From last Sunday until November 12th, one year late due to the COVID pandemic, the Glasgow (Scotland) Climate Summit is held (COP26).
The climate summit was attended by the leaders of 120 countries to try to respond to the climate emergency and prevent global warming, among which we highlight Joe Biden (United States), Xi Jinping (China) or Vladimir Putin (Russia). However, some summoned presidents did not attend, as is the case of the Mexican López Obrador or the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro.
«Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to declare open the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change»
Carolina Schmidt, President of COP25.
Why do they meet?
COP26 is an expected appointment because the main themes of the Paris Agreement of six years ago must be developed. Among them, the increase in the commitments of each country to combat greenhouse gas emissions or the financing of the fight against climate change.
Let us remember that 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement (2015) and all of them undertook to limit the increase in the planet’s temperature to more than 1.5 ºC, as he highlighted British Minister for International Development, Alok Sharma.
Sharma alluded to the latest IPCC report, which we already published on the CONSOLE project blog, that last August confirmed that climate change is “undoubtedly” caused by human activity and pointed out that the study, signed by 195 governments, has set off alarms and shows that “the window is closing.”
OP26 President Alok Sharma says reaching agreements on 1.5C maximum global warming will be ”very very tough”. SOURCE: BBC NEWS
But politicians weren’t the only ones present
Activists have also mobilized in Glasgow with the objective of put even more pressure on politicians. This is the case of youth campaign members ‘Extinction Rebellion’ who manifested on Saturday, in parallel to the arrival of the young climate activist Greta Thunberg, who share a clear outrage at the climate emergency.
Protesters in Glasgow. Source:. SOURCE: Duna 89.7
Remembering the Paris Agreement
COP21, held in France in 2015, is considered the first meeting of the COP from which real and concrete commitments emerged from all signatory countries. There it was agreed that carbon emissions should be reduced to avoid global warming, so the temperature should be controlled and limited to less than 2 degrees, but ideally up to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as we mentioned earlier. The signatories also agreed on national targets to reduce greenhouse gases by 2030.
However, scientists have warned that if governments do not act now, it will be too late and impossible to achieve the first emission reduction goal by 2030 and, therefore, so much, achieve the objectives of zero emissions by 2050. So the Glasgow declaration is expected to pick up enough progress and a roadmap so serious that it is really a “tipping point”.
