Glasgow COP26 conference — what is it, and what does it mean for the UK?

Politics is at best complicated and, at worst, extremely confusing. So we’ve tried to break down what COP is and why it is so vital for the UK in an easy to understand way.

What is COP26?

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. It has been rescheduled from 2020 and now will be held in Glasgow, from 31st October to 12th November 2021.

What does COP stand for?

“Cop” is short for Conference of the Parties, which refers to the meeting of the 197 members to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as UN Climate Change.

What is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change?

It is an international environmental treaty to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system”, in part by stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

What is the COP agenda?

The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

What are the goals of the Paris Agreement?

In 2015, in Paris, 197 countries agreed to collectively cut emissions to limit global temperature rise “well below 2C” and aim for 1.5C. To meet this goal, every country was asked to contribute emission reductions and set targets by 2025 or 2030. These plans are known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Every government agreed to update their NDCs every five years, with each plan more ambitious than the last and reflecting their “highest possible ambition”.

What progress has been made to date?

UN Climate Change found that updated plans by the end of 2020 put the world on track to stabilise emissions by 2030. To halt heating at 1.5C, scientists say global emissions need to fall 45% from 2010 levels in that time.

Who is in charge at COP26?

The UK and Italy are joint presidents of Cop26. The UK hosts the main event, and Italy is due to hold some pre-Cop meetings in Milan. Alok Sharma, a politician with the UK’s ruling Conservative Party, was appointed Cop26 president in February 2020. For nearly a year, Sharma also served as business and energy minister before dropping ministerial responsibilities to focus exclusively on Cop26 preparations.

What will happen at COP26?

Throughout COP26, world leaders, climate experts and campaigners will aim to agree on a coordinated approach to tackling climate change. … Every nation who signed the treaty must create climate-specific goals to contribute to reducing the world’s carbon emissions and their own carbon footprint.

What are the organisers trying to achieve?

Prime minister Boris Johnson has summarised the UK’s agenda for the conference as: “coal, cash, cars and trees”. Let’s explain that in a little more detail.

Coal:

The UK wants to make Cop26 the summit that “consigns coal to history”. The G7 agreed in May to end new direct government support for unabated coal power by the end of 2021 — but avoided setting an exit date for burning the fuel. Italy is trying to encourage the G20 to commit a similar pledge. However, there’s some resistance from China, Russia and India.

Cash:

Developed countries agreed in 2009 to mobilise $100 billion a year in climate finance to the developing world by 2020. At the last count, they were $20bn short. Germany and Canada have been tasked with making a plan to plug the gap ahead of COL26. This is critical to trust in the process for recipient nations. Negotiations are due to start on what the next collective finance goal beyond 2025 should look like. Then there are various initiatives to “shift the trillions” of private-sector cash towards achieving global net-zero emissions by mid-century.

Cars:

The UK hopes to speed up a switch to electric vehicles, proposing a 2035 deadline for selling the last petrol cars. It established a Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council bringing together ministers and representatives of significant car markets — although China was notably absent from the list.

Trees:

Another COP26 goal is “Calling time on deforestation”. The UK, together with the US and Norway, launched the Leaf Coalition, which aims to mobilise $1 billion of public and private finance in 2021 to cut emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

How will COP26 affect UK consumers?

The promises that governments make at COP meetings are translated into actions at a national level. UK leaders have already put climate change targets into law, committing to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Technically, we know how to achieve much of this, and significant changes are happening behind the scenes without the need for consumers to act. For example, the decarbonisation of the electricity grid is already well underway with more wind and solar generating our power

But to successfully implement other solutions, like cutting emissions from our cars and homes, the government will need us to participate actively.

The ban on petrol and diesel cars from 2030 will require us to switch to electric vehicles. While the government must ensure a reliable, user-friendly charging network accessible throughout the country, manufacturers must cut the cost of electric cars, improve battery range, and speed up charging times, to make them affordable, convenient and attractive to own and drive.

Homeowners will soon be urged to insulate their houses and switch to low-carbon heating, ahead of the phase-out of gas boilers. New financial incentives from the government are needed to help us make the transition to zero-carbon homes

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions

In recent decades, our national record has looked good. Annual UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions fell 49% between 1990 and 2020, from more than 800 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO2e) to just over 400 mtCO2e.

The carbon impact of imports

The UK is a net importer of emissions — we import more carbon dioxide embedded in goods than we export. In 2018, our production-based emissions were 5.66 tonnes per person, but when consumption is taken into account that increased to 8.05 tonnes per person. That makes our per capita emissions higher than China, whose consumption-based emissions were 6.28 tonnes per person in 2018. It’s worth noting, though, that China’s emissions continue to rise, whilst the UK’s are falling overall.

Buying imported consumer goods like electronics, clothing, toys, and furniture means we outsource our greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution to other countries. We can’t control how sustainably, or otherwise, those goods are made. Chinese factories, warehouses and distribution networks use carbon-intensive electricity to produce and export our goods — but these emissions appear on China’s carbon footprint, not ours. And it’s not just China. That’s why it’s crucial for world leaders to come together at the COP conferences to come up with a joined-up approach.

What can we do at home? Buy less, buy better

Most of us own things imported from all over the world, but we can all buy less and buy better to be a more conscious consumer. We can find out where and how products are made, who makes them and how sustainable they are. Buying sustainably doesn’t have to be more expensive, either. If the product you’re looking for doesn’t have to be brand new, why not swap, borrow, hire, or buy it second-hand instead. They might be small actions, but the more we do them, the more we can influence governments and businesses to make bigger changes, not just in the UK but around the world.

What needs to happen now?

COP26 is the first test of nationally determined contributions (NDCs). The US, Canada, the EU and the UK are among 110 countries that formally submitted improved plans to the UN. But many of the world’s largest emitters like China, India and Saudi Arabia missed the repeatedly extended deadline. Others like Australia simply reaffirmed old targets with no increase in ambition. Brazil even weakened its commitment by lowering its ambitions.

As well as pursuing our own targets, the UK needs to use its diplomatic clout to get Beijing, New Delhi and others to commit to stronger targets. Together we can do this!