil fuels in general, as a driver, or major cause of climate change, making the Glasgow Climate Pact the first ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce unabated coal power. The wording in the agreement refers to an intention to "phase down" use of unabated coal power, rather than to phase it out. From this wording it implicitly follows that utilizing coal power with "abation" (net-zero emission), e.g. by neutralizing the resulting carbon dioxide via the CO2-to-stone process, need not be reduced. However this carbon capture and storage is too expensive for most coal fired power stations. Over 140 countries pledged to reach net-zero emissions. This includes 90% of global GDP. More than 100 countries, including Brazil, pledged to reverse deforestation by 2030. The final text of the
Glasgow Climate Pact The Glasgow Climate Pact is an agreement reached at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). The pact is the first climate agreement explicitly planning to reduce unabated coal usage. A pledge to "phase out" coal was change ...
include a call to: "accelerating efforts towards... phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies". 34 countries with several banks and financial agencies pledged to stop international funding for "unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022, except in limited and clearly defined circumstances that are consistent with a 1.5°C warming limit and the goals of the Paris Agreement" and increase financing of more sustainable projects, including Canada – the main provider of such finances, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – the biggest financers in
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. More than 40 countries pledged to move away from coal. The United States and China reached an agreement about cooperation on measures to stop climate change, including lowering methane emissions, phasing out the use of coal, and forest conservation. India promised to draw half of its energy requirement from renewable sources by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2070. Governments of 24 developed countries and a group of major Automotive industry, car manufacturers such as GM, Ford, Volvo, BYD Auto, Jaguar Land Rover, and Mercedes-Benz have committed to "work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets". Major car manufacturing nations like China, the US, Japan, Germany, and South Korea, as well as Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi, Stellantis, Honda, and Hyundai had not signed up to the pledge. New pledges for financial help for climate change mitigation and adaptation were announced. Climate Action Tracker on 9 November 2021, described the results as follows: the global temperature will rise by 2.7 °C by the end of the century with current policies. The temperature will rise by 2.4 °C if only the pledges for 2030 are implemented, by 2.1 °C if the long-term targets are also achieved and by 1.8 °C if all the announced targets are fully achieved. The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) announced that financial institutions controlling $130 trillion were now signed up to ‘net zero’ emissions pledges by 2050.


Negotiations

The world leaders' summit was on 1 and 2 November, with each leader giving a national statement. An important goal of the conference organizers is to keep a temperature rise within reach. According to the BBC, negotiators who may be key to the dealmaking include Xie Zhenhua, Ayman Shasly, Sheikh Hasina and Teresa Ribera. China said it aims to peak emissions before 2030 and to become Carbon neutrality, carbon neutral by 2060. It was asked to set a clear earlier date as this would have a very large "positive impact" on the Paris Agreement targets. Officials later said the 2030 target was something to "strive to" and not something to be ensured.


Deforestation

Leaders of more than 100 countries with around 85% of the world's forests, including Deforestation in North America, Canada, Deforestation in Russia, Russia, the Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Deforestation in the United States, United States, agreed to end deforestation by 2030, improving on a similar 2014 agreement by now including Deforestation in Brazil, Brazil, Deforestation in Indonesia, Indonesia, businesses and more financial resources. Signatories of the 2014 agreement, the New York Declaration on Forests, pledged to half deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030, however in the 2014-2020 period deforestation increased. Indonesia's environment minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated that "forcing Indonesia to zero deforestation in 2030 is clearly inappropriate and unfair".


Article 6

Paris Agreement#Mitigation provisions and carbon markets, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which describes rules for an international carbon market (such as for trees in the deforestation agreement) and other forms of international cooperation, is being discussed as it is the last piece of the rulebook remaining to be finalized. Although the parties have agreed in principle to avoid double counting of emission reduction across more than one country's greenhouse gas inventory, exactly how much double counting will actually occur remains unclear. Carrying forward Clean Development Mechanism, pre-2020 Kyoto carbon credits will be discussed, but is highly unlikely to be agreed. Therefore, Article 6 rules could make a big difference to future emissions.


Finance

Climate finance for Funding for climate change adaptation, adaptation and Climate change mitigation, mitigation was one of the principal topics of negotiation. Poor countries want more money for adaptation, whereas donors prefer to finance mitigation as that has a chance of making a profit. Appointed to the role of Climate Finance Adviser was Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England. The Paris agreement included US$100 billion annually in finance by 2020 for developing countries. However, wealthy countries failed to live up to that promise, with members of the OECD behind in their commitments and unlikely to reach the agreed amount before 2023. A group of large finance companies committed to net zero portfolios and loan books by 2050. Scotland became the first country to contribute to a loss and damage fund.


