What is COP 26?
COP26 is the 26th annual Conference of the Parties hosted by the United Nations and is attended by leaders of countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1994. It will be attended by over 100 world leaders such as the United States, Canda, France, Ghana, India, Australia, and several EU representatives. It is currently being held in Glasgow in partnership with Italy and will be held from October 31- November 12, 2021, with it actually being delayed a year due to COVID.
COP26 is the largest summit ever being held and many people are seeing it as the most significant climate event since the 2015 Paris Agreement. It will be a very large event with delegates, world leaders, and other important figures undertaking weeks of negotiations in order to tackle the climate crisis. This is an incredibly important meeting for a number of reasons. Drastic action needs to happen at a larger scale in order to tackle climate change. More and more vulnerable populations around the world are seeing the effects of climate change, with much of the world seeing increases in heat waves, more devastating weather events, and large losses of plant and animal diversity. Countries will be revisiting the Paris Agreement, which was a large-scale commitment to drastically cut down on emissions, but this voluntary agreement has failed to see many improvements, with emissions still reaching historic levels and countries are not on track to meet goals.
This COP26 is also special because two of Green Intiative’s officers, Rose Albert and Luke Jaskowski are students acting as representatives of the American Chemical Society in Glasgow to observe the delegations, network with others, and learn about how those in government tackle climate change on a larger scale to better act as climate activist at home. This is an incredible learning opportunity and will be able to share their experiences when they get back!
What are the goals of COP 26?
The goals of COP26, as laid out on the website are as followed:
Secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
Mobilise fiance (to be able to deliver on the first two goals)
Work together to deliver
There are many hopes and concerns coming out of this meeting. Many are worried that the agreements will not be ambitious enough to take on the fast growing need. There are also concerns that the United States will struggle to produce legislation that will pass through congress, which sets a bad precedent and damages the United States credibility in climate change work. My biggest hope coming out of this meeting is that people are more educated about climate change and countries as a whole really try to work together to make progress for all and we have a plan going forward.
Read more about the event at https://ukcop26.org/
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