COP26 Briefing – updated

By Ruth Hayhurst on October 29, 2021 • ( 1 Comment )

Key facts on the COP26 climate talks, the largest international summit ever hosted by the UK, starting on Sunday 31 October 2021.

Scottish Events Campus. Copyright Thomas Nugent and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

DrillOrDrop will be reporting from the conference. To help us, and you, we’ve compiled this briefing of key facts and the expected events. Each day, we’ll publish articles and a digest of the main COP26 headlines. There’s a quick link from our COP26 page to all the material.

Key facts

Full name: 26^th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties

Dates: Sunday 31 October 2021-12 November 2021 (originally scheduled for 2020 but delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic

Presidency: UK government in partnership with Italy. Alok Sharma is the president designate

Location: Scottish Event Campus and Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow

Significance: Regarded by some nations and organisations as the last opportunity to keep alive the hope of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C. National targets on emissions reductions (nationally determined contributions or NDCs) agreed in Paris in 2015 don’t go far enough to meet the 1.5C target. This is the largest summit ever hosted by the UK, according to the UK government.

Aims: World leaders will be asked to make more ambitious cuts in greenhouse gases to limit global temperature rise

UK Presidency goals:

Secure global net zero emissions by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
Mobilise finance
Work together by finalising the Paris Rulebook and accelerate action through collaboration

More detail: All countries that have not yet set out fully their nationally determined contributions on cutting carbon emissions will be encouraged to do so. Developing countries are calling for commitments to be met on climate finance.

Possible announcements:

Faster switch to electric cars
Speeding up the phase out of coal-fired electricity generation
Cutting down fewer trees
Protection from the impacts of climate change, such as funding coastal-defence
Statements on protecting nature

What would make COP26 a success?

For the UK government: strong commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 and big reductions by 2030

For developing countries: significant climate finance in the next five years to help adapt to rising temperatures

For the Cop26 Coalition of environmental groups: climate justice, system change and power from below, with climate action based on justice, redistribution of resources and decentralisation of power. The coalition calls for real zero emissions (as opposed to net zero), no new fossil fuel investments or infrastructure, no carbon markets and unproven technologies.

For the Climate Change Committee: Its chair, Lord Deben, told BBC’S Any Questions that success would be a commitment by lots of nations to net zero emissions by 2050, a commitment from rich countries to pay for the transition by poor countries and real changes by one or two countries which would make a “huge difference”.

For Greta Thunberg:

1. Keep the precious goal of 1.5°C alive with urgent action to halve global emissions by 2030.
2. End all fossil fuel investments, subsidies, and new projects immediately, and stop new exploration and extraction.
3. End ‘creative’ carbon accounting by publishing total emissions for all consumption indices, supply chains, international aviation and shipping.
4. Deliver the $100bn promised to the most vulnerable countries, with additional funds for climate disasters.
5. Create green jobs, protect the most vulnerable, and use climate action to reduce inequality.

Background: The first COP meeting was held in 1995 in Berlin, Germany. It is the main decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an agreement made by 197 countries to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions and avoid dangerous climate change.COP26 is the fifth COP since COP21 in Paris in 2015. The Paris Accord agreed then saw countries sign treaties promising to strive towards keeping warming under 1.5ºC.

Who will attend COP26?: More than 30,000 participants, including leaders from nearly 200 countries, as well as experts, campaigners, reporters, business people and government officials. The Queen and Pope Francis will not attend on medical advice. Vladimir Putin of Russia, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Xi Jinping of China are also not expected to come.

Conference zones: The blue zone, to be managed by the UN, is in the Scottish Event Campus and is where the negotiations will take place, behind the security cordon. The green zone in the Glasgow Science Centre will be open to the public and will host events organised by organisations, academics and artists.

DrillOrDrop’s reporting at COP26 has been made possible by donations from individual readers.