Coal

South Africa is set to receive $8.5 billion to end its Coal in South Africa, reliance on coal, details are sparse regarding capping mines, exports and local community support for the workers in the industry. Countries including Coal in Chile, Chile, Coal in Poland, Poland, Coal in Ukraine, Ukraine, Energy in South Korea, South Korea, Coal in Indonesia, Indonesia and Coal in Vietnam, Vietnam also agreed to Coal phase-out, phase out coal in the 2030s for major economies, and the 2040s for poorer nations. These nations include some of the world's most intensive users of coal. However they do not include the world's largest users of the fuel, Coal in China, China, Coal in India, India, and Coal mining in the United States, the United States of America. Japan is to invest $100 million in the transformation of fossil-fired plants into ones based on ammonia#Minor and emerging uses, ammonia and hydrogen fuel.


Methane

The US and many other countries agreed to limit methane emissions. More than 80 countries signed up to a global methane pledge, agreeing to cut emissions by 30% by the end of the decade. The US and European leaders say tackling the potent greenhouse gas is crucial to keeping warming limited to . Australia, China, Russia, India and Iran did not sign the deal, but it is hoped more countries will join later.
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
demanded Economic sanctions, sanction relief on green investment projects for Petroleum industry in Russia, energy companies such as Gazprom. Russia's climate envoy Ruslan Edelgeriyev accused Western countries of hypocrisy for urging Russia "to reduce methane leakages and yet we have Gazprom under sanctions".


Net-zero targets

Many attendees committed to Carbon neutrality, net-zero carbon emissions, with India and Japan making specific commitments at the conference. India, List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions, the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide by jurisdiction, set the latest target date planning to be net-zero by 2070. Japan is to offer up to $10 billion in additional funding to support decarbonization in Asia. Earlier in October, China – the largest emitter of carbon dioxide by jurisdiction – had committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, and it was believed by the British government that India would issue a similar commitment. However, this was the first time that a date for carbon neutrality had been given as part of Climate change in India#Policies and legislation, India's climate policy. Green hydrogen has emerged as one of the major areas where companies can collaborate to help decarbonize hard to abate industries.


Adaptation

Big city mayors concerned about climate – the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group – such as Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, called for more urban climate adaptation, especially in low-income countries.


Socioeconomic transformation


Agriculture

45 countries, including the UK, U.S., Japan, Germany, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Vietnam, Philippines, Gabon, Ethiopia, Ghana and Uruguay, pledged to give more than $4 billion for transition to sustainable agriculture. The organization "Slow Food" expressed concern about the effectivity of the spendings, as they concentrate on technological solutions and reforestation in place of "a holistic agroecology that transforms food from a mass-produced commodity into part of a Sustainable food system, sustainable system that works within natural boundaries".


Transportation

The conference placed electric vehicles and pledges for vehicle electrification at the centre, including the electric OX truck, while, according to activists, better investment and political will for sustainable transport modes have not been forced through with the focus not being on public transport and cycling.


Fossil fuels

A draft text published on 10 November asked governments to accelerate phase-outs and Energy subsidy, desubsidization of fossil fuels, the largest source of (anthropogenic) global greenhouse gas emissions, but was opposed by several countries with large fossil fuels based economic sectors.


Reception


Beforehand and at the outset

Business leaders and politicians including Jeff Bezos, Prince Charles, Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and Angela Merkel who travelled to Glasgow in private airplanes were accused of hypocrisy by commentators and campaigners. Event planners, however, insisted that the conference would be carbon-neutral. Around 400 private jets arrived at Glasgow for the talks. In October 2021, the ''BBC'' reported that a huge leak of documents revealed that
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, Japan and Australia were among countries asking the UN to play down the need to move rapidly away from fossil fuels. It also showed that some wealthy nations (including Switzerland and Australia) were questioning paying more to poorer states to move to Environmental technology, greener technologies. The BBC reported that the lobbying raised questions for the COP26 climate summit. The Australian government has been criticized for hosting a fossil fuel company at the summit, not enhancing its ambitions closer to its capacities, not pledging to reduce methane emissions and not pledging to phase out coal. In an interview shortly before the conference, Greta Thunberg, asked how optimistic she was that the conference could achieve anything, responded "Nothing has changed from previous years really. The leaders will say 'we'll do this and we'll do this, and we will put our forces together and achieve this', and then they will do nothing. Maybe some symbolic things and creative accounting and things that don't really have a big impact. We can have as many COPs as we want, but nothing real will come out of it." Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II voiced concerns in a private conversation overheard via a hot mic, saying: "It's really irritating when they talk, but they don't do."


