Will COP 26 seal the fate of humanity?

The next global climate meeting, COP 26, seems to crystallize all the expectations and anxieties of our leaders. The closer the date, the more the little sentences burst forth; clearly suggesting a fear. The fear that the cohesion of the nations of the world will not be there. The fear that the result will not be up to the danger that threatens humanity. The fear that the rulers of this world will not grasp the full measure of their responsibilities and that they will let slip what many see as our last chance to influence the looming doom.

For UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson: "Ambition, courage and collaboration will be needed to turn the tide of climate change." And it is hoped that these qualities will be seen in abundance at the crucial summit of Cop26 in Glasgow in October / November and to add. "To ensure a better future for our children and future generations requires countries to take urgent action at home and abroad to reverse the trend of climate change. It is with ambition, courage and collaboration as we approach the crucial summit of Cop26 that we can seize this moment together, so that we can get back cleaner, rebuild greener and restore our planet. "

The American climate envoy, John Kerry, for his part, declared Monday, October 4 on BFMTV: "We must succeed at the COP26 which will open at the end of the month in Glasgow" , even going as far as evoke "a critical situation, life or death for many people" .

“We have 55% of the world's economies that are dedicated to limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, that's pretty extraordinary. Now we need the remaining 45% to join us , ”said the special envoy, passing through Paris. "It is a critical situation, life or death for many people," he insisted. "No, it is not too late (to act) but we must act now". "We must do more than the Paris Agreement, Paris is no longer sufficient because we have continued to increase our greenhouse gas emissions"

For Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, who has not ceased, for months, to sound the alarm bell: "The world must immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions if humanity is to prevent the worst of what climate change has in store and preserving civilization as we know it. "

A little more moderate in his remarks than John Kerry, he considers that world leaders are confronted with what he called a "red code for humanity".

Cop26, scheduled for October 31 to November 12, is expected to be one of the most important diplomatic meetings in human history. As climate chaos erupts around the world

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted in 1992 and now based in Bonn, Germany, is the body responsible for supporting the global response to the threat of climate change.

The UN says the framework convention has near universal membership - 197 parties - and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main objective of the Paris Agreement is to maintain the increase in the global average temperature during this century as close as possible to 1.5 ° C above preindustable levels.

At the time, the UNFCCC declared: “The Paris Agreement is a milestone in the multilateral process on climate change because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings together all nations in a common cause to undertake efforts. ambitious to fight against climate change and adapt to its effects. "

At Cop21 in Paris, 196 countries signed treaties - the Paris Agreement - pledging to work hard to keep global warming below the 1.5 ° C threshold set by climatologists around the world. To meet this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to achieve a global peak in greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible in order to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century.

The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The UN states: “The ultimate objective of the three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, within a time frame that allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development. "

The Conference of the Parties (Cop) was first held in Berlin in 1995. The next conference in Glasgow will be the 26th time that the conference will meet, hence the Cop26.

Taking place just months after the publication of the UN report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which showed the world is warming faster than previously thought, this conference is destined to be the most important international meeting to date, as the decisions taken there will decide the fate of the world as we know it.