COP26 第26届联合国气候变化大会
Let’s start with the name of the event itself, COP26. In layman’s terms, this is the 26th UN climate change conference, but officially it is the 26th Conference of the Parties (or COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Let’s break that down a bit…
The UNFCCC was established following the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio (often referred to as the Earth Summit). The stated aim of the UNFCCC was to reduce greenhouse gases in order to prevent dangerous climate change caused by human activity.
Conferences of the Parties to the convention, or COPs, are the formal meetings that have taken place every year since 1995, apart from 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic meant that COP26 was delayed by a year.
先来看COP26。简单地说，就是第26届联合国气候变化大会。但正式来讲，这是《联合国气候变化框架公约》缔约方大会第二十六次会议的全称。我们来详细解释一下。
《联合国气候变化框架公约》是在1992年巴西里约热内卢举行的联合国环境与发展会议（又称“地球峰会”）上开放签署的。《公约》旨在减少温室气体，以防止人类活动对气候系统的危险干扰。
《公约》于1994年生效，目前有197个缔约方（196个国家以及欧盟）。自1995年以来，缔约方每年举行一次正式会议，即缔约方大会（Conference of the Parties）。COP就是缔约方大会的简称。
COP26原定2020年在英国格拉斯哥举行，由于新冠疫情推迟了一年。
SDG 可持续发展目标
There are 17 inter-linked Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, which focus on challenges ranging from clean energy access, to poverty reduction and responsible consumption.
Together, the SDGs make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN’s blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.
Climate Change is one of the Goals (SDG 13), but t’s becoming increasingly clear that climate change plays a role in many, if not all of the SDGs, and that achieving the 2030 Agenda will be impossible without making serious inroads into tackling the problem.
可持续发展目标呼吁全世界共同采取行动，消除贫困、保护地球、改善所有人的福祉和未来。
17项目标于2015年由联合国所有会员国一致通过，作为《2030年可持续发展议程》的组成部分。该议程为世界各国在15年内实现17项目标指明了方向。
其中，目标13要求采取紧急行动应对气候变化及其影响。可以说，气候变化对其他各项目标的实现都会造成影响。如果不认真应对气候变化，2030年议程就不可能实现。
NDC 国家自主贡献
This stands for Nationally Determined Contribution, the detailed plan that individual countries are required to make, under the Paris Agreement, to show how they will cut the amount of harmful greenhouse gases they emit. All countries are expected to revise their NDC to reflect greater ambition.
Presently, these plans are not sufficient to keep global warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, so this year, there is increased pressure on countries to sharply increase their level of ambition.
根据《巴黎协定》，各国必须制定详细的计划，以表明将如何减少有害温室气体的排放量。预计所有国家都将更新其国家自主贡献，以展现更大的减排雄心。
目前，这些计划不足以将全球气温的升幅控制在相较工业化前水平的1.5℃以内。因此，今年，各国面临着巨大压力，需要大幅提高其雄心水平。
Net Zero 净零
Put simply, net zero means cutting emissions to as close to zero as possible, such as by moving toward a green economy and clean renewable energy, with any remaining emissions reabsorbed, including oceans and forests.
Practically every country has joined the Paris Agreement on climate change, which calls for keeping the global temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial era levels.
If we continue to pump out the emissions that cause climate change, however, temperatures will continue to rise well beyond 1.5, to levels that threaten the lives and livelihoods of people everywhere.
This is why a growing number of countries are making commitments to achieve “net zero” emissions by 2050. It’s a big task, requiring ambitious actions starting right now.
简言之，净零排放意味着尽可能地将排放量削减到接近零的水平。比如通过转型绿色经济和清洁可再生能源，包括可以吸收温室气体排放物的海洋和森林。
实际上，每个国家都加入了气候变化《巴黎协定》，该协定要求将全球气温的升幅控制在相较工业化前水平的1.5℃以内。
然而，如果我们继续排放导致气候变化的排放物，气温将继续上升，远远超过1.5℃，威胁到世界各地人民的生命和生计。
这就是为什么越来越多的国家承诺到2050年实现净零排放。这是一项艰巨的任务，需要立即采取雄心勃勃的行动。
1.5°C “1.5℃目标”
You’ll be hearing “the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius” a lot during COP. In a 2018, an IPCC report, reviewed by thousands of scientists and governments, found that limiting global temperature rise to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (in the mid-18th century), would help us avoid the worst climate impacts and maintain a liveable climate.
