COP26

In November 2021, the UK hosted the United Nations climate change conference, known as COP26.

Since 1995, world governments have met every year to negotiate a response to global climate change. These 197 nations and territories, signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, are represented at the Conference of the Parties (COP), responsible for reviewing the implementation of the Convention. This year was the 26th meeting of the COP, hence COP26.

The two-week conference in Glasgow involved around 200 presidents and prime ministers and some 40,000 delegates reporting back on progress since the Paris Agreement and making new decisions on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impact that climate change is already having.

COP26 and the University of Leeds

Research and innovation from the University of Leeds contributed to important discussions and negotiations that took place in the run up to, and at, COP26. As an official observer of the UNFCCC - the framework that underpins COP26 - the University sent a delegation to the conference in Glasgow. Members of this delegation were involved in events and activities across both the Blue Zone (UN-managed space which hosts the negotiations) and Green Zone (managed by the UK Government, and open to the general public).