What is COP26 all about?

You may have seen ‘COP26’ in the news more frequently over the last couple of weeks, but do you know what COP26 is, what the aims are, what they are hoping to achieve, what does it mean for you?

I’ll break it down for you.

The UK, more specifically, Glasgow, is hosting the 26th ‘UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties’. It is a follow up from the Paris Agreement (COP21 in 2015) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This summit will run from 31st October to 12th November.

In brief, COP26, is an event to agree further actions and discuss progress that has been made with regards to climate change and the overall goal of limiting temperature rises to well below 2 degrees above pre industrial levels by 2050. There is an expectation that there are going to be over 190 world leaders at the event. Many climate change followers have said that this summit is the ‘last chance saloon’ to avert the climate crisis and to tackle the problems, which are becoming more and more apparent around us (you just have to look at the news to see yet another natural disaster has taken place).

So let’s go back to Paris and what happened in COP21? Paris was such a big deal because every country agreed, with legally binding commitments, to work together to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees, but aiming for 1.5 degrees for the first time ever. The agreement included ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDCs), which is where each country puts forward their own plans of what they can do to limit global warming and reduce emissions. It was further agreed they would meet every five years to present and update their latest plans. COP26 is the next instalment and the follow up from Paris.

Why is it important to limit temperature increases to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial level? It is important as it has been proven that temperatures in excess of this will cause catastrophic natural disasters stemming from extreme weather. It would cause long term and irreversible damage to natural habitats as sea levels would increase. There would be severe heatwaves and this would cause health problems and more heat related deaths, not forgetting bush fires. There could be food shortages, risks of species extinction, air pollution which would impact humans, increased risk of disease and increased risk of malnutrition. Currently and alarmingly, based on what was committed in Paris21 temperatures will rise by over 3 degrees by the end of the century.

The goals of COP26:

-???????Secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees in reach – they are working in smaller goals and are currently looking to 2030 and countries are being asked for actions they are working on to drastically reduce emissions by this time. In addition to their overall goals for achieving net zero by 2050.

-???????Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats – working with communities to protect changing habitats and try to restore those that have already been impacted and damaged. In addition putting warning systems in place and upgrade infrastructure so it is better placed to withstand natural disasters.

-???????Mobile finance – developed countries must support countries who need it the most in achieving the first two goals. There is a need for $100 billion per year in finance.

-???????Work together to deliver – work together, faster to achieve the first two goals.

Can we do it? Well, Boris Johnson has come under fire for telling kids in a Q&A the other day that we need to do a lot more than just recycling and that we just need to stop producing plastic (easier said than done). Russia’s president, Vladmir Putin, has announced he is not attending the conference due to the ‘pandemic’. This has come as a blow to COP26, as Russia is such an important part of achieving the goals. There is also a question mark over several other important world leaders and whether they will attend. Most recently the Queen has sent her apologies, but Charles, a true eco warrior will be there to fly the flag for the UK instead. Boris has said he ‘hopes’ we can achieve the goals, but has also said it will be really tough and ‘touch and go’…which doesn’t sound too promising...let's watch this space!

So what can you do? Follow the official hashtag #OneStepGreener which aims to highlight what is being done on all levels. This will included examples such as engineers working on offshore wind farms to local initiatives. There maybe areas you can get involved in locally. Or you may even pick up on some ideas or tips of things you can incorporate into your lifestyle to help support our climate change goals. If everybody made one small change it would result in a large positive change overall!

What happens after Glasgow? The UK will continue to ‘preside’ over this through to 2022 when they will hand over the reigns to an African country for COP27.

Check in next week for my next article on Reduce, Re-use and Recycle – the 3 R’s of Sustainability!