Protests

By 1 November, at the outset of the conference, the climate change activist Greta Thunberg criticized the summit at a protest in Glasgow with members from the organization School Strike for Climate, Fridays for Future, saying "This COP26 is so far just like the previous COPs and that has led us nowhere. They have led us nowhere." On 5 November, a Fridays for Future protest at which Thunberg spoke gathered thousands of people, largely schoolchildren. Attendees supported more immediate and far-reaching action on climate change. Glasgow City Council and most neighbouring councils stated that students would not be punished if parents informed their schools of the absence. On 6 November—the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice—around 100,000 people joined a march in Glasgow, according to BBC News, with coaches and group cycle rides organized for participants to travel from around the United Kingdom. The protests were the largest in Glasgow since anti-Iraq War marches in 2003. A London march drew 10,000 people according to police and 20,000 according to organizers. ''The Times'' anticipated that total participants would number over two million. An additional 100 marches took place elsewhere in the country, with a total of 300 protests across 100 countries, according to ''The Guardian''. On 8 November, Fridays for Future activists including Dominika Lasota and Nicole Becker held a protest prior to a speech by former US president
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, arguing that he had failed to fulfill his promise to provide billion in climate funding to developing countries. The protestors held banners stating, "Show us the money". Vanessa Nakate and indigenous activists gave speeches at Glasgow. Issues highlighted by protesters included putting corporate interests at the forefront and politicians' failure to address the climate emergency with the required urgency as well as its underlying causes. Kahnawake Mohawk people, ecology scientists, vegan activists, trade unionists and socialists were present at marches.


Event organisation

One intended participant, the Israeli energy minister Karine Elharrar, was unable to attend on 1 November due to Accessibility, wheelchair accessibility issues. The sustainability of the COP26 menu was criticized by the animal and climate justice group Animal Rebellion, with almost 60% of the menu being meat and dairy based, and Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, dishes labelled as high-carbon being served at food stands. The head of catering at COP26, Lorna Wilson, said that staff had been "working towards" a catering strategy of 95% food from the UK and 5% from abroad. Wilson said the menu was 40% plant-based and 60% vegetarian overall. The event eliminated single-use cups and plastics. There was concern about the inclusion and influence of large delegations of industries, particularly big polluting companies, and financial organizations involved in the causes of greenhouse gas emissions at the conference.


Further criticism

Further criticisms of the results include that it needs not only commitments but also clear directions for mitigation and adaptation and robust mechanisms put in place for the relevant parties to be held accountable to their commitments. CNBC, BBC, Axios (website), Axios, and CBS News found that financial firms are not prevented from making Investment management, private investments in fossil fuels, that there is a lack of focus on and transparency of the quality – rather than quantity or amounts – of pledges, that ending deforestation by 2030 is too late, that countries need to publish comprehensive policy-plans on how they will achieve their targets, and that the pledges are not mandatory, with no punishment mechanisms getting established at the conference and apparent content with a "self-regulation" approach for relevant organizations. According to critics, such issues could turn the conference into a "greenwashing" event of empty promises. There is a criticism about the lack of people from Most Affected People and Areas, most affected people and areas. Kaossara Sani becames one of the person who cames from this place and send her criticism by sending her manifesto to Forbes about what happened in Sahel and her criticism to COP26. Academicians and practitioners on the field have floated several missing links of COP26 particularly the approach to Climate change, disasters and public health consequences stemming from the meeting and how the neglect of healthcare will impact the Asia Pacific Region as a whole.


Misinformation

According to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and a network of journalism organizations, the COP meeting became a target for climate misinformation, prominently "narratives of delay".


Results

On 9 November, Climate Action Tracker reported that the global human civilization is on track for a 2.7 °C temperature increase Earth system science#Climate science, in the Earth system by the end of the century with current policies. The temperature will rise by 2.4 °C if the pledges for 2030 will be implemented, by 2.1 °C if the long-term targets will be implemented also and by 1.8 °C if in addition all the targets in discussion will be fully implemented. Current targets for 2030 remain "totally inadequate". Coal and natural gas consumption are the main cause for the gap between pledges and policies. They assessed pledges by 40 countries that account for 85% of pledged net-zero emissions cuts and found that only polities responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions – European Union, EU, United Kingdom, UK, Chile and Costa Rica – have pledged a set of targets that they rated to be "acceptable" for comprehensiveness and for having a published detailed official policyplan that describes the steps and ways by which these targets could be realized. On 10 November, it was reported that the United States and China agreed on a framework to reduce carbon emissions by cooperating on measures to lower the use of methane, phase out the use of coal and increased protection of forests. On 11 November, the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC), a group of 22 countries including China and India, asked for the commitment to mitigation to be entirely removed from the draft text, as they apparently argument, argue that developing countries should not be held to the same deadlines as wealthier nations. The request was criticized as illogical and self-defeating as it would end up harming people in developing countries the most and an article in the ''The Daily Beast, Daily Beast'' described the request as an attempt by China to sabotage the draft commitment. China was responsible for around 27% of the world's current Greenhouse gas, GHG emissions in 2019.


See also

* 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference * Politics of climate change * Climate change in the United Kingdom * 2021 in climate change


References


Further reading

* *


External links

*
UNFCCC

BBC

IPCC Reports

Fringe Events
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