COP26: The eternally weak pulse of climate diplomacy, and what needs to change

Abstract

COP26 was noteworthy for a shift in attitude toward the kind of worldwide action that is essential to address the climate crisis effectively. More governments and industries are saying the right things. However, like the 25 preceding COPs, COP26 failed to reach agreement that will soon cut global GHG pollution, let alone prevent dangerous climate change. It was another example of the trudging negotiations and tenuous promises that have characterized climate diplomacy over three decades. To avoid decades more of plodding climate diplomacy, something needs to change. The twenty-sixth conference of the parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which met in Glasgow, Scotland, last November, was billed as the most important episode in climate diplomacy since the 2015 Paris Agreement. In the event, it was another example of the trudging negotiations and tenuous promises that have characterized climate diplomacy over three decades.