From October 31st to November 13th, 2021, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Conference of Parties was held in Glasgow, Scotland. 21,000 diplomats and activists from 200 countries, including 130 world leaders, met to discuss the problem of climate change and what countries would commit to fixing it. Marches took place all over the world—including 100,000 people in Glasgow itself—as prominent activists pushed for stricter measures.  

In 1992, 197 countries agreed to join the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which includes meeting once a year for a UN forum called a Conference of Parties (COP). All countries are represented at COPs. This means that impoverished and developing countries, which tend to be disproportionately impacted by climate change, get an equal voice at the table. Delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, COP26 was especially important because it marks 5 years since the Paris Agreement of 2015. The Paris Agreement specifies that all countries that signed must meet every five years (informally called a ‘ratchet’ year) with new, more ambitious goals to help fight climate change. These goals are called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). 

The most important revision from COP26 seems surprisingly small: countries agreed to meet and revise their NDCs on a yearly basis, instead of every five years. Until global carbon emissions are reduced to safe levels, countries will have to come back every year and present a new NDC—which means laypeople and activists can put more pressure on these countries every year to present stronger measures against climate change. Speeding up the pace of climate negotiations is crucial since scientists say this next decade is essential to combating climate change. If we went five years with no change, it would be too late.  

The second revision was to the goals of COP26 itself. This is the first agreement that explicitly mentioned cutting back fossil fuels. Additionally, when the Paris Agreement specifies its goal to keep the world’s temperature rise ‘well below 2°C’ (above pre-Industrial Revolution levels), it has now been revised to a more ambitious 1.5°C. It is necessary, though, since scientists say a rise in temperature above 1.5°C comes with far worse change: heatwaves, water shortages, crop failures, and ecosystem collapse. The world is already at 1.1°C above pre-Industrial Revolution levels, though, which means a big change needs to happen: the world’s carbon emissions must be down to 45% by 2030 and be at ‘net zero’ by 2050.  

The document was also going to commit to ‘phase out’ coal until India at the last moment insisted it be changed to ‘phase down’ coal. Coal is where most of India’s energy comes from, and the country threatened to pull out of the agreement unless the wording was changed. Alok Sharma, the leader of COP26 on behalf of the United Kingdom, had made phasing out coal his personal goal for the conference. However, he accepted this change out of fear the entire document would come apart since the conference was already one day over its scheduled time limit. While closing COP26, he personally apologized to smaller countries for this change in wording. 

Canada submitted a new NDC in July of 2021. Our goals have been changed to a 40–45% reduction of carbon emissions (compared to 2005 levels) by 2030, as opposed to the previously promised reduction of 30%. The new goal is to be at net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Wealthy nations (including Canada) have been encouraged to give aid in climate change funding to poorer countries, and Canada has pledged 5.3 billion USD. Canada’s policies don’t match up to its goals though; our carbon emissions have not decreased very much since 2015, and most of the money we pledged in aid in 2015 wasn’t spent.  

However, this summer the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act was passed, which makes implementing these policies a law. Even if the administration changes, Canada is still responsible to give an annual report on the current climate change targets. When these targets are missed, Canada’s failure will be publicly assessed, and the government will be held accountable. To implement these changes, Canada is using the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate, which includes 50 concrete actions and was developed in consultation with Indigenous peoples. It focuses on 4 key pillars: pricing carbon pollution, complementary actions to reduce emissions, adaptation and climate resilience, and clean technology, innovation, and jobs. Canada has also committed to conserving 25% of our marine spaces by 2025 and 30% by 2030. In conjunction with the United Nations, Canada has joined the Adaptation Action Coalition, partnering with Germany to rebuild trust in the UN’s international climate finance campaign, while also focusing on empowering women, girls, and Indigenous peoples to fight climate change.  

The UNFCCC was created in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit and went into action in 1994. It was responsible for drafting the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which was unpopular with developed countries because it didn’t ask countries with newly emerging economies to curb their emissions, and there were consequences for countries that didn’t meet their requirements. It was replaced in 2015 with the Paris Agreement, which required developing countries to curb their emissions (at a different pace), and no longer has reinforcement measures for countries that don’t meet their NDCs. The Paris Agreement is infamous among climate activists for not being strict enough, and countries tend to submit NDCs that aren’t calculated to reach the ultimate goals of the Paris Agreement.  

However, setting goals and reaching them are two very different things. Even with countries promising to cut their carbon emissions, they have been steadily rising since 2015 as policies go unimplemented. With worldwide current policies, by 2050 the world temperature will be 2.7°C above pre-Industrial Revolution levels, resulting in catastrophic damage. Even if every country met the goals they have set in their NDCs, the world would be at 2.1°C. To reach the Paris Agreement, Canada would have to cut its carbon emissions by 54% by 2030. Since Canada is a comparatively rich country with a comparatively small population, our more important task is helping developing countries do the same.  

At COP26, Simon Kofe, the foreign minister for Tuvalu, gave a speech standing knee-deep in water to illustrate that with a rise in temperature of more than 1.5°C, his entire country would be underwater. World leaders need to commit to change, and quickly. While turning our lights off and taking public transit is important, the average person does not contribute that much to climate change; 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions. What we can do is pressure our government to implement the policies it has promised to implement and to put pressure on those companies for us. In 11 months, COP27 provides an opportunity to make our voices heard again. We must hope that our governments listen.