An Important COP
COP26 will not just be another COP. It stands to be the most important COP since adoption of the Paris Agreement back in December 2015, with delegations from over 190 countries coming together in Glasgow to declare their future climate pledges. As countries present the next round of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), they will also reveal how serious they are about their commitment to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and avert the worst consequences of climate change. Current pledges, which will guide domestic climate action until 2025, are still woefully inadequate to secure the goal of limiting human-induced average global temperature increases to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The next round of pledges, which are supposed to mark a progression from existing efforts, will remain in place until 2030. If countries are unable to credibly show political willingness to close the “ambition gap”, many climate scientists fear that tipping points in the climate system will be crossed, leading to runaway climate change with catastrophic consequences. Glasgow will, in other words, be where the international community shows how serious it really is about climate change.