COP26: Basic Guide to the Critical Climate Conference

The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow is the world’s last chance to call for real action against global warming. But what problems are at stake and what are the good outcomes?

To Adam Vaughan

International summits are seldom touted as “turning points for humanity.” But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in his speech at the United Nations in September this year, described his COP26 climate conference in Glasgow on November 1 as follows: The question is which way to turn. To the immediate vicinity of a safe future climate comparable to the past 10,000 years or so that allowed humankind to thrive? Or will we continue heading towards a greenhouse Earth with rising sea levels, worsening weather extremes, wiping out more wildlife, and immeasurably straining the well-being of future human generations?

COP26 President Alok Sharma, responsible for the summit’s success, asserts that the two-week conference, postponed by a year due to the covid-19 pandemic, can sustain hopes of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. increase. Goals agreed at the 2015 Paris Climate Summit. “I think keeping 1.5 degrees Celsius is the absolute goal,” he says.

“We have no other choice. says Christiana Figueres, one of the architects. “In this decade, only the last few years have a major turning point.”

After years of tough negotiations, the parties will be eager for post-summit success, whatever the outcome. But what are the really good outcomes for us and the planet? Read our guide to ….