The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will be held in Glasgow in November this year. It will bring together almost every country on Earth for a global climate summit, where more than 190 world leaders will reach an agreement on how to tackle climate change.
This follows COP21, which took place in Paris in 2015. COP21 resulted in the Paris Agreement, where every country agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. They also committed to bring forward national plans, which set out how much they will reduce their emissions.
This year’s COP26 needs to be decisive, as according to the latest IPCC report, countries will need to go much further to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.
Climate change is a large-scale, long-term shift in weather patterns across the world.
Since the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s, humans have accelerated this change through the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Scientists have already observed CO2 levels to be at their highest in 2 million years. At the time of writing, we are at 416 ppm.
Image caption: Graph showing the increase in CO2 in parts per million since 1960. Source: NOAA.
It is indisputable that human activities are causing climate change
~ IPCC report 2021
This has disrupted the atmospheric balance and has caused global temperatures to rise at a rate much faster than we’ve seen before, making it harder to adapt to the changes and contributing to an ecological crises.
Image caption: Graph showing the change in temperatures in England since 1884. Source: Show Your Stripes
The impacts of climate change caused by this atmospheric imbalance are already happening, including more frequent and intense heat and rainfall events, increase in droughts in some regions, more frequent forest fires and a warmer, more acidic ocean. These changes impact habitats for nature, and as a result, 15% of UK species are at risk of extinction.
Image caption: Infographic showing the drivers, changes and impacts of climate change. Source: Met Office.
We are already observing:
To limit global warming, strong reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are necessary. If the world manages to achieve global net zero by 2050, it is ‘extremely likely’ that global temperature increase can be limited to below 2C.
Nature is a vital part of this solution, locking in carbon, protecting homes from flooding and cooling our cities. By halting the loss and degradation of wildlife habitats we have a better chance to limit warming and conserve wildlife.
There is still something we can do to limit the severity of this change, if only we act NOW.
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Governments, businesses, organisations and individuals around the world can all take action, by working with and for nature. See below for examples of these actions.
Actions YOU can take to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions for the planet and for nature. Read more
Actions YOU can take at home or in your neighbourhood or school grounds to provide habitats for wildlife in Wiltshire. Read more
In the fight against the impacts of climate change, nature itself could be our greatest ally. Here's how conserving habitats in Wiltshire can help combat the climate and ecological crises. Read more