After a 12-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will take place in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12 to “bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change”.
The stakes are high, given the deepening climate crisis. As COP26 President Alok Sharma puts it: “Whether future generations look back at this time with admiration or despair, depends entirely on our ability to seize this moment.”
Even with ambitious emissions reduction targets, climate change will worsen before it improves, meaning that millions of people will still be impacted by sea-level rise, floods, drought and extreme weather events. Most of the people worst impacted, and who have contributed the least to the crisis, live in the Global South.
Green Left’s Susan Price spoke with Camille Barbagallo from the COP 26 Coalition in Britain. The COP26 Coalition is a civil society coalition of groups and individuals organising for climate justice during the COP26 meeting in Glasgow. The coalition is organising the People’s Summit for Climate Justice, which will take place from November 7‒10. A global day of protest action for climate justice has also been set for November 6.