Around 100 nations pledge to slash methane emissions on day 2 of COP26

Some protesters are trying to express their anger and bewilderment about the climate crisis in more creative ways.

Mike Hancock came equipped with an animatronic seagull that is encouraging those heading to the COP26 conference to worry about climate.

“We got a piece of street theatre about the SS Planet Titanic where we sing calming songs while people rearrange their deckchairs,” he said, adding that his seagull’s role is to tell people the inconvenient truth.

“We are not very optimistic about what’s going on here. It would be great if there was success at the COP, but at the moment, we’re heading for the rocks, I am afraid,” he said.

Speaking seagulls for protest

The Maldives Environment Minister Aminath Shauna said the current generation is the last one “that can make a difference” and reverse climate change. 

“Our generation is the last generation that can make a difference and turn things around,” Shauna said in an interview with CNN’s Lynda Kinkade on Tuesday. “I think there’s still time to do it.”

Shauna went on to say that humanity has all the tools it needs, what’s lacking is the ability to work together. 

Approximately 100 countries have signed on to a global pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030, led by the United States and the European Union.

“This is fantastic,” European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen said Tuesday as she announced the news, explaining that slashing methane emissions will have a quick impact. “Doing that will immediately slow down climate change.”

“Cutting back on methane emissions is one of the most effective things we can do to reduce near term global warming and keep 1.5 degrees Celsius. It is the lowest-hanging fruit,” she concluded.

Methane — the main component of natural gas — is invisible and odorless, and has 80 times more warming power in the near-term than carbon dioxide. Methane can be produced in nature from volcanoes and decomposing plant matter, but it is leaked into the atmosphere in much larger amounts by landfills, livestock and the oil and gas industry.

Scientists tell CNN reducing methane is the easiest way to slow the planet’s warming trend.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, is introduced to Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar during a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, center, on the sidelines of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson personally apologized to Israel’s Energy Minister, Karine Elharrar, who was unable to attend COP26 on Monday because of the lack of wheelchair access to the venue. 

Johnson asked Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to invite Elhaarrar to join the two prime ministers in a separate meeting Tuesday.

Elharrar, who suffers from muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair, was unable to attend Monday’s proceedings and Johnson personally apologized to her for the incident, according to a senior official with the Israeli delegation at COP.

Elharrar traveled to the COP venue in Bennett’s motorcade on Tuesday and was accompanied by the Israeli Prime Minister into the conference, the official said.

Bennett sharply criticized the event organizers for the wheelchair-access issue after Monday’s incident, and had threatened to cancel his appearance at the event Tuesday.

The president of COP, Minister Alok Sharma has repeatedly said that a fully inclusive conference was critical to the success of the climate conference.

Downing Street confirmed to CNN that Johnson had apologized to Elharrar.

Climate activists of all ages have descended on Glasgow to demand that world leaders act quickly to combat the climate crisis – but not all are hopeful that COP26 will lead to concrete pledges.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová has spoken with a few of them:

Azeez Tobi Abubakar and Inés Yabar

Azeez Tobi Abubakar, from Nigeria, and Inés Yabar, from Peru, tell CNN they are in Glasgow to represent the missing majority who cannot attend. They want to amplify the voices of young people who are already feeling the devastating impact of climate change.

“Me being here is a good opportunity to make sure that the voices of those not being here are being heard,” said Abubakar, who lives in Lagos, a low-lying city on Nigeria’s Atlantic coast that is increasingly vulnerable to sea level rise and flooding.

Home to more than 24 million people, Lagos may become uninhabitable by the end of this century as sea levels rise due to climate change, scientific projections suggest.

“To me it’s all about bringing here the voices of the missing majority. The people who cannot come to COP,” Yabar said of her desire to be at the summit.

Both Abubakar and Yabar have access to the main venue and say they will make sure to speak to delegates about the people they represent and experiences with climate change.

Gill Phillips.

Gill Phillips, 66, from Bristol, England, came to Glasgow carrying a homemade banner that reads: “History will judge you.”

She’s not optimistic that history will judge world leaders at COP26 well.

“I think I will be disappointed. The world leaders, they are in office for five, 10 years. They care about getting re-elected, not about the long term. I’m hoping there will be some announcements. But then again, there have been announcements before and nothing happened,” Phillips said.

