The EU on the Road to the Glasgow Climate Summit (COP26)

Many consider the Climate Summit in Glasgow, which will take place end of 2021, the most important summit since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. Upon invitation by the Andrássy University Budapest and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Dr. Camilla Bausch discussed recent developments in climate policy in the lead-up to COP26. Ada Ámon, Chief Climate Advisor to the Mayor of Budapest, and Prof. Dr. Dr. Heinrich Kreft of Andássy University, joined Dr. Bausch in a lively discussion of challenges and opportunities for the European Union on the road to Glasgow.

Dr. Bausch briefly presented an overview of the varied history of the UNFCCC process up until the breakthrough in Paris 2015. Unfortunately, though the global community agrees on the goal to hold "… the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C, … and [pursue] efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C" (Article 2 Paris Agreement), it is not yet on a stable pathway to achieve this goal. Many sources, including the UNEP Emissions Gap Report, the Climate Action Tracker and the NDC Synthesis Report of the UNFCCC Secretariat, show that we are globally heading towards an overheated climate. Dr. Bausch outlined the importance of the next decade for climate action. She looked at the opportunities provided by the recovery packages responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the role of the European Green Deal. Moreover, she underlined the opportunities in the political calendar to work collectively towards climate-compatible pathways and a successful Glasgow summit.

The event "Europe’s green transformation. Can we beat the heat and save our planet?" is part of the series "Visions for Europe", organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in association with the Centre of Diplomacy of the Andrássy University Budapest.