The climate talks will bring together heads of state, climate experts and campaigners to agree on coordinated action to tackle climate change. As COP26 Presidency, the UK is committed to working with all countries and joining forces with civil society, companies and people on the frontline of climate change to inspire action ahead of COP26.
COPs advance work on multi-lateral agreements, assess the progress of global efforts to limit global warming and provide a focus on a common way forward to tackle the realities of climate change.
The 26th Conference of the Parties is the most significant COP since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 as nations will be reviewing their emissions targets. Five years ago, world leaders committed to a historic agreement to tackle climate change. They agreed to keep global mean temperature rises well below 2℃ and to strive to limit the rise to 1.5℃.
Made up of international negotiations, global civil society activists, COP26 will be the biggest and most complex event ever staged in Scotland, with the largest gathering of Heads of State ever to happen in the UK.
Having grown steadily over the past two decades the conferences are now the largest meetings convened by the UN, and Heads of State and high-level government officials regularly attend as well as tens of thousands of government delegates, representatives of civil society, intergovernmental (IGOs) organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international media.
In addition to the main negotiations, Glasgow will play host to several hundreds of meetings and social gatherings during the period of the COP. The whole city of Glasgow and the region will thus benefit from the multiplicative effects the conference shall bring.
Sustainable Glasgow
Glasgow was chosen by the UK to host COP26 due to its experience in hosting world-class events, commitment to sustainability and first-rate facilities. Recently awarded the status of Global Green City, the city has an ambitious target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
The city is also currently ranked 4th in the world in the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) that promotes responsible business tourism best practices. Energy, low carbon and sustainable conferences are regularly in the top three key sectors for conferences in the city.
Find out more about COP26 here.
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