“We each need to do our bit. I can put my banner up, but there’s not much individuals can do. This is up to the world leaders, corporations, businesses.”

Amelia Ramirez, 67, and Sten-Ivan Bylund, 75, are two members of the “Grandparents for Future,” a Swedish group of elderly people — with or without grandchildren — who want to support young activists in their fight to stop climate change.

“We have been supporting Greta Thunberg since, well, pretty much the first day,” Bylund said.

The group took the train to Edinburgh and then spent four days walking 40 miles to Glasgow, where they are hoping to have their voices heard.

“There’s some hope … if the people there on the other side of this river [at the summit] take strong decisions, there is still hope that we can [stay] below 1.5 degrees,” Bylund said.

What steps does he want to see agreed in Glasgow?

“Stop subsidizing fossil fuel industries, start to support poor countries that are very heavily affected by climate change,” he told CNN.

Sten-Ivan Bylund, left, and Amelia Ramirez, right, hold a flag, accompanied by friends.

At the COP26 summit, attendees can find out how much the food they’re buying costs and how much greenhouse gas that item has emitted.

Take a look:

“We have partnered with Swedish start up Klimato to analyse the carbon footprint of the food served at COP26,” the menu website says. “We will communicate the footprint of each dish on menu boards, informing attendees about what dishes have the lowest impact.”

Each dish is categorized by the food’s general carbon footprint: low, medium or high.

US President Joe Biden speaks during an event at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

US President Joe Biden committed to reducing global methane emissions by 30% by 2030 and announced two new proposed US rules in remarks at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

“One of the most important things we can do in this decisive decade is to keep 1.5 degrees [Celsius] in reach, is reduce our methane emissions as quickly as possible,” Biden said.

Biden said “over 80, it’s approaching 100 countries” pledged to accomplish this goal.

“This is going to make a huge difference. And not just when it comes to fighting climate change as [EU President Ursula von der Leyen] pointed out. Physical health of individuals and whole range of other things. It is going to improve health, reduce asthma, respiratory related emergencies, it’s going to improve the food supply as well by cutting crop loss and related ground level pollution. It’s going to boost our economies, saving companies money, reducing methane leaks, capturing methane and turn it into new revenue streams and as well as creating good paying union jobs for our workers,” he said.

Biden also announced a new initiative to work with farmers and ranchers to reduce methane emissions.

“This isn’t just something we have to do to protect the environment of our future, it is an enormous opportunity, enormous opportunity for all of us, all of our nations to create jobs, and make meeting climate goals a core part of our global economic recovery as well,” he said.

WATCH PRESIDENT BIDEN:

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Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre speaks at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

Helping to keep the 1.5-degree target alive is Norway’s overriding ambition at COP26, the country’s prime minister said in his opening remarks at the climate summit. “This is existential, it is urgent and it is possible if we jointly step up our commitments,” Jonas Gahr Støre said. 

Under the 2015 Paris climate accord, countries committed to reduce their carbon output and halt global warming below 2 degrees Celsius – and if possible, below 1.5 degrees Celsius – by the end of the century to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Prime Minister Støre also said Norway was at the summit with three commitments:

Firstly, the country is ready to double its climate financing contribution to more than $1.6 billion by 2026. “That’s contributing significantly to the hundred billion dollars target set in Paris. And in doing so, we will invite private capital to join us in mobilizing necessary resources,” Støre said.

Secondly, the Prime Minister said that his government will prioritize working with business, industry and social partners to “help us all succeed the transition towards renewable, circular and sustainable future.”

“Norway is positioned to take a lead in developing ocean-based solutions such as offshore wind, green shipping, carbon capture utilisation and storage, hydrogen and electrical mobility,” he added.

Støre said his country’s third point is a warning that the financial sector must play its part. “Norway’s public pension fund is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. Our goal is to make it the leading fund in responsible investment, and the management of climate risk. Climate risk is indeed a financial risk, and it needs to be managed as such.”

Beijing’s special envoy on climate change has said that China has been leading investment in renewable energy.

China, the world’s biggest polluter, has made only a small improvement in its emission-cutting plan formally submitted to the United Nations last Thursday, just days before the start of COP26.

