Glasgow, UK, 1 November 2021
Infographic – Paris Agreement: the EU’s road to climate neutrality: See full infographic
Agenda highlights
The World Leaders Summit on 1 November 2021 will kick off the 26th United Nations climate change conference (COP26).
From 31 October to 12 November, COP26 will bring together the 197 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These include the EU and all EU member states.
The conference will be hosted by the United Kingdom, which holds the COP26 presidency, in partnership with Italy. Originally scheduled for 2020, it was postponed by one year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At COP26, parties will review progress on their commitments in respect of the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
The EU delegation will be led by European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, representing the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU.
The leaders’ statements at the summit will set the scene for negotiations by the parties on an outcome document to be adopted at the end of the conference.
- Climate change summit COP26: why it matters (background information)
- Paris Agreement on climate change (background information)
- COP26 website
COP26 goals
This year’s climate change conference has four main objectives:
- secure global net zero emissions by mid-century
- keep 1.5 degrees of global warming compared with pre-industrial levels within reach
- commit to mobilising USD 100 billion per year by 2025 to help developing countries deal with the adverse effects of climate change
- finalise the set of rules guiding the implementation of the Paris Agreement
These objectives should be achieved through strong collective and individual commitments at Glasgow, including through ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to be submitted by the parties.
EU position for COP26
The position of the EU as a whole was agreed by the Council on 6 October 2021. In its conclusions, the Council:
- calls upon all parties to come forward with ambitious NDCs
- invites other major developed countries to increase their contributions to the USD 100 billion climate finance pledge
- sets the EU’s position on rules for international carbon markets, enabling countries to trade emission reductions
- sets the EU’s position on common time frames for emission reduction commitments included in each country’s NDC
- Council sets EU’s position for COP26 climate summit (press release, 6 October 2021)
- Environment Council, 6 October 2021
- The role of the Council in international agreements (background information)
On 5 October, the Council also adopted conclusions on climate finance. The aim is to fulfil the global commitment of mobilising USD 100 billion per year by 2025 to help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change.
At the European Council meeting on 21 and 22 October, EU leaders took stock of preparations for COP26. They reiterated key aspects of the EU position in the meeting conclusions.
COP26 timeline
- 31/10/2021: Start of the conference
- 01/11/2021: World Leaders Summit
- 02/11/2021: Beginning of negotiations
- 12/11/2021: Adoption of the outcome document
Previous summit
The leaders’ summit at the 25th conference of the parties (COP25) took place in Madrid, Spain, on 2 December 2019.
Paris Agreement
In 2015, world leaders meeting at the 21st conference of the parties (COP21) in Paris set ambitious new goals in the fight against climate change. They concluded an agreement which presents an action plan to limit global warming.