{"id":44774,"date":"2021-10-28T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/?p=44774"},"modified":"2026-04-08T15:59:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:59:28","slug":"cop26-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-un-climate-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/southeastasia\/story\/44774\/cop26-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-un-climate-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"COP26: Everything you need to know about the UN Climate Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COP26<\/a> \u2014 the 26th UN Climate Summit<\/a> \u2014 is taking place from Sunday, 31st October to Friday, 12th November and represents the world\u2019s next best chance for decisive climate action.  Representatives from world governments, NGOs, businesses, faith groups, scientists, and other groups such as Indigenous Peoples delegations will come to Glasgow in the U.K. for this crucial meeting. <\/p>\n\n

The climate conference comes just a few months after the release of the latest report<\/a> by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). According to the scientists behind the report, the world needs to make immediate, dramatic and consistent emissions reductions<\/a> to create the urgent and necessary change to contain the climate crisis. <\/p>\n\n

COP26 will play an important role in this scenario so here\u2019s a quick overview to understanding how that can happen, what we expect and why you should care about what happens.
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\"Laser
Greenpeace activists project a message to world leaders attending the COP24 in Katowice, Poland to demand urgent action to turn the tide on the worsening climate emergency. The words: \u2018Politicians Talk, Leaders Act\u2019 and \u2018No Hope Without Climate Action\u2019 were projected onto the roof of the COP24 venue in Spodek.
\u00a9 Konrad Konstantynowicz \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n


First of all, what is COP26?<\/h2>\n\n

COP26 is the specific name of the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference that will take place in Glasgow, Scotland from 31st October -12th November. The climate talks are also known as COP, which stands for \u201cConference of the Parties\u201d while the number indicates the number of years it has taken place since the first one in 1995 in Berlin. The 2020 summit got postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic so this year\u2019s is still the 26th COP. <\/p>\n\n


And why do we need this meeting?<\/h2>\n\n

We need this meeting because right now COP is the only global forum where representatives from all over the world come together to discuss international climate and policy action related to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC (pro tip: pronounce it as U-N-F-triple C), the UN treaty 197 countries signed in efforts to tackle climate change. This year, we need them to commit to the massive emissions cuts.<\/p>\n\n

Due to Covid-19, many countries cannot participate in person this year but in COPs past, nearly every nation in the world is represented. Plans are presented and agreements are sometimes signed. Some of the governments come in good faith alongside representatives from small island states that could disappear from the map this century.\u00a0
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\"Action
Around 60 Greenpeace activists demonstrate at the lignite power plant Niederaussem near Koeln for determined climate protection. On a meadow they put a 50-meter-long symbol of a thermometer with the temperature gauge 1,5 degrees, whose mercury column is illuminated by flames with a banner that says, “Stop coal, protect the climate”.
\u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Is this COP an important one?<\/h2>\n\n

Every COP is different, but Glasgow is the most significant global climate conference since the Paris COP in 2015. That was when most nations finally committed to ensure a safe, stable climate<\/a> by keeping temperature rises within 1.5C. COP26 is the deadline for governments to submit their plans to cut their emissions to stay under the 1.5C warning. While many countries recently laid out their plans to cut emissions and keep temperature rises below 1.5C, when you add them all together they fall far short of where we need to be. The recent UN scientific report warned of a very bleak future if we don\u2019t do some big things very soon and Glasgow is where those big things need to be set in motion. We still have time if we act now!<\/p>\n\n

What does Greenpeace do at COP?<\/h2>\n\n

Greenpeace sends representatives to the COP because it\u2019s important to have experts, campaigners, and those on the frontlines of the climate crisis in the negotiations \u2013 observing, making contributions, and making sure that politicians are listening.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace also supports grassroots groups and representatives such as Indigenous leaders who attend. These communities are often the most exposed to climate impacts, despite being the least responsible. Decisions made at COP26 will often affect them most directly.<\/p>\n\n

\"Global
Youth Climate advocates and various environmental groups call for a climate justice during the protest in Manila, Philippines. The protest is part of the global Climate Strike urging the world leaders to take action in the climate crisis ahead of the 2019 United Nations climate change conference in Madrid, Spain in December.
\u00a9 Basilio H. Sepe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

What would success look like?<\/h2>\n\n

Greenpeace has laid out for necessary climate actions<\/a> that we want to see agreed to at COP26: <\/p>\n\n