After two weeks of intense negotiations, COP26 President Alok Sharma finally brought down the gavel on the “Glasgow climate pact” late on Saturday afternoon. Moments before, Sharma struggled to hold back tears as he apologised to delegates for the way a last-minute intervention from India and China had watered down part of the deal.

 

Public reaction to the deal has been as divisive as it has been at any point during the landmark event. And with so much at stake, it is no wonder. Many argue that despite major compromises, nations had nonetheless worked together to keep 1.5C alive. Opponents of the deal claim COP26 has been an outright failure that has kept the world on track for a climate catastrophe.

 

Throughout the conference, Camco has been regularly providing reflections on key moments and developments as they occurred, including these LinkedIn posts on the Conference of Youth (or COY16) and the finance, energy, adaptation and gender themed days.

 

These posts benefited from having a continuous on-the-ground presence at COP26 in the form of Investment Director Ben Hugues during the first week and General Counsel Karl Upston-Hooper last week. Ben and Karl actively participated in side events in Glasgow (as did MD Geoff Sinclair and associate Sidney Wakaba) and produced a series of broadcasts in partnership with ESI Africa. Their short films (see below) offer a mix of reflections and interviews, culminating with Karl’s post-event snappy summary of the deal itself.

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1. Hello from Glasgow (Ben Hugues)