On October 31, the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) opened in Glasgow, UK, which is the first climate conference since the Paris Agreement entered the implementation phase.
COP is an abbreviation of "Conference of the Parties" (Conference of the Parties), and is referred to as "COP" whenever a conference of the Parties is required. With 197 parties, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also known as the United Nations Climate Change Conference, meets once a year and is hosted by different parties, making it one of the largest international conferences in the world. COP26 is the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Although COP26 and COP15, which ended recently in Kunming, Yunnan Province, are both called "COP," they are completely different conferences. The English abbreviation of the former is UNFCCC-COP26 or FCC-COP26, and the latter is CBD-COP15, so it is more rigorous to add the name or citation abbreviation of the convention, so that it can distinguish the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.
The 2015 Paris Agreement, endorsed by 191 countries and territories, aims to keep global temperature increases well below 2 ° C (ideally 1.5 ° C) above pre-industrial revolution levels. Since the last two COPS have not yet worked out the details, this COP26 must resolve outstanding issues.
Although the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has set clear goals for the global response to climate change, the process of achieving the goals has been difficult. With human-induced global climate change and a recent increase in extreme weather events, the success of COP26 is particularly important.
Today, the global warming trend continues.
In 2020, the global average temperature was 1.2 ° C above the pre-industrial level (1850-1900 average), making it one of the three warmest years on record for complete meteorological observations. 2011-2020 is the warmest decade since 1850. In 2020, the average land surface temperature in Asia was 1.06 ° C above the normal value, making it the warmest year since the early 20th century. Global warming intensifies variables, and its effects are quickly showing up in extreme events. Extreme weather and climate events that used to be "once in decades" or even "once in a century" seem to be becoming more common. If this continues, temperatures will continue to rise, and with them, more catastrophic floods, fires, extreme weather, and species destruction. This past October, the United Nations released a report that found the world is warming faster than previously thought and warned that greenhouse gas emissions must be cut in half within a decade to avoid climate catastrophe. But the Paris Agreement lacks the specific and deep commitments needed to meet greenhouse gas emissions targets.
Environmentalists and scientists have warned that the goals of the Paris Agreement will not be met without more aggressive action to cut emissions, so they hope that COP26 will produce significant new commitments. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and others have called COP26 the "last, best chance" to pull the world back from a climate change tipping point.
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