Going into COP26 and getting it right

Global heating is continuing largely unabated. An analysis by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat concludes that, taken together, the recent submissions of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by countries will lead us towards a future that is 2.7°C hotter than today (UNFCCC 2021b). This is far above the 2°C or even 1.5°C limit that would avert the most dangerous consequences of climate change for both people and nature (IPCC 2018). As the global climate conference (COP26) gets underway in Glasgow, it is expected to place significant emphasis on the essential contributions of forests, ecosystems and nature (Box 1). Nature is one of the UK COP26 Presidency’s four priority COP26 goals (UK COP26 2021); deforestation and land-use will be a theme of the World Leaders Summit (WWF 2021); and the issue of forests and land continues to be a sticking point in the negotiations related to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.1 Concerns have been raised about the gap between pledges and their realization; on the efficiency, effectiveness and permanence of landscape restoration; and on the over-reliance on nature to offset unabated emissions from other sectors. These concerns point to underlying issues of the lack of recognition of rights; unequal access to resources; lack of genuine involvement of all actors in decisions; lack of planning, capacity, finance and support to achieve the massive transformations required; and powerful interests maintaining the status quo

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