In the new plan – known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – China said it aimed to peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and reach net zero by 2060, a pledge that President Xi Jinping had previously announced. It added that China would lower its CO2 emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by over 65% from the 2005 level by 2030.

John Kerry, the United States' special presidential envoy for climate, speaks with CNN's Christiane Amanpour at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said Tuesday there is “something different” happening at the COP26 climate summit taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, pointing to a level of engagement by world leaders and a sense of urgency that he hasn’t seen at previous United Nations climate summits.

Kerry said he believes it is possible to reach the goal that world leaders agreed to at COP21 in 2015 – also known as the Paris Agreement – of holding global warming to well below two degrees Celsius, and if possible, 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“I believe that if people do what they’ve laid out as their specific plans, yes,” Kerry told Amanpour when asked if he still thought 1.5 degrees Celsius was still an achievable target. 

The former secretary of state continued: “Is it hard? You’re right, it’s damn hard. It’s very hard, but it is better to push for that. It’s better to make that your target.”

The prevailing scientific consensus is that temperatures can rise 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels before the most catastrophic changes – increasingly devastating fires, floods and droughts – begin to occur.

But significant questions remain about whether some of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, including China and India, will get on board.

Programming note: Watch the full interview with John Kerry with Christiane Amanpour on CNN’s “Amanpour” at 2 p.m. ET/6 p.m. GMT

Related article John Kerry says COP26 is 'bigger, more engaged, more urgent' than past climate summits

The issue of whether wealthy industrialized countries should pay for the damage already caused by climate change is a key sticking point at the COP26 talks.

Poorer nations hit by the worst impacts of climate change have been pushing for climate reparations for years, they say they depend on them for their survival. So far, the financing promised to them under the Paris Agreement is meant to be used to transition their economies and prepare for future climate change, but not for dealing with the damage already done. Negotiators from two European countries told CNN the issue is high on the agenda and will be discussed in several sessions.

However, there is a strong opposition against the idea. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, told CNN he can’t see firm commitments being made at this conference and said that he was pursuing other avenues for climate justice. 

Browne aded that Antigua and Barbuda and Tuvalu have set up a special commission on climate change and international law to explore legal options for small island nations to make wealthy, greenhouse gas-emitting countries “pay for loss and damage.”

Western nations won’t deliver on a $100 billion climate financing promise to developing nations until 2022 or 2023, China’s special envoy on climate change Xie Zhenhua said Tuesday. 

Twelve years ago, at a United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, rich countries made a significant pledge: to provide $100 billion a year in finance to less wealthy nations by 2020, in order to help them cope with climate change.

That target was missed last year and a large gap remains. Experts say $100 billion a year isn’t even enough to begin with. It’s a key sticking point at the talks in Glasgow.

Prior to COP26, only a small number of developed nations were paying their fair share on climate financing for poorer countries, according to independent think tank ODI.

Xie, who served as China’s chief negotiator during key climate meetings in Copenhagen and Paris, said discussions with COP26 President Sharma were “highly constructive,” but cautioned that “huge gaps” still remained. “There should be a balance between mitigation and adaptation,” Xie said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a meeting at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2, as US President Joe Biden listens.

The US, UK, France, Germany and European Union will help fund South Africa’s transition away from coal, in a multilateral effort that could serve as a model for other developing nations to ditch the fossil fuel.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the initial $8.5 billion partnership would help South Africa to decarbonize its coal intensive energy system. The details of the specific funding were not announced, and diplomats expect the fine print to be worked out in the months ahead.   

US President Joe Biden stressed that trillions in public and private funding will be needed to help the developing world move away from fossil fuels.

Climate scientists and some diplomats say the South Africa agreement could pave the way for similar deals with other heavily-polluting developing countries – a critical step in containing global warming and avoiding a full-blown climate catastrophe.

The promise to finance a transition from coal will be noticed by politicians in developing nations because South Africa is among the most coal-dependent nations in the world.

