What is COP26?
The COP26 climate conference is the 26th annual UN climate change conference that brings world leaders together to discuss the necessary actions required to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
COP stands for Conference of the Parties and was established by the UN when the first conference took place in 1995.
The conference has been in progress since the 31st of October and has attracted up to 25,000 to the city of Glasgow, including over 100 world leaders, negotiator teams and journalists.
The city has been the centre of dozens of protests that have seen hundreds of thousands of climate activists march through the streets.
The climate conference has asked nearly 200 different nations to submit new plans on how they aim to reduce their global carbon emissions by 2030.
What has been agreed at the conference so far?
Dozens of countries set out a list of their own plans to reduce emissions before the summit, but a series of announcements have also been put forward at the conference.
Here are some of the most significant announcements mentioned at COP26.
Trees
A selection of more than 100 world leaders have promised to tackle global deforestation in critical biodiverse regions like the Amazon rainforest.
The aim is to improve the number of trees worldwide that can help absorb the growing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Methane
Over 100 countries have joined a scheme that aims to cut global methane emissions by 30% by the year 2030.
However, some of the world’s biggest emitters including China, Russia and India have decided not to join the program.
Coal
More than 40 countries, including the EU and the United Kingdom, have agreed to shift away from coal-based energy, the single most significant contributor to global temperature rises.
However, some of the world’s most coal-dependent countries have not yet signed up, including nations like Australia, India, China and the United States.
Money
One of the most impressive agreements to come from the conference is an arrangement between 450 organisations that control around $130 trillion dollars of the globe’s private assets.
These organisations have agreed to back clean technology from now on, including renewable energy and carbon-neutral technology.
What else should we expect from the COP26 Glasgow conference?
The United Kingdom as the host wants all participating nations to recommit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and promise to ensure significant carbon reductions by 2030.
Many of the world’s developing nations will also want a significant financial package pledge so as to help these nations adapt to rising temperatures and continued climate change.
While the growing number of nations agreeing to take action on climate change is a good sign, many of the world’s scientists believe global leaders have acted too late.
These scientists argue that no matter what is agreed at COP26, the 1.5 degrees target will not be achieved and the world must prepare for more disruptive weather events.
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