Organizer

Background

The year 2020 marked the turning point from a pre to a post-climate-change world. The IPCC Working Group 1 report, published in August 2021 provides new estimates of the chances of crossing the global warming level of 1.5°C in the next decades. Unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5°C or even 2°C will be beyond reach. In order to live in the post-climate change world,we must adapt urgently to its new normal; the extreme storms and droughts, the melting ice sheets and crumbling coastlines. All these make the COP26 climate summit a make-or-break event for the planet. COP26 must hold governments to account – especially those of developed countries – for the promises they made in Paris and agree to more ambitious targets to halt catastrophe.

There are several technical issues to be finalised at COP26, this includes some difficult sticking points which were carried over from COP25 in Madrid in 2019. The most important and pressing issue expected to be discussed at COP26 is the delivery of climate finance. At COP26, countries must agree on a finance architecture, including an agreement on the continuation of long-term climate finance (LTF) under the UNFCCC. This should be in addition to the launch of a new finance goal under the Paris Climate Agreement. The delivery of the “totemic 100 billion US Dollar”, as rightly mentioned by the incoming COP26 President designate Alok Sharma is going to be a key to whether COP26 succeeds or fails.

Another sensitive issue facing COP26 is climate change induced loss and damage. While Loss and damage is a core part of the Paris Agreement there is no mechanism as yet within the UNFCCC to fund responses when vulnerable countries experience loss and damage. This is viewed as a critical factor by LDCs to unlock the negotiations but is resisted by many wealthy nations.

Another important issue for COP26 is to reset and start building back better. In achieving so, women and young people globally are doing what they do best: self-organising, disrupting and creating movements to drive collective global action to accelerate climate adaptation and build a resilient future. The absence of women and young people’s voices in decision-making is deafening, and even more of an issue for LDC youth. Globally, young people are largely relegated to advocacy roles. While these roles are valuable, they do not provide the platforms for providing meaningful input and action. In the run-up to COP26, women and youth from all sectors and countries are holding dialogues on climate change and climate education, building their narrative and calling for action.

In order to make COP26 an action COP, it is important for countries to take stock of what we have achieved so far, learn from them and plan for the next five years. COP26 needs to be transformational so that we do not continue along the wrong path and plan for effective delivery mechanisms for the commitments made and expected outcomes. 

Objective

This virtual workshop organised by PCCB Network in collaboration with ICCCAD focused on:

1. Identifying priority areas and demands from climate vulnerable countries in the run-up to COP26: Why these need to be addressed urgently at COP26 negotiations?
2. Discussing the current state of affairs around these priorities: Where do we stand at this moment?
3. Listing existing barriers in fulfilling the ambitions
4. Expected outcomes from COP26: Identifying effective delivery mechanisms 

Agenda 

Speakers

• Dr Saleemul Huq, Director, ICCCAD, Bangladesh

• Prof Mizan R Khan, Deputy Director-ICCCAD, Programme Director-LUCCC, Bangladesh

• Dr Elisa Calliari, Senior Research Fellow, University College London (UK/Italy)

• Cathy Yitong Li, YOUNGO, UK/ China

• Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network-International (CAN)