COP26: What it is and why it matters

You can’t help but notice the media interest there currently is in the COP26 Conference being held in Glasgow, UK. Here’s a short, sharp summary of the main points:

What is COP26?

In a nutshell, COP26 is the United Nations’ annual climate conference. COP stands for “Conference of the Parties”.  Principally, it’s a gathering of country leaders, industry leaders and NGOs to discuss and hopefully agree the necessary urgent actions to limit the devastating impacts of climate change on the environment and our societies. COP26 comes in a year tainted by record temperatures and global natural disasters, from wildfires in California and Australia, to severe flooding in Turkey.

This year’s COP marks five years since the milestone Paris Agreement, the first international treaty on climate commitments.  The agreed goal is to limit global warming to “well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels” with the aim of achieving a climate neutral world by 2050.  COP26 will see the first review of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), national emissions reduction targets since they were established by the Paris Agreement. It will be a major moment in understanding the effect of NDCs, a yardstick for global progress.

What does COP26 hope to achieve?

Four clear objectives have been set for COP26:

1. Ensure global net zero by 2050 and maintain the achievement of the goal of
   1.5 °C
2. Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
3. Mobilise finance to deliver objectives 1 and 2
4. Formalise how signatories work together to address climate change

What does mobilise finance mean?

To achieve the other goals, developed countries must deliver on their promise to raise at least US$100 billion in climate finance per year. International financial institutions must play their part and work to unleash the trillions of dollars in private and public sector finance needed to ensure global net zero.