The Glasgow Climate Pact is an agreement reached at the
2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, coun ...
(COP26).
The pact is the first climate agreement explicitly planning to reduce unabated coal usage.
A pledge to
"phase out" coal was changed to "phase down" late in negotiation, for
coal in India
Coal in India has been mined since 1774, and India is the second largest producer and consumer of coal after Coal in China, China, mining in FY 2024-25. Around 15% of coal is imported. Due to demand, supply mismatch and poor quality with high a ...
and
coal in China
The People's Republic of China is the largest producer and consumer of coal and coal power in China, coal power in the world. China produces approximately 4.8 billion tons of coal per year, over half of the global total.
In 2024, coal acco ...
and other coal reliant countries.
Development
The pact's main elements were:
*An agreement to re-visit emission reduction plans in 2022 in order to try to keep the 1.5 °C
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...
target achievable
*The first ever inclusion of a commitment to
limit ("phase down") the use of unabated coal (from this wording it implicitly follows that utilizing coal with "abatement" (net-zero emission), e.g. by neutralizing the resulting carbon dioxide via the CO
2-to-stone process, need not be reduced. However this
carbon capture and storage
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial installations is separated before it is released into the atmosphere, then transported to a long-term storage location.IPCC, 2021Annex VII: Glossary at ...
is too expensive for most
coal fired power stations.)
*A commitment to
climate finance for
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...
.
Pledges
The number of countries pledged to reach
net-zero emissions passed 140. This target includes 90% of current global
greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...
.
More than 100 countries,
including Brazil, pledged to reverse
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
by 2030.
More than 40 countries pledged to move away from coal.
India promised to draw half of
its energy requirement from renewable sources by 2030.
The governments of 24 developed countries and a group of major
car manufacturers including
GM,
Ford,
Volvo
The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
,
BYD Auto
BYD Auto Co., Ltd. ( zh, s=比亚迪汽车, p=Bǐyàdí Qìchē) is the Automotive industry, automotive subsidiary of BYD Company, a publicly listed Chinese multinational manufacturing company. It manufactures passenger battery electric vehicle ...
,
Jaguar Land Rover and
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
committed to "work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets". Major car manufacturing nations like the US, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea, as well as
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...
,
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
,
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...
,
Honda
commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
,
Nissan
is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...
and
Hyundai, did not pledge.
Reception
U.N. climate chief
Patricia Espinosa stated that she was not happy with the last minute change of language affirmed by members of the Indian and Chinese parties but did say that, "No deal was the worst possible result there. Nobody wins,” stating she was satisfied with the deal overall. “We would have preferred a very clear statement about a phasing out of coal and (the) elimination of
fossil fuel subsidies
Fossil fuel subsidies are energy subsidies on fossil fuels. Under a narrow definition, fossil fuel subsidies totalled around $1.5 trillion in 2022. Under more expansive definition, they totalled around $7 trillion. They may be tax breaks on c ...
,” Espinosa said, but explained she understands India’s needs.
References
External links
*Th
text of the pact annotated by the
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
.
*Th
official text(Advance unedited version - English) from the
UNFCCC.
*
{{Climate change
Climate change treaties
Coal
November 2021 in the United Kingdom
Environmental policies approved in 2021
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Glasgow