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This week’s big news
The Week Junior • November 12, 2021
W
orld leaders have gathered in Glasgow,
Scotland, for a major environmental summit
called COP26. The meeting, which was postponed
last year due to the pandemic, is organized by
the United Nations (UN, an organization of 193
nations working for peace and cooperation) and
will take place from October 31 to November 12.What is COP26?
COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and this
is the 26th time it has happened. The meeting
brings nations together to plan action to combat
climate change (long-term changes in
weather patterns, largely caused by
human activity). The “parties” are
197 countries that signed a 1992
treaty called the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change.
At COP3 in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan,
the conference adopted the
Kyoto Protocol. That agreement
requires countries to meet targets
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
(gases that remain in Earth’s atmosphere and
trap heat). At COP21, held in 2015, nearly every
nation signed the Paris Agreement, which laid
out specifi c plans to reach that goal. Leaders will
discuss new greenhouse gas targets at COP26.Who is a ending COP26?
US President Joe Biden and Special Presidential
Envoy for Climate John Kerry are at the meeting,
as are UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina of Bangladesh, President Nana
Akufo-Addo of Ghana, and more than 100 other
world leaders. Prince Charles, of the UK royal
family, is also attending, along with activists,
youth advocates, and about 20,000 scientists,
policy experts, and government representatives.Why is COP26 important?
Scientists agree that rising
temperatures are leading to more
extreme storms, wildfi res, fl oods,
and other disasters that increase
hunger, disease, and confl ict
around the world. They have
also said it is crucial to prevent
global temperatures from rising
more than 1.5° C to 2° C (2.7° F to
3.6° F) higher than they were in the
early 1900s. But temperatures have already
risen .6° C (1.1° F) since 1992, and the world’s
biggest producers of greenhouse gases—China,
the US, the European Union, and India—have not
set goals aggressive enough to prevent furtherwarming. At COP26, countries will update their
climate goals for the fi rst time since 2015. These
include ending deforestation (cutting down trees)
by 2030, reducing emissions of a greenhouse
gas called methane, and expanding the use of
renewable energy like wind and solar power.
What happened before COP26?
In September, youth activists from around the
world gathered at their own climate summit in
Milan, Italy. They demanded that world leaders
do more to fi ght climate change. Before arriving
in Scotland, Biden went to the Vatican (the global
headquarters of the Roman Catholic church) in
Rome, Italy. He met with Pope Francis (the head
of the church) to discuss Covid-19, global poverty,
and other issues. Biden then attended the G
forum in Rome, where world leaders gathered to
discuss international economic issues.
What will happen next?
As The Week Junior went to press, COP26 members
were working to fi nalize the new rules for
putting the Paris Agreement into action. To raise
awareness of climate issues, activists including the
youth leader Greta Thunberg and Scottish rapper
Darren McGarvey planned to stage a “Global Day
of Action” rally at COP26 on November 6. The event
is expected to draw about 150,000 people.World climate forum starts
France is investing $290 million
to make Paris 100% bike-
friendly by 2026. The city has
already opened hundreds
of miles of bike lanes. Next,
it will remove 70% of its car
parking spots to make room for
other modes of transportation
and add 40,000 new bicycle
parking spaces and 30,
bike parking stands.Scotland’s Prime Minister Nicola
Sturgeon (center) with youth
activists Greta Thunberg (left)
and Vanessa Nakate at COPParis to go 100% cyclable
Parked bikes
in ParisWIND
POWER
Texas produces the
most renewable energy of
any state in the US, mostly by
capturing wind to create electricity.The COP26 fl ag