In less than 1 month, world leaders, civil society organisations, business representatives, and the media will come together in Glasgow to talk about climate change and how we should tackle it. COP, which stands for Conference of the Parties, occurs every year and 2021 sees in the 26th annual conference giving it the name COP26.
COP26 is critical if we are to prevent global warming from reaching the 1.5 degree limit that scientists have agreed is the maximum temperature rise humans will be able to live with without irreversible damage to the earth’s climate.
You might have heard the Paris agreement being discussed in the news. This agreement was created as a result of COP21 in 2015 and was a pivotal agreement which saw governments commit to targets which would ensure the planet’s temperature didn’t exceed the 1.5 degree limit.
What do we need from COP26?
We need as many countries as possible to agree to Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC’s). These are targets that countries decide for themselves which contribute towards efforts of reducing global warming and climate change. If enough countries commit to ambitious targets we’ll be able to stay beneath the 1.5 degree target and limit global warming.
How you can get involved…
- Sign petitions like this one which argues for the enactment of a binding agreement at COP26 to make it mandatory to teach climate change. Or find more on change.org
- Find resources for Schools and young people to gather momentum and political pressure before COP26.
- Stay up to date with the latest news on COP26
- Watch documentaries like Seaspiracy, David Attenborough’s Our Planet available on Netflix
- Balance your Carbon with Temwa Carbon Balance
