Outcomes of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow
2 minute read
At the 26th annual UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) in Glasgow, Scotland, governments struggled bitterly over the final text of an agreement, including how to deliver on “ambition,” the phasing out of coal and fossil fuel subsidies, and aid for developing countries. While compromise language was found in these areas that moves things forward, these outcomes do not meet pre-COP expectations for a clear and unambiguous response to get on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C.
The main outcomes of the Glasgow Climate Pact—the phrase used to label the main formal outcomes coming out of Glasgow—represents a hard-fought and delicate balance of linked priorities, and includes:
completion of the Paris Agreement rulebook
a request for countries to come back to the table next year to revisit their climate targets sooner than they would otherwise have done, together with the launch of a process to look at the ambition of 2030 targets
the first explicit references in the UNFCCC to addressing coal production and fossil fuel subsidies
the launching of a process to define the global goal on adaptation
urging developed countries to double adaptation finance
a process to define the post-2025 climate finance goal
operationalization of the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage (L&D), and a greater focus on L&D within the UNFCCC process
a two-day World Leaders Summit that featured over 100 high-level announcements
“Improved Marrakech Partnership for Enhancing Ambition” plan and relaunch of the Global Climate Action Portal in relation to the private sector and other non-state actors
