2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference


The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. It is scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Scotland from 1 to 12 November 2021 under the presidency of the UK Government, with assistance from the Scottish Government. The conference is set to incorporate the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 16th meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol, and the third meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement.
This conference is to be the first "global stocktake" that was outlined in the Paris Agreement. The venue is the SEC Centre in Central Glasgow.
Originally due to be held in November 2020 at the same venue, the event was postponed for twelve months in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presidency

Former UK Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, Claire Perry O'Neill, was originally appointed President of COP26, but the UK government abruptly removed her on 31 January 2020, stating that the post would become "a ministerial role". Former Prime Minister David Cameron and former Foreign Secretary William Hague were unwilling to accept the position. On 13 February, Conservative minister Alok Sharma was appointed to the role. Nigel Topping was appointed as the UK government's High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26; he is the former CEO of We Mean Business, a climate change action organisation. Also appointed by the Prime Minister and taking a finance advisory position is Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England.
Partnering the UK in leading COP26 will be Italy. For the most part, their role will be in preparatory work such as the hosting of a pre-COP session and an event for young people called Youth4Climate 2020: Driving Ambition. These events were scheduled to take place between 28 September and 2 October 2020 in Milan.

Global Stocktake

Under the Paris Agreement, countries submitted Intended nationally determined contributions, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to a "business as usual" scenario. Under the framework of the Paris Agreement, each country was expected to submit enhanced nationally determined contributions every five years, to ratchet up ambition to mitigate climate change. Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the conference of 2020 was set to be the first global stocktake.

Postponement

In light of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the Conference of Parties was postponed until 1st-12th November, 2021. Host nations Italy and the United Kingdom were heavily affected by the pandemic, and the venue of the conference, the SEC Centre in Glasgow, was converted in May 2020 into a temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients.
UNFCCC Secretary Patricia Espinosa tweeted that "in light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive, COP26 in November 2020 is not possible." She also indicated that when economies restart, this will be an opportunity to "shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, just, safe and more resilient." The rearranged date was announced in May 2020. Earlier in 2021, the UK and Italy are due to host summits of the G7 and G20 respectively.
Independent observers noted that though not directly related, the postponement will give the international community time to respond to the outcome of the United States presidential election. This is crucial because incumbent president Donald Trump has pledged to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, but can only do this if he wins this election; while his Democratic challengers have pledged to stay in the Paris Agreement and increase ambition to reduce emissions.