COP26: What comes next?

It’s now been just over two months since the end of COP26, the long-awaited climate change summit held in Glasgow last November. We’ve already written about some of the pledges that were made, and why they’re important - but where do we go from here?

We’ve taken a look at what happens next, and why world leaders should already be preparing for COP27.

Closing the emissions gap

While bold pledges may have been made in Glasgow, the question being asked is already: how much bolder are leaders prepared to be?

The consensus amongst scientists is that there is still an enormous amount of work to be done to close the emissions gap - defined as the gap between where greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to be by 2030, and where they should be to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. With this in mind, one of the major agreements made at COP26 was to reduce the amount of time between setting targets, in a bid to further close this gap.

In Paris in 2015, countries agreed to return at five-yearly intervals in order to report on progress when it comes to cutting emissions and closing the emissions gap. However, at COP26 it was agreed that we can no longer afford to wait five years for new commitments - meaning that nations are now required to update their pledges every year, setting up a clear focus for the 2022 summit.

Annual reports from the UN

Another decision made in Glasgow - and perhaps one of the most important legacies of COP26 - is that the UN will now publish annual reports on the impact of all pledges, to assess how far off the target of limiting global heating to 1.5°C is.

This again disrupts the five-yearly cycle originally set out in 2015. Countries are now required to produce an annual ‘Synthesis Report,’ containing information on the targets, policies and measures for reducing national emissions (otherwise known as Nationally Determined Contributions). The reports also detail the requirements for finance and technologies for delivering on these actions.

Looking ahead to COP27

COP27 was originally meant to take place in November 2021, but was pushed back a year due to the pandemic. Now, the summits are back on a regular annual schedule meaning that COP27 will take place from 7th - 18th November 2022.

This year, the summit is being hosted in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh. With COP26 coming under criticism for being too focused on the ‘Global North’ (developed countries such as Europe and the USA), COP27 will focus on the Global South. With last year’s IPCC report showing that African countries are among the worst affected by climate change, despite contributing only 4% to global emissions, this reflects a much needed perspective shift.

It may still feel like a long way off, but if COP27 is to be a success, leaders could and should go further - and for that to happen, they need to start preparing now.