Photo credit: UNFCC
COP26 took place in Glasgow last year.
It was attended by a record-breaking number of delegates.
The main outcome was the Glasgow Climate Pact. This was agreed to by, and applies to, all countries that are parties to the Paris Agreement.
The Pact requests all parties to revisit and strengthen their 2030 emissions reduction targets. This will address the ambition/action gap between existing NDCs and projected global emissions.
By agreeing to the Pact, countries have agreed to strengthen their targets to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2022.
Besides their 2030 emissions targets, a growing number of countries have also set net zero targets. If all the current net zero targets were achieved, global heating could be limited to 1.9 degrees celsius.
But NDCs do not currently align with the longer-term net zero strategy. The Glasgow Climate Pact calls on countries to address this misalignment.
The Pact also calls on countries to consider non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, and emphasises the importance of conserving and restoring nature and ecosystems.
Although many activists criticise the COP process for it’s slow progress and lack of action, the Glasgow Climate Pact was a landmark moment in the just transition to a net zero economy, and the first international agreement of its kind to recognise the holistic nature of the climate emergency – looking beyond just carbon emissions to consider conservation and restoration of the natural environment too.
It also signals a clear intention from all the countries in the Paris Agreement to accelerate the speed of their action.
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