WHO CARES ABOUT THE COP26?
Why should you care about this whole COP thing? If you are anywhere between "what on Earth is going on" and knowing more about the COP26 than Boris Johnson, this article is for you.
COP stands for Conference of the Parties, where world leaders meet every year to discuss climate action. Let's see how it started and how it is going, so you understand why we all should care about COP26.
It was supposed to happen in 2020, but, well, Covid-19 had other plans. The upcoming climate summit is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, between October 31st and November 12th.
A veil of expectations coats the COP26. Not only because it's been postponed due to the pandemic outbreak, which should mean that governments had more time to do their homework and establish bold emissions reduction targets, but also because this is the most important climate negotiation summit since the Paris Agreement.
Why?
First things first. In a nutshell, the Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It is the result of the COP21 that took place in Paris, France, in 2015. This agreement is a landmark in the context of the climate conferences because, for the first time in history, nearly all nations agreed on taking effective actions to tackle climate change. The central purpose of the agreement is to keep the global temperature well below 2ºC (aiming at 1.5ºC) when compared to pre-industrial levels.
The Paris Agreement entered into force on November 4, of 2016, and currently, 192 Parties out of 197 have ratified it.
What was agreed in Paris is that each country had to prepare a climate action plan describing how they will achieve the agreement's goals and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This action plan is called NDC, or a Nationally Determined Contribution.
The key here is that every five years, each country is expected to submit an updated (and preferably more audacious) NDC.
Tadaaa!
The COP26 is expected to be explosive because after six years (one year later due to Corona), countries' leaders are expected to come up with astonishing, remarkable, extraordinary emission reduction targets.
How it started
Let's take a quick trip back to the past.
In 1992 countries gathered at the Rio Summit that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For the first time, governments had an official discussion concerning the environment and signed a document where they agreed on collectively addressing sustainable development from that point on.
As one outcome of the Rio Summit, nations signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that entered into force on March 21st of 1994. The framework established that a formal meeting of the parties would occur every year to assess the progress in the climate-related discussions.
This is how the Conference of the Parties, AKA COP, was born. The very first one was held in Berlin, Germany, in 1995.
How it is going (you might wanna take a deep breath for this one)
Some of the COPs were crucial for the climate negotiations like COP3 in Kyoto, Japan. COP3, where the memorable Kyoto Protocol was implemented, brought to the table the different responsibilities of developed and developing countries concerning GHG emissions. Besides, it was at COP3 that important market mechanisms based on the trade of emissions permits, for example, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), were established. But this is a topic for another article; otherwise, we will be here until COP28.
Sadly, some COPs were a huge and embarrassing fiasco—for example, the COP15 in Copenhagen. The leaders did not manage to reach an agreement, and drama, leakages, and blunders surrounded the whole event.
Well, time flies. Six years have gone by since COP21 and the Paris Agreement. Remember the NDCs we talked about earlier? Well, during the Paris summit, the NDCs presented by the nations combined would put us on the track of raising the global temperature to around 3ºC by 2100. The goal is 1.5ºC, bummer. You can understand why for this upcoming COP, loads of expectations and pressure from society and climate activists are hovering over world leaders.
Now, for the COP26, we know that those people are supposed to have set some serious targets for reducing their emissions. Additionally, among many other controversies, the so-called rich nations are supposed to help finance the green transition of the least developed countries. This, my friends, is another rather complex debate.
I mean, everyone interested in our future on this planet should have both eyes on this event because things are about to get ugly.
You can access all Parties' updated NDCs here. Overall, up to this point, the country's new targets are dismaying. This COP is like the Oscars ceremony. We should all be dying to see what each country will bring to the red carpet.
The official goals of the COP26 are:
Secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
Mobilize finance
Work together to deliver
The European Union and the United States together account for one-third of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions. A quick reminder concerning the US: Trump jumped out of the Paris Agreement in 2020, and Biden jumped back in earlier this year in a funny little American game.
Countries like India and China, the latter being currently the top polluter, have not yet published their updated climate strategy, whereas Australia has not impressed much with its timid set of targets.
We can expect some taboo topics and old debates to be part of this year's summit. Among them is the matter of "loss and damage," referring to how far those countries suffering the most with the consequences of climate change will be compensated; the sector-level pledges, part of the efforts to convince governments to finally stop burning coal and encouraging fossil fuel combustion engines; and to effectively halt deforestation (hello Brazil)! Additionally, essential definitions concerning carbon markets should be addressed, given the topic's boom over the past few years.
At this point, it's very unlikely that countries will amend their NDCs. One positive outcome of this COP will be having Parties agreeing on collective actions to support the accomplishment of their climate strategies while increasing their ambitions for the near future.
Instead of losing hope…
We can closely watch our countries' pledges, how our leaders are engaging, what has been done so far, what is missing, and apply pressure. Knowledge is key. The more we know, the more involved we get, and the less manipulated, fooled, and misled we are.
There is also our share of this polluted cake. Let's turn into our own small world and make sure we are doing something.
Here are some hints on how to understand the size of the problem you, my friend, can cause!
Takeaway
I hope now you feel like you could have Mister Johson over for tea and talk about any COP!
A few days left until the COP26 takes over Glasgow. There is still time to get involved, get informed, and follow whoever you believe is a good source of information, inspiration, or outrage. During the conference, stay tuned, make some noise on social media, talk to friends and family about it.
Anyway, watch your footprint, and take care!
I am an Architect and Urban Planner, a Sustainability Professional passionate about cities and sustainable development. The future is here, and I can’t wait to see what it holds!
