COP26 was labelled as humanity’s last best hope to tackle the climate crisis. Three months later, the ink has barely dried on the Glasgow Climate Pact and already the commitments made at the conference seem, to many, like a distant memory.
Last month, COP26 President Alok Sharma warned that progress made at the summit was ‘withering on the vine’, and the agreements reached in Glasgow had been a ‘fragile win’ for the world. A major deal signed at COP to end deforestation has already missed its first deadline and there was widespread criticism this week when it was revealed that the UK government – COP26’s host nation – had approved a new oil and gas field in the North Sea. Reading these headlines and the apparent lack of urgency, it’s not hard to see why Netflix’s recent film ‘Don’t Look Up’ has been billed as more of a documentary than a satirical take on the climate crisis.
So, was COP26 really a COP out? In our downloadable booklet below, you can read our reflections on what happened last November, from the commitments and the controversies, to whether the promises made will truly deliver.
What is clear is that solving the climate crisis is not a straightforward task. Pledges without action are simply words on a page. It requires international collaboration between governments and corporations, and us, of course, the people. If ever there was a need to close the say-do gap and keep the goal of COP and 1.5C alive, it’s now.
Was it all just a COP out? – Porter Novelli
