COP26
Date Du 31 octobre 2021 au 13 novembre 2021
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What is the COP26?
It is the 26th Conference of the Parties. Since 1995, this summit has brought together signatory States to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
In 2021, COP26 will be held in Glasgow (United Kingdom), from the 31st of October to the 12th of November, after having been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 190 world leaders will be participating. Tens of thousands of government, regional and local representatives as well as non-state actors (business, investors, NGOs and more) will also be participating in these two weeks of negotiations.
The COP or Conference of the Parties
The Parties are the 197 signatory parties (196 States and the European Union) to the UNFCCC. These Parties gather together every year under the aegis of the United Nations. In 1988, it created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body for assessing science related to climate change.
Why is it decisive?
As per last report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (published in August 2021), the world is not on the right path to stay below 2°C or even 1.5°C of global warming compared to the pre-industrial era, which is a long-term goal of the Paris Agreement.
In order to reverse this trend, scientists have emphasised the need to divide the amount of global greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten years by two. From now until the COP26, countries will ance their new objectives concerning the redunnouction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Focus on the last report by the IPCC (August 2021, first part of the sixth assessment report)
This report is the result of the international collaboration of 250 scientists from more than 60 countries, and provides a summary of the current climate situation as well as new global and regional climate projections. The analysis is alarming. The rise in the global temperature has continued to increase at a speed that will most likely exceed the threshold of temperature rise since the pre-industrial era between 2021 and 2040.
What has happened since COP21?
On the 12th of December 2015, during COP21, the Paris Agreement was adopted. The Paris Agreement’s aim is to keep a global temperature below 2°C, and if possible 1..5°C, above pre-industrial levels. It is also the Paris Agreement that sets the targets that countries set for themselves to reduce their GHG emissions, i.e. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In advance of COP21, each country had to present its plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Agreement includes an upward revision of these national contributions every five years.
In 2016, France and the European Union ratified the Agreement, which came into force on the 4th of November 2016. Since then, it has been ratified by 192 countries, with Turkey being the last country to ratify it in 2021.
In December 2018, the Katowice climate package, which was adopted during COP24 in Poland, implemented shared and detailed rules, modalities and procedures to execute the Paris Agreement.
In December 2020, the EU updated and enhanced its NDC of at least a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to 1990. It also committed to become climate neutral in 2050 from 2019.
What does COP26 need to achieve?
COP26 must address four major issues:
- Raising Climate Ambitions. States that have not yet committed themselves must pledge their new climate ambitions, by updating their nationally determined contributions and publishing long-term strategies for 2050,
- Finalise the Paris Rulebook for the Paris Agreement. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement contains mechanisms that allow countries to trade emission reductions in order to achieve their NDCs. A decision by the international community is needed to make these mechanisms operational,
- Mobilise Climate Finance. Developed countries have promised to mobilise 100 billion dollars in favour of developing countries for each year from 2020 to 2025. Nevertheless, there are issues remaining, such as differences of opinion persisting in relation to climate financing,
- Strengthen the Action Agenda. The Paris Agreement encourages States to work with non-state actors within ‘Action Agendas’, which bring together initiatives by major sectors of activity, such as the International Solar Alliance.
What is France doing at COP26?
France was the host country for COP21 in 2015, and in Glasgow, will continue to assert its role as a key player in the fight against climate change and as a guarantor of the spirit of the Paris Agreement. Together with the European Union, France is taking major action on several issues, including:
- a transition that is fair and socially balanced,
- financial commitments for the most at-risk countries,
- support for innovation in the technological, scientific and economic fields,
- accelerating adaptation to the impacts of climate change,
- a carbon neutral trajectory, with France and the EU already on this path by 2050.
Protecting the climate and protecting biodiversity are two inseparable priorities
Climate and biodiversity emergencies are two sides of the same crisis, and the solutions to these emergencies must be mutually supportive. This is the message of the Marseille Manifesto, which summarises the pledges and declarations made at the IUCN World Conservation Congress (Marseille, 3–11 September 2021), because 1 million animal and plant species are currently under threat of extinction.
The French Pavilion Events
The French Pavilion Programme
The events are broadcasted local time (Glasgow).
Indicative programme dated November 9th, refer to the programme posted on the French Pavilion for the latest changes./em>
1ST WEEK
10:00-11:00
Preserving the environment by engaging collective and individual responsibilities: innovative, multi-actor and global solutions
Forum de Paris sur la Paix
12:00-13:00
COP26 Special Report on "Climate Change in Vietnam, impacts and adaptation
AFD IRD Vietnam
13:30-14:30
A Responsible Artificial Intelligence Strategy for the Environment (RAISE)
PMIA
15:30-17:00
Mobilizing space solutions for climate action
CNES, Kayrros
10:00-11:30
Ocean of Solutions to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis
Ocean and Climate Plateform, OFB, Chili, Costa Rica, JNCC, NOAA
With H.E Barbara Pompili, Minister of Environment of France, H.E. Andrea Meza, Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, H.E. Carolina Schmidt, Minister of Environment of Chile, H.E. Andres Couves, Minister of Science of Chile, Mrs. Sue Biniaz, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate of the United States, and Mr. Peter Thomson, Special Envoy for the Ocean of the United Nations, as well as Mrs. Cynthia Barzuna.