One of the heaviest polluters on the planet:

Read more about South Africa’s phaseout of coal here:

A coal pile in front of the towers of the Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Kendal coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa, on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. Envoys from some of the worlds richest nations met with South African cabinet ministers to discuss a climate deal that could channel almost $5 billion toward ending the countrys dependence on coal. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Related article US, UK and EU will help fund South Africa's coal phaseout, offering a model for the developing world

John Kerry, the United States' special presidential envoy for climate, speaks with CNN's Christiane Amanpour at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

Climate Envoy John Kerry has told CNN that the United States is working closely with China, the world’s largest CO2 emitter, on its commitment to transition away from fossil fuels. 

Speaking from the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Kerry told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that the US is working with China “without challenging them in any personal way.” 

“China has said we are going to strictly limit coal,” Kerry said. “What we are trying to do is work with China in a cooperative way to show how they could speed up the transition.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not attending the summit in Glasgow and Amanpour pressed Kerry on how serious the Chinese commitment is when it comes to reducing the country’s reliance on coal. 

Despite the lack of a clear commitment from Beijing, former Secretary of State Kerry said that he believes the Chinese ultimately will commit to a faster transition. “The climate issue is as existential to China as it is to us. It’s as critical to Chinese citizens as it is to us. They want to be rid of pollution. They want cleaner air. They want a healthier life.”

Kerry told Amanpour that Xi and President Joe Biden have agreed to meet on the issue at an undetermined future date.  

On Saturday, Biden urged major G20 energy producing countries with spare capacity to boost their production of oil and gas to meet global demand. 

When Amanpour pointed out the disconnect between that and the commitments that the US was trying to make at the COP26 summit, Kerry pushed back. “We are where we are in our economies, in the global marketplace. You can’t just shut it off … you need to stabilize the marketplace, bring the prices down, and empower us to be able to make this transition in an orderly and just way,” he said.

“We don’t want workers to suddenly be thrown out and all of a sudden, your economies are cratering,” he added. 

Some background: Kerry helped to negotiate the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement while serving in the Obama administration – an agreement that the US subsequently withdrew from during the presidency of Donald Trump.

Amanpour posed the question as to whether the US could be taken seriously on its pledges by global partners. Kerry retorted that the changing global economy meant that climate commitments made by the US were not reversible by any one leader.  

“90% of the electricity that has come online in the United States in the last few years, in the globe in fact, on the planet, has come from renewables,” he said. 

“That’s not reversible from any one politician. It is not reversible,” he added. 

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina speaks at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

Madagascar is in the grips of drought and famine, and failing to act to stop climate change will have disastrous consequences for the country, Andry Rajoelina, the president of the African island, has warned.

People in the country’s south are living through the worst drought in 40 years, according to the UN World Food Programme, and more than 1.3 million people in Madagascar are experiencing food distress.

He also highlighted that deforestation was among the country’s biggest concerns. 

“Every year, 3.9 million hectares of forests disappear in Africa. The main drivers of this deforestation is the use and processing of wood into charcoal,” Rajoelina said, adding that 90% of African households still use charcoal to cook their food.

“To obtain 10 kilos of charcoal, you need 100 kilos of wood, so you can imagine, every year, one family destroys one hectare of forests to meet their own needs. So how can we stop this disaster?” the president said. 

Despite the grim reality, Rajoelina went on to speak about the country’s current plan of financing alternative solutions, which would replace charcoal in favor of stoves that run on bio ethanol and biogas in order to preserve the forests.

He also urged global leaders to act. “I call on leaders from around the world to accelerate the mobilization of $100 billion for the Paris agreement so that we can fund energy transition policy in Africa,” Rajoelina added. 

Away from the world leaders, on the public side of the COP26 summit venue, there’s lots of fun activities and displays going on, aimed at educating people about climate issues.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová takes a look.

Amid all the big news out of Glasgow, including pledges to cut back on methane emissions and end deforestation by the end of the decade, a passing moment is drawing some attention — US President Biden appearing to nod off during the opening session of COP26.

Biden, who has been traveling overseas for days, was seen closing his eyes for an extended period of time and rubbing his eyes during COP26’s opening session. He went on to deliver a major speech for about 10 minutes shortly after the moment.

The President is expected to hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday before returning to the United States with an expected arrival on Wednesday.

Palau's President Surangel Whipps, Jr. speaks at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

The President of the western Pacific island of Palau urged world leaders to act aggressively against climate change before island nations completely disappear.

