What is ‘COP26,’ and what does ‘COP26’ stand for?

Since 1995, world leaders have met annually to hash out how to tackle climate change. This fall marks the 26th gathering of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Or, because that’s a mouthful, COP26. Beginning Oct. 31, delegates from nearly 200 nations are expected to descend on Glasgow, the site of this year’s summit. The two weeks of talks have an overarching goal : to put the world on a path to aggressively cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow Earth’s warming. But the negotiators won’t be alone. Environmental groups, scientists, business leaders, diplomats and journalists will show up as well. And climate protesters are planning to arrive in force to demand that world leaders match their rhetoric with action. Government leaders at the summit, which was delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic, will find themselves facing pressure to make bolder and more-concrete promises than they have in the past.

How is this related to the Paris agreement?

COP26 is where the messy details and unfulfilled promises of the Paris agreement will get hashed out. Some brief history: In late 2015, the nations of the world agreed to work together to limit the warming of the planet to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels — and, if possible, to stop at 1.5 Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s a daunting goal, given that the world has already warmed more than 1 degree Celsius, with some spots already eclipsing 2 degrees Celsius . The Paris accord created a voluntary framework meant to ensure that countries transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions, that carbon markets function fairly and that the rich nations most responsible for climate change help fund projects so poorer countries can cope with the impacts of global warming. Six years later, all of that remains a work in progress.

How has the world done so far in meeting the goals of the Paris agreement?

Frankly, not great . The world has already warmed roughly 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) since the late 19th century, meaning there isn’t much wiggle room left to halt global warming at 1.5 Celsius — the most ambitious goal set in Paris. According to a report this summer from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, humans can unleash only about 500 additional gigatons of carbon dioxide — the equivalent of about 10 years of current global emissions — to have an even chance of hitting that target. If the world rapidly phases out fossil fuels, massively ramps up renewable energy and enhances the natural systems such as forests that can pull carbon from the air, scientists say, the Earth’s warming will stabilize. Shifting markets and pledges by some leaders to act faster have begun to move the world away from an even more disastrous path. But as the Glasgow summit draws near, nations have yet to act quickly and aggressively enough to avoid dangerous consequences. A recent U.N. analysis found that even if nations met their current promises, the globe would still be on pace to experience an average temperature rise of 2.7 Celsius by the end of the century — a path U.N. Secretary General António Guterres has described as “catastrophic.”

What countries will be key players at COP26?

There’s no doubt that all eyes will be on the world’s biggest emitters in Glasgow. Whether the major economies of the world demonstrate the political will to reverse the steady rise in emissions will help determine whether the talks succeed or flounder. The United States, which under Donald Trump became the only country to exit the Paris agreement, has rejoined under President Biden and vowed to cut its greenhouse gas pollution at least in half by 2030 . Along with its European allies, the Biden administration has sought to persuade the world’s largest emitter, China , and other major nations to commit to more-ambitious, detailed plans ahead of COP26. That said, these climate talks operate by consensus, with the goal that all nations have a voice. In the past, small developing countries and vulnerable nations already battered by the consequences of a warming world have shaped the negotiations, and chances are they will again. It was these nations that insisted on the 1.5 Celsius goal in Paris in 2015. Some of those same leaders have said that any final agreement in Scotland must include assurances to do more to protect those on the front lines of climate change, and concrete financial commitments to help struggling countries cope with rising seas and extreme weather.

Who is expected to attend?

Last month, event officials announced that more than 100 “political Heads of Government” had already confirmed their attendance, making COP26 the “largest political gathering that the UK has ever hosted.” This list includes President Biden along with his climate envoy John F. Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and European Union representatives, among others, the Reuters news agency reported. The Kremlin has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend COP26 or the Group of 20 Summit, a meeting of the leaders of the world’s most advanced economies. Instead, he hopes to appear via video. The leader of the world’s most populous nation, China’s Xi Jinping, who has not made any international trips since January 2020, is also unlikely to attend. Other leaders, including Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, are not expected to attend.

What is on the agenda for COP26? What will success or failure look like?

