COP26 is quite possibly the most important event of our time. With time running out to take action on climate change, the decisions made during the conference are crucial to the future of our wildlife, our planet and our lives.

What is COP26?

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and the ‘26’ part is because this is the 26th Conference of the Parties. The first one took place in 1995 in Berlin, and this year’s will take place in Glasgow.

COP is hosted every year and sees leaders from across the world come together at a UN summit to discuss and agree what needs to happen to address climate change. As hosts of COP26, the spotlight has fallen on the UK and our Government to demonstrate global leadership in our efforts to reverse the climate and nature crises.

COP26 jargon-buster

There are a lot of confusing words and phrases associated with COP26. Here are some of the ones you’re most likely to hear, and what they mean.

Paris Agreement: A legally-binding international treaty on climate change. It was created at COP21 in Paris in 2015, and sets out what needs to happen to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (1.5C).

1.5C: Scientists agree that keeping the rise in global average temperature below 1.5C will avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Sadly, they also believe we’re now at the tipping point where 1.5C can be achieved – we simply don’t have more time.

Net-zero: A state where the carbon emitted into the atmosphere is balanced by carbon removed from the atmosphere. This is also called ‘carbon neutral’.

IPCC: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This is the United Nations body which examines the latest science and research into climate change.

UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A United Nations body tasked with supporting the global response to climate change.

Kyoto Protocol: Sets binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions by industrialised countries.

Nature-based solutions: Harnessing the power of nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, for example: restoring peatlands so they store carbon rather than leaking it into the atmosphere, and hold water to reduce flood risk.

Nature-based solutions are incredibly powerful because, as well as tackling climate change, they also help to solve the nature crisis. Peatland restoration involves replanting bare peat with bog plants and making the land wet again, which then turns the peatland back into an inviting home for wildlife including black darter dragonflies and lapwings.

Mitigate: To take an action that prevents, reduces, slows down, stops or reverses something like climate change or wildlife loss.

Sequester: Often used in the context of carbon. To sequester carbon means to store carbon, for example: peatlands are a powerful nature-based solution to the climate crisis because they sequester carbon in their peaty soils.

Leakage: The quantity of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries (like the UK) that may reappear in other countries not bound by environmental legislation. For example, multinational corporations may move factories from developed countries to developing countries to escape restrictions on emissions.

Carbon capture: The process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide to stop it entering the atmosphere.

Carbon offsetting: Compensating for carbon dioxide emissions by joining schemes designed to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Natural capital: The value of nature to people in terms of things like food production, flood reduction and clean air. Natural capital is provided by things like healthy ecosystems, certain species, healthy soils and healthy oceans.

Circular economy: An economy that focuses on products with an extended lifespan, which can be reused or recycled at the end of their life, eliminating waste from the system.

Green recovery: An environmentally sustainable economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that focuses on policies and solutions that benefit both people and our planet.

Systemic change: The transformation of a whole system, rather than one aspect of a system. The climate and nature crisis can only be solved through systemic change.