Climate Change

Paris Accord and beyond, what is the road to COP26 Glasgow?

Two CSE experts discuss the progress so far since the signing of the Paris Agreement and the trajectory of the climate negotiations in the year ahead

 
Published: Friday 18 December 2020

It has been five years since the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that led to the signing of the historic Paris Accord.

But in the last five years, there has been more talk and less action. The world is still hurtling towards breaching the 3 degrees Celsius mark. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic gave the world a temporary emissions respite.

But as things come back to normal, there are chances that the emission trajectories will go up again. So are countries willing to take cognizance of this? Are they willing to ratchet up their emission reduction target?

Two experts from the Centre for Science and Environment, Shazneen Cyrus Gazdar and Avantika Goswami, talked about the future scenarios of climate change and the road leading to the next conference of parties (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021.

Both agreed that the time for action was now — decarbonising, moving away from fossil fuels and investing in new technology. It was not too late to change track, they noted and expressed hope that the COP26 next year at Glasgow, Scotland, would reorient the world to a 1.5 degrees Celsius warming pathway, which was absolutely necessary to avoid dangerous climate change. 


Read our complete coverage on five years of the Paris Agreement


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