Events schedule

Week 2: What’s left to be resolved

Outstanding national plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with limiting temperature rise to 1.5C
Call for a Glasgow Emergency Pact by the Climate Vulnerable Forum of 55 developing countries that would require all countries to report annual on emissions reductions
Calls by the Alliance of Small Island States for major emitters to stop their climate action now, not in 2025

Sunday 7 November 2021: Start of People’s Summit for Climate Justice – 200 events, in person and online (until 10 November 2021)

Monday 8 November 2021: Adaptation, loss and damage

Tuesday 9 November 2021: Gender and industry

Wednesday 10 November: Transport

Thursday 11 November 2021: Cities, regions and the built environment

Friday 12 November 2021: Closing day

Sunday 31 October 2021

10am-1pm
COP26 climate change conference 2021 begins with opening address from Prince Charles and first plenary meetings

2pm-3.30pm
COP26 Coalition opening ceremony at the Landing Hub streaming link. Speakers include:
Mary Church, Friends of the Earth Scotland
Tom Ballantine, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland
Lauren MacDonald, Stop Cambo
Asad Rehman, War on Want and COP26 Coalition
Lidy Nacpil, Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development pre-record video
Yusuf Baluch, Fridays For Future Balochistan and MAPA
Camille Barbagallo and Quan Nguyen, COP26 Coalition

3pm
World Meteorological Organisation launches provisional State of the Global Climate 2021 report

3pm-6pm
Plenary meetings of UNFCCC organisations

3.30pm-4pm
Press conference by COP26 Coalition and Demand Climate Justice: We demand climate justice: expectations for COP26

5.45pm-6.15pm
Friends of the Earth press conference on expectations for COP26

Also: launch of An Eye on Methane – International Methane Emissions Observatory 2021 Report

What to watch for: Climate pledges from China, India and Saudi Arabia. Climate cash from France and Italty. G20 communique reaffirming the goal of limiting warming to 1.5C.

Monday 1 November 2021: World Leaders Summit

8am-11.30am
Heads of state and government arrive at conference venue

12 noon-1pm
Opening ceremony for the World Leaders Summit hosted by Boris Johnson

1.30pm-1.45pm
Opening of the First Part of the high-level segments for heads of state and government

1.45pm-5pm
National statements of heads of state and government (approx 3 mins each) with expected calls for more climate action. See provision lists of speakers at the end of this briefing

2.30pm-4.30pm
Action and solidarity – Leaders’ event

Tuesday 2 November 2021: World Leaders Summit

8am
Heads of state and government arrive at conference venue

9am-1pm
National statements

9.15am-12.45pm
Action on forests and land use (presidency event)

1.15pm-2.45pm
Presidency’s dialogue with local communities and indigenous people

2.15pm-4.15pm
Leaders’ event on accelerating clean technology, innovation and deploy

3pm-5pm
More national statements

5pm-5.30pm
Closing of World Leaders Summit

Wednesday 3 November 2021: Finance

9am-9.45am
Financing our future (presidency event)

12 noon-2.45pm
Marrakesh Partnership event on

2pm-3.15pm
UN Environment Programme meeting: The Finance we need for the future we want

3.15pm-6pm
4^th biennial High Level Ministerial Dialogue on long-term climate finance (presidency event)

5pm-6pm
UN Environment Programme meeting: Climate and Clean Air Coalition at COP26, Health Pavilion

5.30pm-6.30pm
Achieving sustainability: the role of corporations, strategic litigation and ecocide law. Online Zoom

Thursday 4 November 2021: Energy

9.30am-11am
Accelerating a just and inclusive energy transition Energy Day opening event (presidency event)

10am-11.45am
The Glasgow Declaration: a commitment to a decade of climate action in tourism (Global Climate Action event), Climate Action room 1

10.30am-1.30pm
Unpacking the new scientific knowledge and key findings of the Working Group 1 contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report

11.30am
Launch of UN Environment Programme Adaptation Gap Report

12 noon-2.45pm
Marrakesh Partnership event on energy

3pm-6pm
Presidency’s open dialogue between UNFCCC NGO constituency representatives and Parties on energy

3.30pm-5pm
Powering the world past coal. Powering Past Coal Alliance

What to watch for: new signatories to the UN’s No New Coal pact

Friday 5 November 2021: Youth and public empowerment

8.30am-10am
UK and Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) blue finance roundtable: Mobilising finance for ocean resilience and tackling climate risk (presidency event)

10am-11.15am
Unifying for change: The global youth voice at COP 26 (presidency event)

11am-12 noon
The role of parliaments in climate and nature policy (presidency event)

12 noon-1.30pm
Intergenerational inquiry: Youth stepping up climate action (presidency event)

2pm-3.30pm
The UN Youth Advisory Group and Post COP26 Youth-led Climate Action (Global Climate Action event)

