COP26

COP26

Dear Parents and Carers,

You may have heard that the UK is hosting a summit called COP26 which is seen as being really important if climate change is to be brought under control. The COP26 event is a global United Nations summit about climate change and how countries are planning to tackle it.

It was due to take place in Glasgow in Scotland in November last year with more than 200 world leaders due to attend, but it was delayed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

COP26 is now taking place in Glasgow between 31st October and 12th November 2021 and any decisions made could lead to big changes to our everyday lives.

What is COP26 and what does COP stand for?

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and will be attended by countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a treaty agreed in 1994.

The 2021 meeting will be the 26th meeting, which is why it's called COP26.

Why do we need COP?

The world is getting warmer because of fossil fuel emissions caused by humans.

Icecaps are melting and sea levels are rising.

We are seeing more extreme weather events taking place around the world - including heatwaves, floods and forest fires, these naturally occurring events are being made worse because of the effects of climate change.

The past decade was the warmest on record, and governments around the world agree that urgent action is needed.

What is the UK doing about climate change?

The UK government declared 2020 a "Year of Climate Action".

As well as the targets for changing to electric cars, the government has pledged to reduce the UK's carbon emissions to 'net zero' - which means cutting emissions drastically and absorbing as much carbon as it produces - by 2050.

This means emissions from areas like transport, farming and industry will have to be avoided completely or offset by sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

This isn't technically Prime Minister Boris Johnson's idea - he inherited the pledge from the former prime minister Theresa May, who put the commitment into law in June 2019. But Mr Johnson has said he wanted fighting climate change to be one of his government's biggest priorities and he has made a series of announcements around renewable energy, national parks and protecting the environment.

Next week, the school will have a special assembly on COP26, and what it means for climate change and the environment. There will also be an opportunity to further explore climate change and what we can do now in the afternoon. 

The school has also produced a short PowerPoint for you to look at as a family, giving ideas on what you can do at home to reduce your CO2 gases.

Kind Regards,

Miss V Devshi

Vice Principal