“The last chance meeting”, “A decisive summit”, “a turning point for humanity”. In recent weeks, political leaders and civil society have redoubled their qualifiers, proving the extent to which the 26e United Nations climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow (Scotland), from October 31 to November 12, is seen as a key moment in the history of climate negotiations.
If this event, which should bring together nearly 30,000 people from 196 countries, arouses so many expectations, hopes and also fears, it is because it is a “Extraordinary COP in extraordinary times”, in the words of UK COP26 President Alok Sharma. Extraordinary, because this conference is the most important since the adoption of the Paris agreement on the climate in 2015. It constitutes a test of credibility for this international treaty since it will show if its founding principle works: to push the countries to increase every five years – at least – their climate commitments, in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This first collective raising of the objectives should have taken place in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the COP to stand.
Extraordinary, precisely, because the COP26 is the only one in history to have been postponed for a year, the only one to be organized under drastic conditions to allow the vaccination of participants, ensure that they are tested daily, that they respect barrier gestures, and avoid creating a huge cluster. Despite the aid put in place by the British Presidency, the exorbitant costs of accommodation in Glasgow, the difficulties of access to vaccines and visas are likely to discourage the participation of a part of the representatives and the civil society of the countries of the South, yet on the front line in the face of global warming.
Extraordinary times, finally, since the climate emergency, reiterated in scientific reports day after day, has never been so global, acute and visible. Floods, hurricanes, fires and even droughts are on the rise all over the world. However, countries’ commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions remain largely insufficient: they put the planet on a warming trajectory of 2.7 ° C by the end of the century. “A one-way ticket to a disaster”, warns UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Countries must therefore do more and faster.
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