2.30pm-4pm
The power of public engagement for harnessing Climate Action: Stories and lessons of empowerment from around the world (presidency event)

4pm-5.30pm
Joint event of Education and Environment Ministers Summit Together for tomorrow: Education and Climate Action (presidency event)

5.30pm-6.30pm
Youth4Climate at COP26 (presidency event)

5.30pm-7.15pm
COP 26 Presidency Ocean Action Ministerial Event ‘A call for Ocean Action: Towards ocean heath and resilience’ (presidency event)

All day
From Scotland to Sarawak photograph exhibition, Tramway arts venue, until 12 November 2021

What to watch for: Youth demonstrations

Saturday 6 November 2021: Nature and land use and Global Day of Action

All day
Global Day of Action: Grassroots-organised events across the world. UK events include Glasgow, London, Cardiff, Brighton, Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford. More details here

9am-11.30am
Facing the facts: Unpacking the forest, agriculture & commodity trade dialogue to tackle deforestation (presidency event)

11.30am
March through Glasgow, starting at Kelvingrove Park, G3 6BY

12 noon
March through London, starting at the Bank jof England, Threadneedle Street, EC2R 8AH

12.30pm-1.30pm
Accelerating a just rural transition to sustainable agriculture (presidency event)

1.30pm-3pm
Get nature positive (presidency event)

3.30pm-5.30pm
Nature and land use in deliver of the Paris goals (presidency event)

3pm-6pm
Closing plenary meetings and statements from Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and Subsidiary Body for Implementation

4.45pm-6pm
The future of climate change litigation after Milieudefensie v Royal Dutch Shell, hosted by Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie), multimedia studio, Blue Zone

Provisional list of speakers at World Leaders Summit

Monday 1 November 2021

Heads of state (1.45pm-7pm)

His Excellency Mr. Pedro Sánchez Perez-Castejón, President of Spain (Host of COP 25)
His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, President of Mauritania
His Excellency Mr. Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia
His Excellency Mr. Wavel John Charles Ramkalawan, President of Seychelles
His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of France
His Excellency Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon
His Excellency Mr. Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of United States of America
His Excellency Mr. Juan Orlando Hernández, President of Honduras
His Excellency Mr. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, President of Kenya
Her Excellency Mrs. Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova
His Excellency Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of Egypt
His Excellency Mr. Stevo Pendarovski, President of North Macedonia
His Excellency Mr. Luis A. Arce Catacora, President of Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
His Excellency Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka
His Excellency Mr. Milo Đukanović, President of Montenegro
His Excellency Mr. Faustin Archange Touadera, President of Central African Republic
His Excellency Mr. Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan
His Excellency Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of Congo
His Excellency Mr. Charles Michel, President of the European Council and Her Excellency
Ms. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, European Union
His Excellency Mr. Barham Salih, President of Iraq
His Excellency Mr. Guy Parmelin, President of Switzerland
His Excellency Mr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of Malawi
His Excellency Mr. Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, President of Mongolia
His Excellency Mr. Ibrahim M. Solih, President of Maldives
His Majesty Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, King of Jordan
His Excellency Mr. Laurentino Cortizo, President of Panama
His Excellency Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey
His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Bazoum, President of Niger
His Excellency Mr. Jae-in Moon, President of the Republic of Korea
His Excellency Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia
His Excellency Mr. George Manneh Weah, President of Liberia
His Excellency Mr. János Áder, President of Hungary

Heads of government (1.45pm-7pm)

His Excellency Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia
Her Excellency Mrs. Angela Dorothea Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
His Excellency Mr. Abdulhamid M. Aldabia, Prime Minister of Libya
His Excellency Mr. Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg
His Excellency Mr. Andrew Michael Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica
His Excellency Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece
Her Excellency Ms. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
His Excellency Mr. Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden
His Excellency Mr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, Prime Minister of State of Palestine
Her Excellency Ms. Kaja Kallasm, Prime Minister of Estonia
His Excellency Mr. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
His Excellency Mr. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji
His Excellency Mr. Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia
His Excellency Mr. Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel
His Excellency Mr. Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister of Czechia
His Excellency Mr. Gaston Alponso Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda
His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Beavogui, Prime Minister of Guinea
His Excellency Mr. Abdalla Hamdok, Prime Minister of Sudan
His Excellency Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister of Nepal
His Excellency Mr. Pravind K. Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius
His Excellency Mr. Chinh Minh Pham, Prime Minister of Viet Nam
His Excellency Mr. Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia
His Excellency Mr. Moeketsi Majoro, Prime Minister of Lesotho
His Excellency Mr. John A. Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize
His Excellency Mr. António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal
His Excellency Mr. Matuesz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland
His Excellency Mr. Narendra Damodardas Modi, Prime Minister of India
His Excellency Mr. Scott J Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia
His Excellency Mr. Alexander Schallenberg, Federal Chancellor of Austria
His Excellency Mr. Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan
His Excellency Mr. Askar Mamin, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
His Excellency Mr. Mario Draghi, Prime Minister of Italy