In the presence of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.
12:30-13:30
Changing business from within: when leaders and employees connect to accelerate the environmental transition of companies
Les Collectifs
14:30-15:30
Proposal for an official joint OECD-France event on the International Climate Action Programme (IPAC)
IPAC
15:30-16:00
Presentation of « Sustainability recovery tracker »
AIE
17:00-18:00
Sport and Climate: setting an example and mobilizing for the ClimateSport and Climate
Paris 2024
10:00-11:30
Impact Finance: how can financial actors contribute to and measure real impact?
2 Degrees Investing, Finance for Tomorrow, Observatoire de la finance durable, Amundi, Crédit Agricole
12:30-13:30
Just transition or how to make the transition acceptable
Finance for Tomorrow
14:30-16:30
One Planet Summit Sequence :
14:30 – 15:05 : NGFS: achievements and ways forward
NGFS
15:10 – 15:45 : Mobilizing private capital towards global sustainable infrastructure projects
FAST-Infra
15:50 – 16:30 : Blended finance for scaling up climate and nature investments
One Planet Summit
10:00-11:00
How do we combine the pursuit of universal access to modern energy with the fight against global warming?
Electriciens sans frontières, IEA, Club ER, Schneider Electric, EDF
11:15-12:00
Unlocking solar energy deployment at scale: the Sustainable Renewables Risk Mitigation Initiative
International Solar Alliance, World Bank, ESMAP, IRENA, SE4ALL, AFD
12:00-13:30
The contribution of nuclear innovations to strengthen complementarities with renewable energies and meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement (tbc)
SFEN
14:00-14:30
TBC
MEDEF
15:00-16:00
Early Warning and Climate Action (tbc)
MEAE CREWS
16:30-18:00
Decarbonizing territories : construction of the French Hydrogen industry
Engie, GRTGaz & Lhyfe
10:00-11:30
How does climate education underpin the public’s sense of social responsibility?
CliMates, La Fresque du Climat, RESES
12:00-13:00
Climate change education: why and how to make it accessible to all?
RESES, Pikpik Environnement, Office for Climate Education
13:45-14:30
Climate and biodiversity, same fight!
Comité français de l'UICN
15:00-16:30
Knowledge and data sharing to strengthen climate change adaptation in water resources management
PFE, OI Eau
17:30-18:30
Artists committed to climate and the environment: the new actors of environmental mobilization
Art of Change 21
10:00 -11:30
Increasing Ambition for Carbon Neutrality – How to Ensure Environmental Integrity in the Land sector?
InVivo, IDDRI, IRD, CIRAD
12:30 -14:00
30x30: Opportunties for global action on climate
HAC Biodiversité
14:45-16:15
What strategies to fight against climate change and deforestation to face the point of no return in the Amazon?
Conservation International, COICA
17:30-18:30
Preserving Biodiversity Can Help Mitigate Climate Change
LVMH
2nd WEEK
12:30-14:00
What participatory mechanisms to accelerate the decision and implementation of strategies and projects for adaptation to climate change locally?
Régions de France, Comité 21
14:30-16:30
Private Sector Net Zero Goal: How can companies contribute to achieving global carbon neutrality, and report on their strategies? (tbc)
ADEME, Carbone4
10:00-11:00
Climate change, migration and health: interconnected challenges for the 21st century
OMS, OIM et Lancet Migration
13:00-13:30
Solar Impulse efficient solutions could shift the energy transition by empowering citizens
Solar Impulse
With the participation of Bertrand Piccard
14:30-15:30
Climate and Biodiversity - acting with gender justice in mind
WECF, 4D, Climate Chance, FUNDAECO2, CFLEDD
16:30-17:30
French ruminant breeding committed to meeting climate, food and societal challenges (tbc)
CNE
18:00-19:00
Let’s improve soil health so as to fight against climate change, biodiversity erosion and food insecurity!
Ministry of Agriculture and the « 4 per 1000 » Initiative
10:00-11:00
Migration and Displacement in the Age of Climate Crisis: Policy and Operational Challenges and Strategies at the Global Level and in West Africa and the Sahel
African risk Capacity & HCR & OIM
12:00- 13:15
Major French cities and metropolises on all fronts of the ecological transition (tbc)
France Urbaine
14:00-15:00
The Flying Whales cargo airship: entering the age of lightness
Flying Whales, Air Liquide
16:00-17:30
Towards zero emission transport - taking stock of progress
IDDRI, SNCF & Alstom
10:00-11:30
Cooling: concrete options to raise ambition and action - The case of cities
Ministère de la Transition Ecologique, ADEME, AFD
12:30-14:00
Building sector decarbonisation 5 years after COP21 : what keys for succes? what’s next?
Resallience on Behalf of the GlobalABC adaptation WG, OID, ADEME, CDRI, Race to resilience, FIDIC, L’Alliance HQE-GBC & Deepki