2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. It is scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 1 to 12 November 2021 under the presidency of the United Kingdom.[1][2] The conference is set to incorporate the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 16th meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP16), and the third meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA3).

2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference
Date1 – 12 November 2021
VenueSEC Centre
LocationGlasgow, Scotland
Organized byUnited Kingdom and Italy
ParticipantsUNFCCC member countries
PresidentAlok Sharma
Previous eventMadrid 2019
Websitewww.ukcop26.org

This conference is the first time that Parties are expected to commit to enhanced ambition since COP21. Parties are required to carry out every five years, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, a process colloquially known as the 'ratchet mechanism'.[3]

The venue for the conference is the SEC Centre in Central Glasgow. Originally due to be held in November 2020 at the same venue,[4] the event was postponed for twelve months in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presidency

Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth Claire Perry O'Neill was originally appointed president of the conference, but was abruptly removed on 31 January 2020, several months after she had stepped down as an MP.[5][6] Former Prime Minister David Cameron and former First Secretary William Hague were unwilling to accept the role,[7] but, on 13 February 2020, Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Alok Sharma was appointed.[8] On 8 January 2021, Sharma was succeded by Kwasi Kwarteng as Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary and moved to the Cabinet Office, in order to focus on the presidency full-time, in a move that was described as not a surprise.[9]

Nigel Topping was appointed as the UK government's High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26;[10] he is the former CEO of We Mean Business, a climate change action organisation.[11] Also appointed by the Prime Minister and taking a finance advisory position is Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England.[12]

Italy will partner with the UK in leading COP26. For the most part, their role will be in preparatory work such as the hosting of a pre-COP session and an event for young people called Youth4Climate 2020: Driving Ambition. These events were scheduled to take place between 28 September and 2 October 2020 in Milan.[13]

Ratchet mechanism

Under the Paris Agreement, countries submitted Intended nationally determined contributions, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to a "business as usual" scenario. Under the framework of the Paris Agreement, each country was expected to submit enhanced nationally determined contributions every five years, to ratchet up ambition to mitigate climate change.[14] Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the conference of 2020 was set to be the first iteration of the ratchet mechanism. Future iterations will also take into account the "global stocktake", the first of which is in 2023.

Postponement

In light of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the Conference of Parties was postponed until 1–12 November, 2021.[15] Host nations Italy and the United Kingdom were heavily affected by the pandemic, and the venue of the conference, the SEC Centre in Glasgow, was converted in May 2020 into a temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients.[16]

UNFCCC Secretary Patricia Espinosa tweeted that "in light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive, COP26 in November 2020 is not possible."[17] She also indicated that when economies restart, this will be an opportunity to "shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, just, safe and more resilient."[17] The rearranged date was announced in May 2020.[2] Earlier in 2021, the UK and Italy are due to host summits of the G7 and G20 respectively.[18]

Independent observers noted that though not directly related, the postponement gave the international community time to respond to the outcome of the United States presidential election, held in November 2020.[19][20] President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, although this could not take effect until 4 November 2020; while his Democratic challengers pledged to immediately rejoin the Paris Agreement and increase ambition to reduce emissions.[21] On January 20, 2021 President Joe Biden rejoined the Paris Accord.

Sponsors

Previous summits have been sponsored by fossil fuel companies. To reduce this influence, the UK government decided that sponsors "have to have real commitments in place to help them reach net zero in the near future".[22] The first principal partners are the British companies National Grid plc, NatWest Group, Scottish Power and SSE plc.[23]

References
  1. "UK to host 2020 UN climate summit, COP26". The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  2. "New dates agreed for COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference". gov.uk. 28 May 2020.
  3. MSc, Nick Fedson MEng (21 August 2019). "The Importance of COP26". The Energy Compass. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  4. Dennis, Brady; Mooney, Chris; change; energy. "Amid pandemic, U.N. cancels global climate conference". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  5. Shukman, David (31 January 2020). "Climate change: UK sacks its UN conference president". BBC News Online. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  6. "Climate change summit chief sacked by PM ahead of Cabinet reshuffle". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  7. Harvey, Fiona (7 February 2020). "UK unprepared for COP 26 conference, warn climate leaders". The Guardian.
  8. Harvey, Fiona (13 February 2020). "Alok Sharma appointed chair of COP26 climate conference in reshuffle". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  9. "COP26: Alok Sharma leaves business job to focus on climate role". BBC News. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  10. "Nigel Topping appointed UK High Level Climate Action Champion". UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). 23 January 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  11. "Getting ready for the decade of delivery". We Mean Business Coalition. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  12. "Mark Carney to drive finance action for UK climate talks". UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2020. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  13. "Towards COP26: Pre-COP and Youth Event: "Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition"". Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  14. "The Paris Agreement". unfccc.int. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  15. https://sdg.iisd.org/events/2020-un-climate-change-conference-unfccc-cop-26/
  16. "Construction of NHS Louisa Jordan complete". gov.scot. Scottish Government. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  17. C, Patricia Espinosa (1 April 2020). "The Bureau decided to also postpone #COP26 , in a date to be set after the #COP26 presidency consults with all Parties. The Bureau assessed that in light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of #COVIDー19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no possible". @PEspinosaC. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  18. Murray, James S (29 May 2020). "COP26: Delayed Glasgow Climate Summit confirmed for November 2021". www.businessgreen.com. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  19. Gustin, Georgina (1 April 2020). "COP's Postponement Until 2021 Gives World Leaders Time to Respond to U.S. Election". InsideClimate News. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  20. "Cop26 climate talks postponed to 2021 amid coronavirus pandemic". Climate Home News. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  21. "Biden plans immediate flurry of executive orders to reverse Trump policies". The Washington Post. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  22. Frost, Rosie (20 August 2020). "COP26 may refuse sponsorship from big polluters". living. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  23. "First sponsors for COP26 announced with one year to go until the climate summit". GOV.UK. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
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