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, 1:39 PM EDT

Biden meets leaders from Indonesia, Estonia

President Joe Biden met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, exchanging general pleasantries and discussing next year's G20 summit, which will be held in Bali, Indonesia.

President Joe Biden meets with Indonesian President Joko Widodo during the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 1, 2021, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Evan Vucci/AP

Widodo congratulated Biden on his January 2020 victory, to which he replied, "Thank you very much. Thank you for recognizing it."

Although not a part of his official COP26 schedule, Biden also met with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

Estonia was one of the last G20 countries to sign on to the agreement, along with Ireland and Hungary.

According to a readout sent by the White House, the leaders spoke about the cooperation between the two countries on climate and defense.

Biden "conveyed his support for Prime Minister Kallas' efforts to promote trusted connectivity and high-standards infrastructure investment in Europe and around the world," the readout said.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Sarah Kolinovsky

Nov 01, 2021, 2:32 PM EDT

'It'll take trillions,' Jeff Bezos says of his $10 billion climate pledge

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos may be donating $10 billion to aid the global climate fight, but the second richest man in the world acknowledged that it will take much more to slow down global warming. 

When asked by ABC News' Maggie Rulli whether $10 billion will "make a dent in climate change," Bezos replied, "It’ll take trillions of dollars to make a dent in climate change."

"And it’s gonna take nation states, it’s gonna take companies, and it’ll take NGOs and nonprofits as well," Bezos said. "What philanthropic dollars can do is move very quickly. There’s things we can do."

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos tells ABC News' Maggie Rulli that it will "take trillions" of dollars to fund the climate fight while in Glasgow for the COP26 conference.
ABC News

In February 2020, Bezos announced his $10 billion pledge to climate change but updated that commitment in March to say he would spend the $10 billion by 2030. 

-ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs, Bruno Roeber and Maggie Rulli

Nov 01, 2021, 1:23 PM EDT

US submits long-term strategy to UN

The U.S. submitted a revised strategy to the United Nations that lays out how the nation will meet its climate goals

Officials have submitted two documents to the UN that are part of updating its commitments to the Paris Agreement. This is the first time the U.S. has updated these submissions to the UN since 2016.

A climate demonstration in Brussels, Oct. 31, 2021.
Stephanie Lecocq/EPA via Shutterstock

The country’s path to net zero by 2050 requires "transformative actions" this decade, according to the report. The transition will rely on five key areas: Decarbonizing electricity and installing more wind and solar energy; switching to cleaner fuels and electrifying wherever possible, like in transportation and buildings; cutting energy waste and moving to energy sources that can fill the same energy demand more efficiently; reducing methane and other types of emissions that cause even more warming than carbon dioxide; and scaling up carbon dioxide removal technology.

"Near-term actions to accelerate this transition are being implemented rapidly, rooted in actions from across the federal government and other governmental and non-governmental actors in the United States," the long-term strategy states.

-ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs

Nov 01, 2021, 12:54 PM EDT

Biden apologizes for Trump administration pulling out of the Paris Agreement

President Joe Biden apologized to fellow world leaders at COP26 for the decision made by his predecessor to pull out of the Paris Agreement. 

Following his planned remarks at the summit, he made unscripted remarks at a smaller session hosted by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, where he offered a candid apology for the lack of leadership from the U.S. in the climate fight.

"I guess I shouldn’t apologize, but I do apologize for the fact the United States, the last administration, pulled out of the Paris Accord and put us sort of behind on the eight ball," Biden said. 

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

Biden was forthcoming with world leaders that he will need to convince Congress to approve additional funding to help nations around the world fight climate change.

In June 2017, then-President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw from the agreement claiming that could be economically detrimental and cost 2.5 million Americans their jobs by 2025.

The withdrawal became official on Nov. 4, one day after Election Day.

Re-entering the Paris Accord was among the first actions Biden took upon swearing in as president on Inauguration Day on Jan. 20. 

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Sarah Kolinovsky

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