According to the latest data, our world has already warmed between 1.06 to 1.26 above pre-industrial levels, and even if current promises are met, we would still be on a course to reach 2.7°C this century. This would mean a “climate catastrophe” as highlighted by the UN Secretary-General, with a possible collapse of ecosystems, and life as we know it.
在COP26举行期间，你会经常听到“1.5℃目标”。2018年，一份由数千名科学家和多国政府编写的政府间气候变化专门委员会报告发现，通过将全球气温的升幅控制在相较工业化前水平的1.5℃以内可以避免最恶劣的气候影响，并保持宜居气候。
根据最新数据，全球气温已经比工业化前水平升高了1.06-1.26℃。即使当前的承诺全部实现，全球气温仍将在本世纪升高2.7℃。这意味着联合国秘书长强调的“气候灾难”，生态系统和我们所知的生命都可能面临崩溃。
IPCC 政府间气候变化专门委员会（气专委）
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change.
Created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the objective of the IPCC is to provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.
IPCC reports are also a key input into the international climate change negotiations that will be happening during COP26. A major report released in August showed that unless there are rapid, sustained and large-scale reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2, methane and others, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C will be beyond reach.
政府间气候变化专门委员会（气专委）是联合国评估气候变化相关科学的机构。
气专委由联合国环境规划署和世界气象组织于1988年建立，旨在向世界提供一个清晰的有关对当前气候变化及其潜在环境和社会经济影响认知状况的科学观点。
气专委的报告也是COP26期间国际气候变化谈判的主要基础。气专委8月发布的一份重要报告显示，除非迅速、持续和大规模地减少温室气体排放，包括二氧化碳、甲烷和其他排放，否则将全球气温升幅控制在1.5℃以内的目标将遥不可及。
SIDS 小岛屿发展中国家
Small Island Developing States are a distinct group of 58 low-lying island nations that are highly vulnerable and often affected by weather extremes and climate change, including the increased severity of cyclones, storm surges, heavy rains, droughts, sea-level rise and ocean acidification.
During the latest high-level week of the General Assembly, SIDS leaders from Fiji, Tuvalu and the Maldives took centre stage saying their nations are facing an existential threat if rich countries fail to make good on their promises to turn the tide on global warming.
小岛屿发展中国家是由58个低海岸国家组成的独特群体。这些国家非常脆弱，经常遭受极端天气和气候变化的影响，包括气旋、风暴潮、暴雨、干旱、海平面上升和海洋酸化的加剧。
在最近举行联合国大会高级别周期间，斐济、图瓦卢和马尔代夫的国家领导人为小岛屿发展中国家发声。他们表示，如果富裕国家不能兑现扭转全球变暖趋势的承诺，这些小岛屿国家将面临生死存亡的威胁。
Climate finance 气候融资
Broadly speaking, climate finance relates to the money which needs to be spent on a whole range of activities to reduce the emissions that are causing climate change, and to help people adapt to and build resilience for the impacts of climate change that are already occurring.
It can involve local, national, or transnational financing, which may be drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing. Climate finance is critical to addressing climate change, because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions, notably in sectors that emit large quantities of greenhouse gases, and to help adaptation efforts.
In 2009, during the COP15 in Copenhagen rich nations promised to channel $100 billion a year to less-wealthy nations by 2020, to help them adapt to climate change and mitigate further rises in temperature.
The promise still hasn’t been delivered—climate finance to developing countries presently amounts to about $80 billion–, and therefore climate finance will be one of the biggest issues of discussion during COP26.
