What will Happen at COP26 in 2020?

2020 will be busier than everyone imagined. Throughout the intersessional and at COP26 countries will have to work on some issues that proved difficult in the last months, like transparency, common timeframes or Article 6 on carbon markets.

Negotiations will restart in June for the intersessional in Bonn, where many of these technical issues will be taken up.

Later in the year, COP26 will take place in Glasgow, Scotland. Most probably in a post-Brexit Great Britain. It will be a hard task for the British to show they are still strong in the international sphere after leaving the EU, and having to close article 6 will make their job even harder.

In between those meetings, there will be the awaited September bilateral between the European Union and China, where it is hoped that both parts will show greater ambition in fighting climate change. Also in September, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will organize a Climate Action Summit, for countries to present their updated NDCs. The UNFCCC will then present a summary of the collective progress made on climate action plans in November before COP26.

2020 will also mark the end of the Aichi Biopersity Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. COP15 will take place in October in China, and will mark a new regime for biopersity protection, which could be very influenced and aligned with climate discussions.

Finally, the United States will have presidential elections on November 3rd, two weeks before COP. Its outcome will be one of the most important issues for climate diplomacy in 2020 and in the years to come. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State John Kerry, and Presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg all attended COP26 with one message “we’re still in”.