Asking for equitable access to climate financing and viable technological transfer, he added: “We, the islands that are devastated most, demand that your commitments of $100 billion annually be increased to meet the $4 trillion the World Bank reports is needed.”

Russia's President Vladimir Putin addresses COP26 participants via video at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on November 2.

In pre-recorded video statements, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a slew of other world leaders voiced their support for a declaration to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030 – the first big win of the the COP26 climate talks.

More than 100 leaders, whose countries collectively account for more than 85% of the world’s forests, have agreed to the declaration, which could potentially put a huge dent in global emissions.

Among the nations taking part are Canada, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all of which have significant tracts of forest. Brazil in particular has come under criticism for allowing an increase in the deforestation of the Amazon in recent years. The United States and China will also be party to the agreement.

In hailing the agreement on forests and land use, many of the leaders noted the key role that forests play in their nations – in their society, culture and climate future.

“Our country accounts for around 20% of the world’s forestland,” Putin said, adding that Russia had approved a long-term government climate strategy on Monday targeting carbon neutrality by 2060. “We take the strongest and most vigorous measures to conserve it.”

Bolsonaro, who has been criticized for rainforest reduction on his watch, urged every country to “help defend all forests, committing adequate resources, for the benefit of all.”

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that forests mattered to him on a personal level. “In fact, I make many of my decisions and thinking while walking in the forest. So not only do we need good policies for forest, we also need forests for good policy decisions.”

While the world leaders remain confined to the plenary rooms, the spirit of the COP26 climate summit is obvious all across the host city of Glasgow. There are signs boasting about its net zero target and campaigns encouraging people to walk, cycle or take a train.

There are also numerous events and exhibits raising awareness of climate change and the difficulties it brings being held around Scotland’s biggest city.

Here’s a vertical farm demonstration, highlighting the challenges of growing food in our changing climate.

Jeff Bezos speaks at COP26 on November 2.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has pledged $2 billion to directly restoring nature and transforming food systems as parts of the Bezos Earth Fund’s $10 billion commitment to “fight climate change, enhance nature and advance environmental justice and economic opportunity.”

Making the announcement at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, he said: “We must conserve what we still have, we must restore what we’ve lost, and we must grow what we need to live without degrading the planet for future generations to come.”

Bezos said his space flight reminded him that nature is fragile, the Earth is finite and the atmosphere is thin.

This comes as world leaders at the summit have emphasized the need of private sector to play a greater role in climate action.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba speaks at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba presented a stark warning to the global leaders present at the COP26 summit in Glasgow on Tuesday, saying, “The doors to the future our closing.”

“IPCC [the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] tells us there is no valuable future without the tropical rainforests. This is my hope that Glasgow will mark a turning point,” Ondimba added.

The leader of the Central African nation invited world leaders to invest responsibly in Gabon’s forests and urged them to stand by the country in its “efforts to protect and understand our forest’s ecosystem.”

Ending on a hopeful note, Ondimba concluded: “Together, we [can] keep our forests standing and the door open for our children and their children.”

“Climate change and biodiversity loss are two sides of the same coin,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday as he took to the stage at the first ever COP world leaders’ session on forest and land use.

The event launched a declaration from over 100 leaders – accounting for more than 85% of the world’s forests – to work together to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

Johnson stressed the particular significance of £5.3 billion ($7.2 billion) of private investment in the pledge in “supporting sustainable jobs” – alongside £8.75 billion ($12 billion) of public funds.

“As we sign this declaration today, let’s also galvanize a radical shift in public and private finance. Let’s channel funds towards securing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.” 

Joining the UK Prime Minister on stage was Columbian President Iván Duque Márquez, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, co-director of the pavilion of the World Indigenous Peoples’ Initiative.

“I am very glad that this climate negotiation has started to consider that nature and forests have a key role to play in meeting the objective of the Paris Agreement,” said Oumarou Ibrahim.

Further to the declaration on deforestation, 28 governments, representing 75% of global trade in key commodities that can threaten forests, have signed up to a new Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Statement. 