Tuesday 2 November 2021

Provisional list of speakers (9am-1pm)

His Majesty Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar
His Excellency Mr. Umaro Sissoco Embaló, President of Guinea-Bissau
His Royal Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco
His Excellency Mr. Guillermo Lasso Mendoza, President of Ecuador
His Excellency Mr. Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia
H.S.H Prince Alois of Liechtenstein
His Excellency Mr. Sadyr Zhaparov, President of Kyrgyzstan
His Excellency Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of Suriname
Her Excellency Ms. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of Tanzania
Her Excellency Ms. Zuzana Čaputová, President of Slovakia
His Excellency Mr. Klaus Werner Iohannis, President of Romania
His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana
His Excellency Mr. Gitanas Nausėda, President of Lithuania
His Excellency Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine
His Excellency Mr. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of Togo
His Excellency Mr. Hage G. Geingob, President of Namibia
His Excellency Mr. Eglis Levits, President of Latvia
His Excellency Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus
His Excellency Mr. Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina
His Excellency Mr. Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone
His Excellency Mr. Sauli V. Niinistö, President of Finland
His Excellency Mr. Ivan Duque, President of Colombia
His Excellency Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of Angola
His Excellency Mr. Luis R. Abinader, President of Dominican Republic
His Excellency Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana
His Excellency Mr. Andry Rajoelina, President of Madagascar
His Excellency Mr. Željko Komšić, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina
His Excellency Mr. Surangel S. Whipps, Jr, President of Palau
His Excellency Mr. Carlos Alvardo Quesada, President of Costa Rica
His Excellency Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria
His Excellency Mr. Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
His Excellency Mr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe
His Excellency Mr. Giacomo Simoncini and His Excellency Mr. Francesco Mussoni,
Captains Regent of San Marino
His Excellency Mr. Azali Assoumani, President of Comoros
His Excellency Mr. Carlos Manuel Vila Nova, President of Sao Tome and Principe
His Excellency Armen Sarkissian, President of Armenia
His Excellency Mr. Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan
His Excellency Ms. Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados
His Excellency Mr. Alexander F. H. De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium
His Excellency Mr. Keith C. Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago

Provisional list of speakers (3pm-5pm)

His Excellency Mr. Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Norway
His Excellency Mr. Philip Joseph Pierre, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
His Excellency Mr. Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
His Royal Highness Prince Salman Bin Hamad Alkhalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain
His Excellency Mr. Xavier Espot Zamora, Prime Minister of Andorra
His Excellency Mr. Najib Makati, Prime Minister of Lebanon
Her Excellency Ms. Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark
His Excellency Mr. Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, Prime Minister of Eswatini
His Excellency Mr. Micheál Martin, Prime Minister of Ireland
His Excellency Mr. Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of Croatia
His Excellency Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
His Excellency Al-sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid AI-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait
His Excellency Mr. James Hame Marape Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
His Excellency Mr. Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania
His Excellency Mr Kausea Natano, Prime Minister of Tuvalu
His Excellency Mr. Philip E. Davis, Prime Minister of Bahamas
His Excellency General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand
His Excellency Mr. Carlos Agostinho do Rosário, Prime Minister of Mozambique
Her Excellency Ms. Katrin Jakobsdottir, Prime Minister of Iceland
His Excellency Mr. Christophe Joseph Marie Dabire, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso
His Excellency Mr. Stefan Dinchev Yanev, Prime Minister of Bulgaria
His Excellency Mr. Robert Abela, Prime Minister of Malta
His Excellency Mr. Édouard Ngirente, Prime Minister of Rwanda
His Excellency Mr. Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister of Morocco
His Excellency Mr. Jose Ulisses De Pina Correia E Silva, Prime Minister of Cabo Verde
His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See

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COP26 Briefing – updated

Key facts