The 26th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, took place between October 31 and November 13, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. The conference was the 26th meeting of the countries (formally referred to as “parties”) that had ratified the treaty known as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Adopted in 1992, the UNFCCC was the first major international agreement aimed at reducing emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. COP26 was originally scheduled to be held in 2020 but was postponed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 200 countries sent delegates to COP26. The conference, which sought new global commitments to address the problem of global warming, concluded with the signing of the Glasgow Climate Pact. The pact included nonbinding pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce the use of coal. (The burning of coal, like the burning of all fossil fuels, releases large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and is a major driver of global warming.) The pact also resolved to increase funding to help developing countries deal with the damaging effects of climate change.
One of the main purposes of COP26 was to review progress on commitments made at an earlier conference, COP21, held in Paris, France, in 2015. That conference had produced the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. The Paris Agreement called for limiting the increase of the world’s average temperature to no more than 3.6 °F (2 °C) above preindustrial levels, while aiming to keep the temperature increase to 2.7 °F (1.5 °C). Officials attending COP26 acknowledged that the world was not yet on track to meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. The Glasgow Climate Pact formally reaffirmed those goals. The pact stated, however, that in order to achieve the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious target of limiting global warming to 2.7 °F, greenhouse gas emissions would have to fall by 45 percent by 2030, compared to 2010 levels.
The Glasgow Climate Pact thus called for “rapid, deep, and sustained reductions” in the emissions of greenhouse gases around the world. In a first for an agreement reached at a COP summit, the pact made a direct reference to coal. A commitment to “phase out” coal power was included in early drafts of the agreement. However, after last-minute objections from two major coal-using countries, India and China, the final text called instead for a “phasedown” of coal power rather than for its complete elimination. The pact also resolved to accelerate the end of certain government subsidies for coal and other fossil fuels. In addition, the agreement urged developed countries to “at least double” by 2025 the financial assistance they provided to lower-income countries to support their efforts to adapt to climate change.
A number of notable agreements were announced at COP26 that fell outside the Glasgow Climate Pact. China and the United States—the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases—announced a deal to work together on plans and policies aimed at reducing emissions in the 2020s. In a separate agreement more than 100 countries joined the Global Methane Pledge. Methane is among the most potent of the greenhouse gases. Countries joining the pledge promised to collectively reduce methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030, compared to 2020 levels. A pledge to end deforestation by 2030 was also signed by the leaders of more than 100 countries. Those countries together accounted for some 85 percent of the world’s forests.
While COP26 took place, a number of large protests were held in the streets of Glasgow. Demonstrators, including noted Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, made the case for more urgent measures to be taken by world leaders and others attending the conference. At the conclusion of COP26 the Glasgow Climate Pact’s revised pledge to reduce coal power instead of phasing it out entirely drew particular criticism. Many observers believed that the weakened language on coal could prevent the goals originally outlined in the Paris Agreement from being reached. Assessments of other aspects of the Glasgow Climate Pact were more positive. Some experts described as an important step the pact’s framework for tracking commitments of the various parties to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Under the terms of the pact, countries agreed to report yearly on their progress in reducing such emissions and to “revisit and strengthen” their 2030 goals.