“There is no value in making [a] beautiful speech here about deforestation if at home you let the private sector steal indigenous peoples’ land or destroy the ecosystem,” Oumarou Ibrahim added.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson listens during an event at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that over 10 countries, the Bezos Earth Fund and the European Union have signed the Congo Basin Pledge which will mobilize over $1.5 billion to protect forests, peatlands and other critical carbon stores.

“I’m delighted to announce at this summit, that the world is coming together around their effort … with at least $1.5 billion over the next five years to help protect the … precious ecosystems of Central Africa,” Johnson said, underlining the work of the presidents of the Republic of Congo and Gabon.

Johnson added that the funds were part of a new global forest finance pledge of over $12 billion, which he said amounted to “the biggest collective commitment of public funds for forest and climate action in history.”

Earlier, the British government said that more than 100 world leaders representing over 85% of the planet’s forests would commit on Tuesday to ending and reversing deforestation and land degradation by 2030 – the first substantial deal announced at the COP26 climate talks.

US President Joe Biden speaks at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 2.

President Joe Biden announced a new plan to conserve global forests on the second day of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, in the first major deal to break at the talks. 

“Today I’m announcing a new plan to conserve global forest, which will bring together a full range of US government tools, diplomatic, financial and policy to halt forests loss, restore critical carbon sinks, and improve land management,” Biden said. 

The President said: “Conserving our forest and other critical ecosystems is indispensable, an indispensable piece of keeping our climate goals within reach, as well as many other key priorities that we have together: ensuring clean water, maintaining biodiversity, supporting rural and indigenous communities and reducing the risk of the spread of disease.”

“Forests have the potential to reduce, reduce carbon globally by more than one third. By more than one third. So we need to approach this issue with the same seriousness of purpose as decarbonizing our economies. That’s what we’re doing in the United States,” Biden said.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 1.

Here is what happened during the first full day of the UN’s COP26 climate summit:

A deal on forests:

Biden’s apology:

The UK wheels out the big names:

India makes net-zero promise:

Small nations’ disappointment:

Covid-19 measures hampering the negotiations:

Read more about the takeaways here:

President Joe Biden speaks during the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

Related article 5 takeaways from the first day of COP26: Biden's apology, India's pledge, much disappointment

More than 100 world leaders representing over 85% of the planet’s forests will commit on Tuesday to ending and reversing deforestation and land degradation by 2030, a British government statement says, in what would be the first substantial deal announced at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.

Among the nations taking part are Canada, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all of which have significant tracts of forest. Brazil in particular has come under criticism for allowing an increase in the deforestation of the Amazon in recent years. The US and China will also be party to the agreement.

The deal is consequential to the climate as forests, when they are logged or degrade, emit carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, accounting for around 11% of the world’s total CO2 emissions.

The leaders will make the announcement during a COP26 session about forests and commit £8.75 billion ($12 billion) of public funds to protection and restoration, alongside £5.3 billion ($7.2 billion) of private investment. CEOs from more than dozens of financial institutions, including Aviva, Schroders and Axa, are also committing to ending investment in activities that lead to deforestation.

The agreement will likely provide a morale boost at COP26, which got off to shaky start after the G20 leaders’ summit in Rome over the weekend failed to result in an agreement on firm new climate commitments, particularly on when to end the use of coal.

It is also a breakthrough after years of negotiations on how to protect forests. 

Read more on the deal here:

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks off of the stage after speaking at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on November 1, 2021. - COP26, running from October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow will be the biggest climate conference since the 2015 Paris summit and is seen as crucial in setting worldwide emission targets to slow global warming, as well as firming up other key commitments. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JEFF J MITCHELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article More than 100 world leaders will agree to end deforestation by 2030 at COP26

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on November 2, before traveling to the UK to attend COP26.

The world leaders summit at the COP26 conference in Glasgow continues on Tuesday, with the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari among those scheduled to speak. 

But while the world leaders are speaking on the stage, the real negotiations are under way in meeting rooms down the corridor where representatives of the 193 signatories of the Paris Agreement are trying to find a consensus on how the deal should be enforced. 

Here are some of the items they are trying to achieve:

Climate negotiations are always tricky, which is why the delegates have two whole weeks to find solutions.

Even then, it is far from certain they will be able to reach an agreement. Previous COP conferences in Katowice in 2018 and Madrid in 2019 failed to reach a deal on some of the thorniest issues.

