COP26: Progress, Challenges, and Outlook

• Published in: Advances in atmospheric sciences Vol. 39; no. 8; pp. 1209 - 1216
• Main Authors: Wang, Yi, Liu, Yuxuan, Gu, Baihe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 2022; Springer Nature B.V; School of Public Policy and Management,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China%Institutes of Science and Development,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100190,China; Institutes of Science and Development,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100190,China
• Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences; Carbon; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Carbon Neutrality: Important Roles of Renewable Energies; Carbon Sinks; Climate; Climate change; Coal; Deforestation; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Emissions; Geophysics/Geodesy; Global climate; Governance; International organizations; Meteorology; Negotiations; NETs; News & Views; non-CO2 GHGs; Paris Agreement; Security; Sustainable development; Sustainable Development Goals; Views; 巴黎协定; 格拉斯哥会议; Paris Agreement; Glasgow; climate governance; 气候变化; 气候治理; COP26; climate change
• ISSN: 0256-1530; 1861-9533
• DOI: 10.1007/s00376-022-2097-z

The 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Glasgow a year later than scheduled, with expected outcomes achieved under a post-pandemic background. Based on the Issue-Actor-Mechanism Framework, this paper systematically evaluates the outcomes achieved at COP26 and analyzes the tendency of post-COP26 climate negotiations. Overall, with the concerted efforts of all parties, COP26 has achieved a balanced and inclusive package of outcomes and concluded six years of negotiations on the Paris Rulebook. It is fair to say that COP26 is another milestone in climate governance following the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, the Glasgow Climate Pact has cemented the consensus on a global commitment to accelerating climate action over the next decade and reached a breakthrough consensus on reducing coal, controlling methane, and halting deforestation. In the post-COP26 era, we still need to take concrete actions to implement the outcomes of the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact, innovate ways to speed up CO 2 emissions reduction, and continue to strive for breakthroughs in important issues such as finance, technology, adaptation, and collaboration. In addition to avoiding the escalation of international conflicts, we need to collectively and properly handle the relationship between energy security, carbon reduction, and development and facilitate the efforts of countries to achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including climate-related goals. China will continue to maintain the existing multilateral mechanisms and processes for climate governance, unremittingly take concrete actions to address climate change, promote a domestic comprehensive green transition and global cooperation on carbon neutrality, and contribute constructively to global climate governance.