The COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference, that takes place from October 31st to November 12th is to be hosted by United Kingdom in partnership with Italy. The event will be conducted in the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, UK.
The event is considered crucial if the climate crisis is to be brought under control, since the summit in Glasgow could bring major changes to everyday lives of all the people around the world.
Why COP26?
The greenhouse gases that have been emitted by humans in the last few decades have caused rapid warming all around the planet.
Climate change is affecting the countries in form of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, wildfires, river floods and droughts. These intensifying events have brought the governments worldwide together in agreement for collective action against the climate change.
200 countries all around the world are being asked to make policies to cut down their emissions by 2030, in the Glasgow Climate Conference. To avoid a climate catastrophe, all these countries have agreed to put efforts into making changes in their emissions, in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The aim of the Paris Agreement was to limit every countries’ emissions so that the global warming would stay below 2 degree Celsius over pre-industrial level of average temperature. The aim was to keep the temperature at 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial level. The countries aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Aim of COP26.
Many countries will already set out plans for cutting their emissions even before the summit starts as part of several other conferences such as United Nations General Assembly. But during the Climate Change conference, that will be conducted for two weeks in Glasgow, a gust of new policies and action plans will be announced by most of the countries in order to show their participation in the collective effort.
Some of the announcements made by several countries could include decisions like switching to electric vehicles as soon as possible, speeding up the process of switching entirely from coal power, afforestation plans and limiting deforestation and funding systems that can protect vulnerable populations like coastal communities.
A crowd of 25,000 people are expected to be attending the climate conference in Glasgow. World leaders, negotiators, climate experts and journalists would be present among the participants. Thousands of campaigners would also be present to hold protests, campaigns and other events in the program. Every country would be forced to sign up for the agreement and the resulting declarations to fight the climate crisis.
The developing countries that do not contribute large amounts to the total greenhouse gas emissions face most of the worst effects of climate change. As these countries pollute less per head, these countries are not responsible for the emissions of the past. A lot of climate justice talks and negotiations would be required in this case to bring the countries on board.
Plans like funding more solar energy in the countries that depend on coal will be structured and a lot of talks about compensation for the effects of climate change on developing nations would be held in the conference.
As the top country to contribute to global warming and climate change, China’s involvement and commitment would be crucial. It has invested several coal power projects and plants in other countries all over the world.
The changes and declarations made in Glasgow conference can directly affect our daily lives, as countries would be deciding things like whether to allow petrol fueled vehicles anymore, or to ban gas boilers.
The United Kingdom will urge all the countries to join in making a strong statement that commits the countries to the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and big reductions in climate change-triggering emissions before 2030.
Petrol vehicles and coal power would be swept away from existence in the near future. Developing countries would want massive funding and financial packages to make changes that would help them to adapt to the rising temperatures.
Even though the conference brings hope for the future, many of the scientists think that it is too late to make decisions regarding climate change as we might not be able to achieve the target of keeping the temperature at 1.5 degree Celsius even after COP26.
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