COP stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’ and these are UN conferences on its different conventions.
COP26 is where world leaders come together to talk about climate change and how to tackle it, as it’s the COP for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
This year marks the 26th COP summit – hence why it is called COP26 – taking place 1-12 November 2021 in the UK. It’s held here this year because the UK were successful in their bid to host it – this means they have taken on the Presidency. Glasgow was chosen as the location, in part due to the city’s commitment to sustainability. The spotlight is now on the UK to provide global leadership that raises ambition and turns promises into desperately needed action to tackle the inseparable nature and climate crises.
The spotlight is now on the UK to provide global leadership that raises ambition and turns promises into desperately needed action to tackle the inseparable nature and climate crises.
Here we look at what we’re expecting during the summit, and the leadership needed to ensure that globally we tackle the nature and climate crises.
COP26 is our chance to tackle the climate and nature crises together. Climate change is already contributing to nature’s decline, whilst the loss of wildlife and habitats leaves us ill-equipped to reduce emissions and adapt to change. Global leaders must take a stand and embed climate action and nature’s recovery across their policies. Broadly, we need:
So, what does this mean for the UK? All relevant national policies should be contributing to restoring nature, NOT degrading it. This means better protecting what we already have, and expanding it. Government has set a target for 30% of land in recovery for nature by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050 – in order to achieve this, here’s what the Government must commit to:
The Wildlife Trusts have released their ‘Let Nature Help’ report for COP26, calling upon the UK and world leaders to employ a climate strategy that has a focus towards nature recovery. For more information, please read the press release.
They’ll be coming to you live from COP26 on Sun 7 Nov at 7pm with a very special episode of our Wild LIVE series. They’ll be joined by a fantastic panel of climate and nature experts and activists as they discuss why in order to deal with the climate crisis we must bring back nature on an ambitious scale.
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