COP26 updates: Countries officially adopt Glasgow Climate Pact

Deep divisions still remained about the future of fossil fuels.

ByJulia Jacobo, Ayushi Agarwal, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: November 14, 2021, 11:35 AM EST

Leaders from nearly every country in the world have converged upon Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference that experts are touting as the most important environmental summit in history.

The conference, delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed as the check-in for the progress countries are making after entering the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, a value that would be disastrous to exceed, according to climate scientists. More ambitious efforts aim to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Not one country is going into COP26 on track to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, according to experts. They will need to work together to find collective solutions that will drastically cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

"We need to move from commitments into action," Jim Harmon, chairman of the World Resources Institute, told ABC News. "The path to a better future is still possible, but time is running out."

All eyes will be on the biggest emitters: China, the U.S. and India. While China is responsible for about 26% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, more than all other developed countries combined, the cumulative emissions from the U.S. over the past century are likely twice that of China's, David Sandalow, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, told ABC News.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the conference is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 01, 2021, 9:08 AM EDT

COP26 opening ceremony commences

After a quick greeting with Biden, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson kickstarted COP26 with opening remarks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets U.S. President Joe Biden as they arrive for day two of COP26 at SECC, Nov. 1, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Johnson said that while the average age of leaders in the room was over 60, the results of the COP26 conference will be judged by the young people outside and children who are not yet born.

"If we fail they will not forgive us. They will know that Glasgow was the historic turning point when history failed to turn," Johnson said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the opening ceremony of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 at SECC, Nov. 1, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland.
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

U.N. Secretary-General Anthony Guterres echoed the need for urgency in his remarks, highlighting the need to mitigate and reduce global emissions by 45% by 2030.

"Enough of treating nature like a toilet," Guterres said. "Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way deeper. We are digging our own graves."

ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.

Nov 01, 2021, 8:54 AM EDT

Seen at COP26: Summit provides reusable coffee cups, water bottles to attendees

Organizers of COP26, the most crucial climate conference, have gone the extra mile and placed carts for the its reusable coffee and tea cups around the venue.

Nov 01, 2021, 8:37 AM EDT

China’s President Xi will not attend

The president of the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions will not be present at COP26. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has not left the country since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and will be absent from the conference. He will instead send the country’s influential climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, according to reports.

In this file photo Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at a meeting commemorating the 110th anniversary of Xinhai Revolution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Oct. 9, 2021.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters, FILE

COP26 was getting next to no play in the Chinese media on Monday which has remained focused on Xi’s video statements at the G20 conference over the weekend.

-ABC News’ Karson Yiu

Nov 01, 2021, 8:10 AM EDT

How the world’s largest emitters are faring on climate change

No major emitter is doing enough to curb climate change, according to the experts. 

PHOTO: tracking the climate progress for the world’s major emitters
tracking the climate progress for the world’s major emitters
ABC News, climateactiontracker.org

Read more on how the countries that emit the most greenhouse gases are faring on their climate pledges.

Related Topics