Describe the major outcomes of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC. What commitments did India make at this conference?
Subtopic: Climate Change · UNFCCC negotiations & India's pledges
How to structure your answer
Introduction: Place the 26th COP at Glasgow (2021) and name its headline deal, the Glasgow Climate Pact.
Body: (1) Global outcomes — coal phase-down, methane pledge, Article 6, 1.5°C. (2) Finance and adaptation outcomes. (3) India's five-fold Panchamrit pledge and LIFE.
Conclusion: Note the gap between pledges and the carbon budget, and the road to delivery.
Written within the word limit
210 words · target 250 words · 11 min
Introduction: The 26th session, held at Glasgow in 2021, produced the Glasgow Climate Pact, the first global climate deal to explicitly target coal and to keep the 1.5°C goal alive as the guiding limit on warming.
Body:
- Mitigation outcomes: nations agreed for the first time to "phase down" unabated coal power and inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies; over 100 countries joined a Global Methane Pledge to cut methane 30% by 2030; and a separate leaders' declaration aimed to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.
- Rules and finance: the long-pending Article 6 rulebook on international carbon markets was finalised, completing the Paris rulebook. Developed countries were pressed on the unmet 100-billion-dollar annual climate-finance promise, adaptation finance was set to double, and a work programme on the global goal on adaptation was launched.
- India's commitments (Panchamrit): 500 GW of non-fossil installed capacity by 2030; meeting 50% of energy needs from renewables by 2030; a one-billion-tonne cut in projected emissions by 2030; a 45% cut in the economy's carbon intensity by 2030 over 2005 levels; and net-zero by 2070. India also launched the Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE) idea, urging mindful, low-waste consumption rather than mindless use of resources.
Conclusion: The Pact narrowed but did not fully close the emissions gap to 1.5°C, leaving delivery, climate finance, and equity between developed and developing nations as the real tests of its ambition.
What an examiner expects to see
- 26th COP held at Glasgow in 2021; outcome named the Glasgow Climate Pact
- First COP decision to call for phase-down of unabated coal and inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies
- Global Methane Pledge: cut methane emissions 30% by 2030 (signed by 100-plus countries)
- Article 6 rulebook on international carbon markets finalised, completing the Paris rulebook
- 1.5°C reaffirmed as the central temperature goal; countries asked to revisit 2030 targets
- India's Panchamrit: 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030; 50% energy from renewables by 2030
- India: cut projected emissions by 1 billion tonnes and carbon intensity by 45% by 2030; net-zero by 2070
- India launched Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE) to promote sustainable consumption
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Glasgow Climate Pact (2021)
- Panchamrit five-fold pledge announced by India
- Global Methane Pledge
- Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use
- Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE) initiative