COP26: history and goals of the 2021 United Nations climate change conference

For nearly three decades, the UN has been bringing together almost every country on earth for global climate summits – known as COPs – which stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’. In that time, climate change has gone from being a fringe issue to a global priority.

This year the 26th annual summit (COP26) will take place in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November (Overview schedule for COP26), with the UK as President. World leaders will arrive in Scotland, alongside tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens.

Most experts believe COP26 has a unique urgency. Indeed, during the COP21, which took place in Paris in 2015, for the first time ever, every country agreed to work together to limit global warming, to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate and to make money available to deliver on these aims. They agreed that every five years, State parties would come back with an updated plan that would reflect their highest possible ambition at that time.

The COP26 aims to achieve four fundamental goals.
The first goal stresses the urgent request, addressed to all states, to come forward with ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century. To achieve these targets, countries will need to accelerate the phase-out of coal, curtail deforestation, speed up the switch to electric vehicles and encourage investment in renewables.

The second target highlights the need to protect communities and natural habitats. COP26 is committed to enabling and encouraging countries affected by climate change to protect and restore ecosystems and to build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives.

The third goal confirms the necessity to mobilise finance to deliver the first two goals. In fact, developed countries must make good on their promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year by 2020.

The last point explains the importance of strong and effective cooperation between governments, businesses and civil society. Only by working together it is possible to face the challenges of the climate change crisis.