UN climate change conference (COP 26), World Leaders Summit, Glasgow, UK, 1 November 2021

Main results of the World Leaders Summit

The World Leaders Summit on 1 November 2021 kicked off the 26th United Nations climate change conference (COP26). From 31 October to 12 November, COP26 brought together the 197 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These include the EU and all EU member states.

The EU delegation was led by European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, representing the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU.

Speaking on behalf of the EU, together with President von der Leyen, President Michel stressed that humanity must act now in order to limit global warming.

“Humanity has waged war against nature: we must stop. Planet Earth is our one and only home. We must cap global warming at 1.5C. The time to act is now, together.” President Charles Michel

• European Union statement by President Charles Michel at the COP 26 World Leaders summit, 1 November 2021

At the leaders’ event  ‘Action and Solidarity Debate – The Critical Decade’, which was dedicated to solidarity with countries that are most vulnerable, President Michel listed key areas for the international community to focus on:

• mobilising public funds
• working with the private sector
• carbon pricing
• coherence among economic policies

• Intervention by President Charles Michel at the COP26 ‘Action and Solidarity Debate’, 1 November 2021

Main results of the COP26 conference

Significant progress was made at the Glasgow climate conference which came to a close on 13 November after two weeks of negotiations between the parties to the Paris Agreement.

Among the key initiatives were:

• increased funds for developing countries to tackle climate change
• the launch of the global methane pledge
• the finalisation of the Paris rulebook

However, the Glasgow Climate Pact leaves room for further efforts in coming years to reach the 1.5 degrees Celsius target.

The conference was hosted by the United Kingdom, as holder of the COP26 presidency, in partnership with Italy. Originally scheduled for 2020, it was postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• COP26 — significant progress made but further efforts needed to reach the 1.5 degree objective (Slovenian presidency press release)
• COP26 outcomes (COP26 website)
• Climate change summit COP26: why it matters (background information)
• Paris Agreement on climate change (background information)

EU position for COP26

The position of the EU as a whole was agreed by the Council on 6 October 2021. In its conclusions, the Council:

• called upon all parties to come forward with ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
• invited other major developed countries to increase their contributions to the USD 100 billion climate finance pledge
• set the EU’s position on rules for international carbon markets, enabling countries to trade emission reductions
• set the EU’s position on common time frames for emission reduction commitments included in each country’s NDC

• Council sets EU's position for COP26 climate summit (press release, 6 October 2021)
• Environment Council, 6 October 2021
• The role of the Council in international agreements (background information)

On 5 October, the Council also adopted conclusions on climate finance. The aim is to fulfil the global commitment of mobilising USD 100 billion per year by 2025 to help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change.

• Council adopts conclusions on climate finance (press release, 5 October 2021)

At the European Council meeting on 21 and 22 October, EU leaders took stock of preparations for COP26. They reiterated key aspects of the EU position in the meeting conclusions.

• European Council, 21-22 October 2021

Background

Previous summit

The leaders' summit at the 25th conference of the parties (COP25) took place in Madrid, Spain, on 2 December 2019.

• UN climate change conference (COP 25), 2 December 2019

Paris Agreement

In 2015, world leaders meeting at the 21st conference of the parties (COP21) in Paris set ambitious new goals in the fight against climate change. They concluded an agreement which presents an action plan to limit global warming.

• Paris Agreement on climate change (background information)
• Paris UN climate change conference, 30 November - 12 December 2015