US President Joe Biden attends the opening session of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 1.

President Biden apologized to other world leaders on Monday for the Trump administration’s decision to exit the Paris climate agreement, saying during the United Nations’ climate summit that the US’ exit put the country behind in its climate goals.

The President announced the US would rejoin the Paris accords hours after he was sworn into office in January.

During the session, Biden also said “the American people, four or five years ago, weren’t at all sure about climate change, whether it was real.”

“Well, they have, as they say in southern parts of my state, ‘seen the lord.’ They’ve seen what’s happened back home. The incredible changes that are taking place. And they’re now finally … seeing the sense of urgency that you all are,” Biden continued.

In his earlier opening remarks at the summit, Biden issued a plea and a warning to global leaders to take forceful action on climate change, even as his own climate ambitions hang in the balance.

There’s a lot of technical lingo to get a grasp of if you’re following COP26.

One buzzword you may have heard a lot: Net zero.

Net zero emissions can be achieved by removing as much greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as what’s emitted, so the net amount added is zero.

To do this, countries and companies will need to rely on natural methods — like planting trees or restoring grasslands — to soak up carbon dioxide (CO2), the most abundant greenhouse gas we emit, or use technology to “capture” the gas and store it away where it won’t escape into the atmosphere.

Dozens of countries have already pledged to achieve net zero by mid-century and there is huge pressure on countries that haven’t yet to do so at COP26.

Here are other terms to know to keep up with the talks, understand what’s at stake and, most importantly, sound smart around the dinner table:

Related article What does 'net zero' mean? Our climate change glossary will help you sound smart

Journalists listen to US President Joe Biden speak at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 1.

US President Joe Biden is entering the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, with a message of urgency and what he hopes is a convincing-enough plan to make good on his promise to cut US greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. He arrived Monday morning with a message to leaders that his word is good when it comes to following through on his climate commitments.

Biden’s challenge this week is convincing fellow leaders that the United States will remain committed to the cause, and to cajole them to do more themselves.

“We think this is the decisive decade, the decade of decision, the decade of action. And it is critical that countries lay out long term plans,” said John Kerry, the US envoy for climate change, on the eve of the summit.

Kerry has laid out four main goals for the United States at the Scotland talks:

Biden will be carrying with him significant private sector commitments designed to bolster his pitch, as well as the willingness to aid smaller countries with the financing and technical expertise they may lack.

Biden had once hoped to arrive in Glasgow having passed a signature spending package containing the biggest-ever US investment in combatting climate change, a signal to the world he was serious about reducing greenhouse gasses.

He fell short of that, announcing only a framework plan in the hours before he departed for Europe last week. The bills have yet to be voted upon as Democrats continue haggling over the timing.

It’s just the latest example global players can point to as reason for skepticism after more than three decades of watching the US leadership pendulum swing back and forth on an increasingly urgent and dire issue.

Still, it appears likely the sweeping social legislation will pass eventually, perhaps as soon as this week. And even as the bill was stripped of major liberal priorities and shrank from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, it retained the originally imagined $555 billion in climate and clean energy provisions, the largest single legislative investment on climate in American history.

COP is short for the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change, which is an event that takes place annually, though it was postponed last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. World leaders do attend, but a lot of the discussions take place among ministers and other high-level officials working on climate issues. The 26 signifies that this is the group’s 26th meeting.

More than 190 countries signed onto the Paris Agreement after the COP21 meeting in 2015, to limit the increase in global temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but preferably to 1.5 degrees.

Half a degree may not sound like a huge difference, but scientists say any additional warming past 1.5 degrees will trigger more intense and frequent climate extremes. For example, limiting warming to 1.5 degrees instead of 2 degrees could result in around 420 million fewer people being frequently exposed to extreme heatwaves, according to the UN.

Scientists see 2 degrees as a critical threshold where extreme weather would render some of the world’s most densely populated areas into uninhabitable deserts or flood them with sea water.

“On paper, the Paris Agreement was always designed as a cyclical process — ‘see you in five years, with better plans and renewed efforts,’” said Lola Vallejo, the climate program director at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. “So right now, we are at this deadline, pushed back by Covid.”

Read more about COP26 here.