Over time, these conferences have grown to the extent that the number of people attending COP26 in Glasgow may be more than 30,000. This will be made up of:
government delegates
climate scientists and meteorologists, members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
representatives of many environmental non-governmental organisations, businesses, business organisations, academic institutions
delegates from the UN
Pre-meetings
But this is not the whole story. In advance of the actual COP, there have been many pre-meetings at which different elements of the COP have been planned and choreographed. Much of the wording of any agreement that will arise from COP26 (if, indeed, agreement is reached) will already have been discussed. In particular, Italy has hosted several “key preparatory events” including a Youth event and the Pre-COP Summit.
The Pre-COP Summit took place in Milan between 30 September and 2 October. This was the final ministerial meeting before the full conference convenes. It provided an opportunity for a selected group of countries to discuss and exchange views on some key political aspects of the negotiations and offer political guidance for subsequent negotiations. Some cynics would suggest this is where the real negotiations take place – without the NGOs and representatives from those countries who contribute the least to climate breakdown but who will feel the worst effects.
Just before this Pre-COP summit took place, Milan also hosted the Youth Summit. This was billed as a chance for “young people to express themselves on climate change”. I think they’ve been doing quite a good job of this without the formal stage of this conference!
The conference
The website dedicated to the conference already lists a series of meetings that have been held by the President of the Conference. The number of events will increase significantly over the next couple of weeks. These events are intended to make sure that agreement has been reached on as many elements of discussion as possible before the conference itself.
Then, on the final day of October 2021, the delegates will gather in Glasgow for 12 days of meetings, negotiations, discussions and, no doubt, arguments before some form of agreement is reached. This will involve discussions in plenary but many more, smaller discussions behind closed doors and away from possible media intrusion.
After the procedural opening of negotiations on Sunday 31 October, the World Leaders Summit will take place on 1st and 2nd November. This is where Heads of State and government, ministers and heads of delegations or dignitaries deliver national statements, putting forward their “high level ambition towards securing global net zero and keeping 1.5 degrees in reach; adapting to protect communities and natural habitats; mobilising finance”. Each of the following days is devoted to an element of the negotiations. So, on Wednesday 3 November for example, the delegates will discuss finance, on Saturday 6th they will talk about nature and on Thursday 11th about cities, regions and built environment. These Presidency events reflect the priorities of the UK as the country that holds the Presidency of the conference.
Aside from all the official events, the other organisations that will be attending the conference will have held their own meetings to decide on their strategy and the actions they’ll take during the event. Government representatives from all the participating countries will also be meeting individually and in groups to agree their strategy for the conference. The amount of time and effort that has been spent globally on preparing for COP26 is incalculable.
Other events
Alongside the conference there will be an official exhibition which is a platform for those involved to highlight climate change issues and to provide a meeting point. The exhibits will cover a wide variety of related topics.
Official side events are a platform for organisations that are admitted by the UNFCCC to attend the conference but who have limited opportunities to speak during the formal negotiation. This is their chance to meet the Parties and other participants to share knowledge and information and to explore options for meeting the challenge of climate breakdown.
Global Climate Action events are where independent voices from cities, states, business and civil society demonstrate what they’re doing to avoid the worst effects of climate breakdown. There will be other events in the conference centre and around Glasgow too. I am sure there will also be demonstrations by activists aimed at focusing the minds of the delegates on the importance of the discussions. However, the powers being afforded to the police to “manage” any protests may reduce their impact and effectiveness.
Given that there will be many speeches made, pledges given and, potentially, decisions made, there will, inevitably, be a large number of press conferences and this will be reflected in the number of journalists who will attend.
I cannot help thinking that if all these people, from World Leaders down, put as much effort into solving the crisis as they have done into planning for and organising this and other conferences over the years, COP26 would not be required!