What is COP26?
COP26 refers to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. It was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. The COP2 was held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The president of the conference was UK cabinet minister Alok Sharma. Delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the third meeting of the parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement (designated CMA1, CMA2, CMA3), and the 16th meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP16). The conference was the first since the Paris Agreement of COP21 that expected parties to make enhanced commitments towards mitigating climate change; the Paris Agreement requires parties to carry out a process called the ‘ratchet mechanism’ every five years to provide improved national pledges. The result of COP26 was the Glasgow Climate Pact, negotiated through consensus of the representatives of the 197 attending parties.
Who attended the conference?
The global event was attended by more than twenty thousand delegates from nearly 200 countries and around 120 heads of state including American president Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida among others. Among the other participants were heads of developing countries like Bangladesh Indonesia, Israel, Ukraine etc. Former American President Barack Obama and English broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough, who was named COP26 People’s Advocate, spoke at the summit. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš denounced the proposed European Union Fit for 55 laws, part of the European Green Deal, saying that the bloc “can achieve nothing without the participation of the largest polluters such as China or the USA”. Prince Charles addressed the opening ceremony in person while Queen Elizabeth addressed the conference by video message. Bill Gates called for a ‘Green industrial revolution’ to beat the climate crisis. The fossil fuel industry with 503 attendees was the largest delegation at the conference. China’s leader Xi Jinping did not attend the conference in person and instead delivered a written address as the organizers did not provide an opportunity for a video address. However, a Chinese delegation led by climate change envoy Xie Zhenhua did attend. The prime ministers or heads of state of South Africa, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Malaysia and Vatican City also did not attend the meeting.
What happened in the conference?
The Heads of State and Government and the delegates who participated in COP26 brought to the conference a keen awareness of the severity of the climate crisis that the world faces and of the need to live up to the historic responsibility of setting the world on the path to address this existential challenge. They left Glasgow with clarity on the work that needs to be done, more robust and effective instruments to achieve it, and a heightened commitment to promote climate action —and to do so more quickly— in every area. The COP26 in Glasgow which conducted session of the COP, CMP and CMA came to an end one day after their scheduled conclusion. The climatic convention was able to reach wide-ranging set of decisions, resolutions and statements that constitute the outcome of COP26. The package adopted after intense negotiations over two weeks, strenuous formal and informal work over many months, and constant engagement both in-person and virtually for nearly two years was a global compromise that reflects a delicate balance between the interests and aspirations of nearly the 200 Parties to the core instruments on the international regime that governs global efforts against climate change.
COP26 outcomes
UN in its press release issued on November 13 said that after six years of strenuous negotiations, pending items that prevented the full implementation of the Paris Agreement on carbon markets and transparency have finally been approved. It added that all the parties to the COP26 developed consensus on adaptation, mitigation and finance. It claimed that all these are strengthened in a complex and delicate balance supported by all Parties.
Under the UK presidency and with the support of the UNFCCC Secretariat, the delegates forged agreements that strengthen ambition in the three pillars of collective climate action:
- Adaptation
Adaptation was the object of particular emphasis during the deliberations. Parties established a work programme to define the global goal on adaptation, which will identify collective needs and solutions to the climate crisis already affecting many countries. The Santiago Network was further strengthened by elaborating its functions in support of countries to address and manage loss and damage. And the CMA approved the two registries for NDCs and Adaptation Communications, which serve as channels for information flowing towards the Global Stocktake that is to take place every five years starting in 2023.
- Finance
Finance was extensively discussed throughout the session and there was consensus in the need to continue increasing support to developing countries. The call to at least double finance for adaptation was welcomed by the Parties. The duty to fulfill the pledge of providing 100 billion dollars annually from developed to developing countries was also reaffirmed. And a process to define the new global goal on finance was launched.
- Mitigation
On mitigation, the persistent gap in emissions has been clearly identified and Parties collectively agreed to work to reduce that gap and to ensure that the world continues to advance during the present decade, so that the rise in the average temperature is limited to 1.5 degrees. Parties are encouraged to strengthen their emissions reductions and to align their national climate action pledges with the Paris Agreement.
Paris Rule Book
In addition, a key outcome is the conclusion of the so-called Paris rulebook. An agreement was reached on the fundamental norms related to Article 6 on carbon markets, which will make the Paris Agreement fully operational. This will give certainty and predictability to both market and non-market approaches in support of mitigation as well as adaptation. And the negotiations on the Enhanced Transparency Framework were also concluded, providing for agreed tables and formats to account and report for targets and emissions.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change described the agreements of the COP26 as an excellent achievement as the Paris Agreement could now function fully for the benefit of all, now and in the future. Alok Sharma, UK President of COP26 expressed happiness that the COP26 parties could now say with credibility that they have kept 1.5 degrees alive. However he opined that its pulse is weak and it will only survive if the parties keep their promises and translate commitments into rapid action. Owing to late interventions from India and China, that weakened a move to end coal power and fossil fuel subsidies, the conference ended with the adoption of a less stringent resolution than some anticipated. Nevertheless, the pact was the first climate deal to explicitly commit to reducing the use of coal. It included wording that encouraged more urgent greenhouse gas emissions cuts and promised more climate finance for developing countries to adapt to climate impacts.
India’s commitment in COP26
India is the world’s fourth biggest emitter of carbon dioxide after China, the US and the EU. But its huge population means its emissions per capita are much lower than other major world economies. India emitted 1.9 tonnes of CO2 per head of population in 2019, compared with 15.5 tonnes for the US and 12.5 tonnes for Russia that year.
India has promised to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070 while the COP26 summit set a goal for countries to commit to reach zero emissions by 2050.
It is notable that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the pledge for a net zero emission target for India for the first time at the Glasgow summit. China has announced plans for carbon neutrality by 2060, while the US and EU aim to hit net zero by 2050. Net zero, or becoming carbon neutral, means: not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The Prime Minister of India made the pledge as one of five commitments from his country. They include a promise for India to get 50% of its energy from renewable resources by 2030, and by the same year to reduce total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes. In terms of climate finance, he exhorted the rich nations to enhance to 1 trillion US$ and low-cost technology transfer. Taking cudgels on behalf of the developing world, PM Modi appealed to all nations to take bolder steps.
He deemed the following climate goals as the ‘five elixirs’ towards limiting the rising temperatures:
- India will increase its non-fossil capacity to 500 gigawatt by 2030.
- India will meet 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources.
- India will reduce at least one billion tonnes of total projected emissions between now and 2030.
- India will reduce the country’s carbon intensity to less than 45%.
- India will achieve a net-zero emissions target by 2070.
Earlier in the 2015 summit, India aimed to achieve an emissions intensity target of 33–35% less than the 2005 levels, generation of 40% from non-fossil-based energy resources by 2030, and reduction of 2.5-3 gigatonnes of carbon emissions by absorption from additional forest and tree cover by 2030.