Cop26 Summit 2021: What is the UN climate change conference and why does it matter?

Cop26 Summit 2021: What is the UN climate change conference and why does it matter?

Thousands of delegates have descended on Glasgow from all over the world to discuss climate change at the Cop26 summit, with the hope of implementing wide-ranging policies to limit global warming. Cop26 - which stands for the Conference of the Parties - is a meeting of countries to discuss progress towards the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement of limiting warming to 2C and “pursuing efforts” to keep it below 1.5C . Every country has agreed to submit a “nationally determined contribution”, which is a document setting out their policies and plans to limit carbon emissions and temperature rises. As well as the internal plans based on each country’s economy and natural resources, there are also efforts to improve the financial help offered from richer countries to poorer ones, particularly those likely to be badly affected by rising sea levels, desertification and more extreme weather. There has seemingly already been a "breakthrough" at this year's meeting as leaders made a major commitment to end deforestation by 2030. Joe Biden, Xi Jinping and Jair Bolsonaro, respectively the presidents of the US, China and Brazil, are among those signing the pledge, which will apply to 85 per cent of the forests on