The main goal is to get nations to lock in emissions-cutting plans that keep alive the target of limiting Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. That remains in serious doubt, given that it would require some large nations to make far-reaching promises that have yet to materialize. But that’s not the only aspiration in Glasgow. Top officials have made clear their desire to finally “consign coal to history,” in the words of Alok Sharma, the U.K. politician serving as president of COP26. Meanwhile, rich countries face increasing pressure to deliver on their unfulfilled pledge to mobilize at least $100 billion a year to help poor, developing nations become more resilient to climate disasters and move away from fossil fuels. Away from the spotlight, officials will be working to finalize the Paris agreement’s “rule book,” which would strengthen the 2015 agreement. While officials worked out many details at earlier summits, some key issues remain unresolved, including the complex and contentious rules that govern global carbon markets — a topic that has tripped up negotiators at the last two U.N. gatherings, in Poland and Madrid.

What is at stake in Glasgow? Why does the outcome matter?

The outcome of the talks will have real consequences for the entire planet. This summer alone, historic heat waves enveloped America’s Pacific Northwest. Intense wildfires raged from California to Canada, from Greece to Siberia. Deadly floods deluged the U.S. Northeast, while extreme drought spurred water concerns in the Southwest. Climate-fueled catastrophes struck other parts of the world as well, from severe drought in Brazil to massive flooding that killed hundreds of people in Belgium and Germany. A Washington Post analysis found that nearly 1 in 3 Americans live in a county hit by a weather disaster this summer, and other recent research found that today’s children can expect to live through three times as many climate disasters as their grandparents. The urgency around this year’s U.N. summit centers on two realities: Climate change is no longer a future concern. It has become a problem today, for rich and poor nations alike. And scientists have made clear that climate-related calamities will only become more frequent and intense unless humanity makes serious changes in the years ahead.

What does the science say needs to happen?

Science has made clear that rapid, large-scale cuts to the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to avoid ever-worsening climate disasters. Humans have driven the atmosphere into an “ unprecedented ” state, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Each of the past four decades has been successively warmer than any that preceded it, dating to 1850. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen to levels not seen in 2 million years. Sea levels continue to rise. Weather-related disasters are growing more extreme and affecting every corner of the world. The math of how to slow the Earth’s warming is both simple and daunting. Scientists say the world needs to cut its greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2030, and collectively reach “net zero” emissions by the middle of the century, to avoid the direst impacts.

What about covid-19? Is it safe to hold an in-person summit with thousands of attendees?

The pandemic looms as a significant challenge for a gathering designed to include representatives from every corner of the world. COP26 was initially scheduled for the fall of 2020, but instead, the massive SEC Centre in Glasgow was converted into a field hospital — and later, into a vaccination center. Even a year later, the logistics of holding such a huge summit have proved thorny. The British government has offered to send vaccines to any delegates that need them and to cut required quarantine times in half — from 10 days to five — for representatives of “red list” countries. Officials have said daily coronavirus testing will be required to enter the COP26 site. Even so, the combination of travel restrictions, expensive lodging and ongoing vaccine inequity has raised fears that delegates from some countries might not be able to attend. Those concerns led a coalition of activists from around the globe last month to call for another postponement of COP26. The Union of Concerned Scientists said the conference as currently planned “cannot meet science-based public health guidelines in an equitable way.” Others argued that the summit must go on, given the urgency of the problem. “The only beneficiaries of postponement are the fossil fuel industry and persons who gain financially from delay,” the Alliance of Small Island States, a group of nations that negotiate as a bloc, said in a statement. Top U.S. and British officials, as well as U.N. leaders, also have insisted there is no substitute for face-to-face diplomacy. “If we are to deliver for our planet, we need all countries and civil society to bring their ideas and ambition to Glasgow,” Sharma said in a statement last month. Sammy Westfall contributed to this report, which has been updated.

What you need to know about the U.N. COP26 climate summit — and why it matters

‘We must get serious. And we must act fast,’ U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said recently, noting that the world is ‘seemingly light-years away’ from meeting its climate goals

By Brady Dennis

Updated October 26, 2021 at 1:10 p.m. EDT|Published October 6, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Banners for the upcoming COP26 climate talks line a street in Glasgow, Scotland. The city will welcome world leaders and thousands of attendees for the crucial U.N. summit in November. (Ian Forsyth/Bloomberg)

Tens of thousands of people from every corner of the globe are preparing to gather in Glasgow, Scotland, for a two-week United Nations summit that could shape how — and whether — the world effectively slows climate change in the years ahead. Here are answers to some key questions about the talks:

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