As the first five-year cycle of the emission reduction targets under the Paris Agreement came to an end, the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow brought parties together to take stock on the progress achieved and to update collective commitments to combat climate change. After difficult negotiations and last-minute objections, COP26 concluded with a deal that agreed rules on the international trading of carbon emission allowances and for the first time, targets fossil fuels as the main driver of climate change. Yet, the negotiations failed to reach an agreement on the phasing out of coal, and instead they could only reach a comprise on a phase-down approach.
With extended talks and tough negotiations, COP26 once again highlighted the hurdles of agreeing collective actions against climate change and unsurprisingly, divided opinion as to its success. Put bluntly by world-famous climate activist, Greta Thunberg summarised the results of COP26 as nothing more than “blah blah blah”. But was there more substance to the agreements than this?
To bring more young voices to the heart of high-level policy debates, the CEPS Young Thinkers Initiative launches its new series “Over to Youth” with this webinar dedicated to climate policy. The event will bring together world famous climate activists, policy makers and experts from across the globe with CEPS young thinkers to discuss the results and implications of COP26.
AGENDA:
Keynote speech:
- Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, Founder, Fridays for Future Uganda
Followed by a roundtable with young thinkers and invited speakers:
- Paloma Costa, Member, United Nations Secretary-General Youth Advisory Group on Climate change
- Jules Kortenhorst, Chief Executive Officer, RMI and founding CEO of the European Climate Foundation
- Mihir Swarup Sharma, Director Centre for Economy and Growth Programme, Observer Research Foundation
- Tinatin Akhvlediani (moderator), Research Fellow, CEPS
- Milan Elkerbout, Research Fellow, CEPS
- Pablo T Rasmussen, Member, Next Generation Initiative, Foreign Policy for America, Alumnus of Harvard College
- Weiming Huang, MA student at the European University Institute
- Francisco Jose Lopez, MA student at Stockholm University
- Chloe Ludden, Scientific Assistant at German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP Berlin), Alumnus of Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg
- Signe Kossmann, Research Assistant at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs), Alumnus of Cambridge University
The event is supported by the Mission of the United States to the EU and the Open Society Foundation.