应对气候变化需要财政资源和合理的投资，以减少排放、促进适应已经产生的影响以及增强抵御力。
气候融资可以在地方、国家或跨国层面进行。这些融资可能来自公共、私人和其他融资来源。气候融资对于应对气候变化和促进适应至关重要，因为需要大规模投资来大幅减少排放，特别是在排放大量温室气体的部门。
2009年，在哥本哈根举行的COP15期间，富裕国家承诺到2020年每年向并不富裕的国家提供1000亿美元，帮助这些国际适应气候变化，减缓气温的进一步上升。
这一承诺仍然没有兑现。目前向发展中国家提供的气候融资总额约为800亿美元。因此，气候融资将是COP26期间讨论的最重要的问题之一。
SBTi 基于科学的目标倡议
This stands for the UN-backed Science Based Target initiative. Companies which sign up to the initiative set science-based emission reduction targets, which leave them better equipped to tackle climate change, and making them more competitive, in the transition to a net-zero economy.
Science-based target setting has become a standard business practice, and corporations are playing a major role in driving down global greenhouse gas emissions and in supporting the implementation of country commitments.
基于科学的目标倡议得到联合国的支持。签署该倡议的公司设定了基于科学的减排目标，这使它们在零碳经济的过渡中做好应对气候变化的准备，提高其竞争优势。
设定基于科学的目标已成为一种标准的商业做法。企业在降低全球温室气体排放和支持履行国家承诺方面发挥着重要作用。
Nature-based Solutions 基于自然的解决方案
Nature-based Solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.
Nature-Based Solutions are an essential part of the overall global effort to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change: they are a vital complement to decarbonisation, reducing climate change risks and establishing climate resilient societies.
Examples include massive tree planting programmes, which absorb carbon and provide protection from intense rainfall, and rebuilding mangroves, which provide effective and cheap natural barriers against coastal floods and shoreline erosion.
基于自然的解决方案指的是对生态系统加以保护和修复，并对其进行可持续管理，使其能够有效和适应性地应对社会挑战，有益于人类福祉和生物多样性。
基于自然的解决方案是实现气候变化《巴黎协定》目标全球努力的重要组成部分，是对低碳化、降低气候变化风险和建立气候适应性社会的重要补充。
例如，大规模植树造林，可以吸收二氧化碳，并提供保护免受强降雨的影响。恢复红树林提供了有效且廉价的天然屏障，抵御沿海洪水，防止海岸线遭受侵蚀。
G20 20国集团
The Group of 20 (G20) is an intergovernmental forum comprising most of the world’s largest economies: 19 nations and the European Union. They work to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
The UN Secretary-General has made clear that climate action must be led by G20 nations, which collectively account for around 90 per cent of gross world product, 75-80 per cent of international trade and two thirds or the world’s population.
Their commitment during COP26 is crucial for curbing greenhouse gases and stop fuelling climate change.
20国集团是一个政府间论坛，由世界上大多数最大的经济体组成：19个国家和欧盟。它们致力于解决与全球经济相关的重大问题，如国际金融稳定、缓解气候变化和可持续发展。
联合国秘书长已明确表示，气候行动必须由20国集团国家牵头，这些国家总共占世界生产总值的90%左右，占国际贸易的75%至80%，占世界人口的三分之二。
20国集团在COP26期间的承诺对于遏制温室气体排放至关重要。
AGN 非洲气候变化谈判代表小组
The African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) was established at COP1 in Berlin, Germany in 1995 as an alliance of African member states that represents the interests of the region in the international climate change negotiations, with a common and unified voice.
非洲气候变化谈判代表小组于1995年在德国柏林COP1会议上成立，是一个由非洲成员国组成的联盟，在国际气候变化谈判中代表该地区的利益，发出共同和统一的声音。
GCAA 全球气候行动议程
Outside the formal intergovernmental negotiations, countries, cities and regions, businesses and civil society members across the world are already taking action for the climate.
The Global Climate Action Agenda (GCAA), initiated under the Lima Paris Action Agenda, was launched to spur rapid climate action, boost cooperation between governments, local authorities, the business community, investors, and civil society, and to support the adoption and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
除了正式的政府间谈判之外，世界各地的国家、城市、地区、企业和民间社会成员也在为气候问题采取行动。
全球气候行动议程是在“利马巴黎行动议程”下发起的，旨在推动加快气候行动，促进政府、地方当局、企业界、投资者和民间社会之间的合作，并支持《巴黎协定》的通过和实施。
联合国新闻将在格拉斯哥带来有关COP26的特别报道。更多信息敬请关注。
