COP26 was the United Nations climate change conference which was held in Glasgow on the 31st October 2021. For nearly three decades, the UN has been bringing together almost every country on Earth for global climate summits – called COPs – which stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’. In that time, climate change has gone from being a fringe issue to a global priority.
World leaders arrived in Scotland, alongside tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens for twelve days of talking.
So, after all that talking, what did they agree upon?
Firstly, it was agreed that countries will meet next year to pledge further cuts to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - a greenhouse gas which is one of the many causes of climate change.
The initiative is an attempt to involve private companies in meeting net zero targets.
However, some environmental organisations have said that without a greater commitment to ending support for fossil fuels, this could be little more than a PR exercise. Rises within 1.5C - which scientists say is required to prevent a "climate catastrophe". Current pledges, if met, will only limit global warming to about 2.4C.
Secondly, For the first time at a COP conference, there was an explicit plan to reduce use of coal - which is responsible for 40% of annual CO2 emissions. However, countries only agreed a weaker commitment to "phase down" rather than "phase out" coal after a late intervention by China and India. World leaders agreed to phase-out subsidies that artificially lower the price of coal, oil, or natural gas. However, no firm dates have been set.
Also, the agreement pledged to significantly increase money to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change and make the switch to clean energy. There's also the prospect of a trillion dollar a year fund from 2025 - after a previous pledge for richer countries to provide $100bn (£72bn) a year by 2020 was missed. While some observers say the COP26 agreement represented the "start of a breakthrough", some African and Latin American countries felt not enough progress was made.
Some other announcements were made too:
The world's biggest CO2 emitters, the US and China, pledged to cooperate more over the next decade in areas including methane emissions and the switch to clean energy. China has previously been reluctant to tackle domestic coal emissions - so this was seen as recognising the need for urgent action. Leaders from more than 100 countries - with about 85% of the world's forests - promised to stop deforestation by 2030. This is seen as vital, as trees absorb vast amounts of CO2. Similar initiatives haven't stopped deforestation, but this one's better funded. However, it's unclear how the pledge will be policed. A scheme to cut 30% of methane emissions by 2030 was agreed by more than 100 countries. Methane is currently responsible for a third of human-generated warming. The big emitters China, Russia and India haven't joined - but it's hoped they will later. Financial organisations controlling $130tn agreed to back "clean" technology, such as renewable energy, and direct finance away from fossil fuel-burning industries. The initiative is an attempt to involve private companies in meeting net zero targets.
However, some environmental organisations have said without a greater commitment to ending support for fossil-fuels, this could be little more than a PR exercise.
By Annabel Haggar
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