COP26: What is it and Why is it Important?

Shortly after hosting the G7 Summit, the U.K. is once again playing host to the leaders of the world, but this time on a much larger scale. COP26 is set to be held in the Scottish city of Glasgow from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12. This event will see the largest deployment of armed officers ever in Scotland, with 500 provided by Scotland and up to 500 more from the rest of the U.K. (officially numbers are confidential).

What is COP26?

COP26 is the 26th annual COP, which stands for Conference of the Parties. It is a climate change conference of huge proportions, where almost every country on earth comes together to discuss the issue of climate change and what they intend to do about it. Over one hundred world leaders and tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses, and citizens will arrive in Glasgow for a week of discussions and talks on the subject. It was COP21, which was held in Paris in 2015, that set out the current worldwide plan for climate action; the famous Paris Agreement. This agreement states that all countries in the world, especially developed ones, have the responsibility 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, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change; increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production; and making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sir David Attenborough, the COP26 People’s Advocate | Climate Action

What is on the agenda this year?

A lot of what will be discussed at COP26 is a review and progress update of the Paris Agreement, to make sure that the countries involved are still on track to achieve what they promised. There are four main segments of this, and these form the goals of the conference:

The first is securing global net-zero and keeping 1.5 degrees within reach. To achieve this, governments are expected to “accelerate the transition from coal to clean power, protect and restore nature for the benefit of people and climate (and) accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles.” Keeping warming to 1.5 degrees is one of the most important promises from the Paris Agreement and is essential to helping the world recover from global warming.

The second is urgently adapting to protect communities and natural habitats. This will be done by creating plans and raising finances to “improve early warning systems, flood defenses, and build resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid further loss of life, livelihoods, and natural habitats.” Actively protecting and restoring natural habitats will also be an important part of this step, as not only does it help any flora and fauna living there, but it can also provide natural barriers to disasters and weather conditions that harm communities in the area.

The third is mobilizing finance. A lot of money is needed to carry out the climate action that is needed to make a real difference to the world’s future, and this will be made up of “public finance for the development of infrastructure we need to transition to a greener and more climate-resilient economy” and “private finance to fund technology and innovation and to help turn the billions of public money into trillions of total climate investment”. Developed countries will also be asked to “deliver on their promise to raise at least $100 billion every year in climate finance to support developing countries”.

The fourth and final goal of COP26 is working together to deliver. This step mainly consists of finalizing the ‘Paris Rulebook’, which is a list of rules needed to implement the Paris Agreement. To do this, the world leaders attending must “find a solution on carbon markets by creating a robust system of carbon credits that supports the move to net zero, resolve the issues of transparency by putting in place a universal system that encourages all countries to keep to their commitments (and) broker an agreement that drives ambition from governments over the coming years to keep 1.5 degrees alive”.

Why is it taking place in the U.K.?

The COP has taken place every year since 1995 (except in extraordinary circumstances such as the covid-19 pandemic in 2020) and meets in Bonn, Germany, the seat of the secretariat unless a Party offers to host the conference. Therefore, the U.K. had to volunteer themselves as the location of this year’s event. This does not mean, however, that they do not deserve to be the center of climate achievement. The country has achieved an extraordinary amount of success concerning global warming and is a great role model for the rest of the world. Between 1990 and 2019 their economy grew by 78 percent and emissions decreased by 44 percent. This is not only the fastest decline of all the G7 countries but also shows that climate action and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. Among many other achievements, the U.K. was also the first major economy to put into law that they will reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, are the largest producer of offshore wind energy, have announced the end of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, are planting trees on 30,000 hectares of land per year by 2025, and provides over 460,000 jobs in the low carbon sector and supply chain.

Overall, it is not hard to see why the U.K. has gone to so much effort to protect the visitors to this event from any potential threats. Not only are there many high-profile attendees, but the discussions that take place here will be incredibly important for the future of the entire world. Let us hope that the decisions made here can help conserve our beautiful planet and the life on it for future generations to enjoy.