World leaders and experts will meet in Glasgow in November at the global climate talks, COP26. Global problems need global solutions. The decisions made at COP26 will shape how governments respond (or not) to the climate crisis. They will decide who is to be sacrificed, who will escape and who will make a profit. So far, governments have done too little too late: colluding with corporations and hiding behind green washed ‘solutions’ that actually don’t exist yet, that don’t address the scale of the problem, and in many cases rely on more exploitation of people and the planet. COP26 is happening at a crucial moment in history. Across the world and across movements, we are seeing a new wave of resistance, global solidarity and grassroots organising. We have a unique opportunity to rewire our system as we recover from the pandemic. We can either intensify the crisis to the point of no return, or lay the foundations for a just world where everyone’s needs are met.
Key aims of COP26
The main agenda item for COP26 is to finalise “implementation guidelines” for Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which has to do with “cooperative approaches” to tackling climate change. At COP25 in Madrid no agreement could be found on the contentious issue of carbon markets.
Alok Sharma – the Convervative MP selected to lead the U.K. in its role as COP26 President – outlined 5 priority areas for the U.K. They included: Adaptation & Resilience; Nature; Energy Transition, Clean Road Transport; and Finance.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic crisis, the focus of the UK and many other governments is shifting and COP26 will reflect this even if it does not become a formal negotiating item.
COP26 to go ahead in 2021
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 the UNFCCC Bureau decided to postpone COP26. The U.K., in its role as COP26 President, then worked with the Bureau to consult other countries and civil society observers before eventually proposing 1st – 12th November, 2021 as the dates for a rescheduled COP26.
Preparatory meetings to lay the ground for decisions to be reached in Glasgow were due to take place in Bonn, Germany, in June 2020. Due to the German government’s COVID-19 restrictions, they were rescheduled to October 2020, and then suspended indefinitely. It is expected that these preparatory meetings will take place at some point during 2021.
While the UN and the UK have put together a variety of online events – such as the June 2020 “Climate Momentum” or the November 2020 “Race to Zero” and “Climate Dialogues” – these are not formal negotiating sessions and cannot arrive at decisions that could be agreed to at COP26.