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The COP26 Coalition: an interview with Quan Nguyen

Patrick Dunne

This month I spoke to Quan Nguyen from the COP26 Coalition to find out more about the international summit on climate change that will be taking place in Glasgow in November 2021— COP26. Alarmingly, the conference is already being derailed by political and economic special interests, including the fossil fuel industry. We discussed what the Coalition is doing to create a movement for Glasgow and beyond. To start, I asked him to tell us a bit about himself and the COP26 Coalition.

Quan: My name is Quan and I work for the COP26 Coalition as the Scottish Co-ordinator. The COP26 Coalition is a broad civil alliance that brings together groups from across society to organise for climate justice at COP26. We are trying very hard to get more than just the usual suspects involved. As well as climate activists, we are working with migrant justice organisers, youth strikers, and direct action groups, and also Trades Unions and faith groups, to form a broad alliance that represents all parts of the UK and can push strongly for transformative change around COP26 and beyond. In Glasgow, we are building towards mobilising as many people as possible for a Global Day of Action on the 6th November, 2021, to give a Glaswegian grounding to our activism when COP26 comes to the city. We are organising a People's Summit that will give a platform those who are most marginalised and most affected by the climate crisis and whose voices won’t be heard in the official COP26 channels.

Me: So, tell us about COP. As I understand it, this is a regular conference bringing governments, NGOs and big groups together to plan for climate change. Is that broadly correct?

Quan: So, let’s start with the technicalities and then move towards the more political side. COP stands for Conference of the Parties, which are the countries that have signed up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). This was a very big treaty signed in 1992, in Rio. Since then, all of the parties that signed the agreement have met up annually— Glasgow will be the 26th time —to find a common framework to address climate change, reduce emissions, and make plans for how to adapt to the changes the world will inevitably face. There have been several milestones since 1992: readers will remember the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, both of which were hammered out at COPs. The Paris Agreement is particularly important because it represents a major shift in the model of reacting to climate change. Kyoto was legally binding; Paris isn't. Under the Paris Agreement, each country has to set out its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), basically saying: ‘This is what we feel like we can and will do this year to reduce emissions.’ Paris also outlined the emission reductions and some of the policies that will be needed to keep global warming capped at two degrees of warming (above pre-industrial levels), or below, if possible. But because none of this is legally binding, none of the countries that have signed up are on track to meet their targeted reduction in emissions that will keep warming below two degrees.

Me: None of them?

Quan: Virtually none. Maybe one or two African countries are on track, but certainly none of the big economies are. We are at about 1 degree of warming right now and we are currently on track for 2.6 to 3 degrees. This is because none of the countries were able to get binding mechanisms in place to enforce the targets. Because of this, COP26 in Glasgow is seen as one of the big milestone COPs— it will be a one of the first opportunities since Paris to reconfirm these targets. The hope is that the Paris Agreement will be replaced by a Glasgow Agreement that will set out a new pathway for keeping warming below two degrees.

Me: So, what will be happening at the conference in Glasgow?

Quan: Lots of the debates will be about carbon markets, NetZero, how to get carbon pricing right, new technologies, and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). But these solutions are what we call false solutions, in that they do not address the underlying causes of the climate crisis. The climate crisis is both a symptom and a cause of the dysfunctional economic system in place across the world— if we don't address that, then we won't address the climate crisis sufficiently. We need to be on pathways that will limit warming to well below the level that will be murderous to those most affected— and those most affected are also those least responsible for the economic system and the climate crisis itself. So, at COP26, Global South countries will be pushing against Global North countries, rejecting these false solutions and pushing for more adaptation and mitigation measures, policies for loss and damage, and so on. Those countries will be arguing for more help with finding ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change; meanwhile, the Global North countries (who are the most responsible and currently least affected by climate change) are going to push for their own solutions, which preserve polluters’ powers, government powers and fossil fuel influence. The entire issue is made worse by the fact that many of the major sponsors of the COP are big polluters themselves. The energy company SSE is the second worst polluter in Scotland, and is a sponsor at COP26. Corporations like BP, and other fossil fuel companies, will have access to the conference, while the climate movement, represented by NGOs, youth strikers, indigenous groups and communities, will have more difficulty getting into COP spaces as observers and far fewer opportunities to talk to and influence (or even shame) the COP delegates.

Me: How has Covid impacted on those climate groups?

Quan: Because of the pandemic, lots of people can't travel to Glasgow. Remember, about half a million people were on the streets at the most recent COP in Madrid; we won't see those numbers in Glasgow, unfortunately. Also, those in the Global South have less access to vaccines. It’s almost impossible now to get any access to COP26 for the communities and groups who are most affected. For this reason, diplomatically speaking, COP26 is a sh!#show. There are more and more questions being raised about what can actually be achieved this November, without the most important voices being in the room— and with the huge power imbalances which have been made so much worse by the pandemic. This is something that people in Glasgow and across the UK need to know about if they want to show international solidarity. Those we need to be in solidarity with might not be able to make it to COP26 and will have a much harder time getting to speak to those in power.

Me: So how can our readers and people in the UK show support and put pressure in the right places between now and November— and beyond?

Quan: One of the tasks of the COP26 Coalition is to try to counterbalance these issues. As I mentioned, we are calling for a Global Day of Action on 6th November 2021— we want as many people as possible to take to the streets. Whether you can get to Glasgow or not, please organise and take part in actions and rallies in your hometowns and home countries (see the links below.) The day before that, 5th November 2021, is a Global Youth Strike organised by Fridays for Future. We will be seeing actions taking place across the world, from Indonesia, China, the US, and Brazil to the UK. We are also predicting that travel within the UK might be limited, or that people will be hesitant to travel, so for that reason we have established a local Hub system across the UK so that people can mobilise in their hometowns and in cities. So, there are ways to mobilise before and during COP26— and, even more importantly, to stay engaged and organised after COP26 so that we can use this as a turning point from which to build the system change that we need.

We are also organising a People's Summit for 7-10th November, 2021. These dates are the Sunday to the Wednesday of the second negotiation week during COP26. During this time, we will platform those who haven’t been able to speak in the conference itself, inviting them to share their experiences of the climate crisis and what is really going on. This summit will take a hybrid format— there will be inperson events across a variety of venues in Glasgow, as well as online content. There are also ways to get involved as hosts for activists looking for somewhere to stay in or near Glasgow, or opportunities to participate at art hubs and in a range of kitchens and campsites that will be being used in Glasgow, Edinburgh and nearby during the weeks of COP26. We shouldn't kid ourselves, after Covid, times have changed. The mass activism we saw two years ago isn't possible now and we need to adapt to that, while keeping the pressure on politicians and corporations.

Me: Thank you, Quan, for your time and all that you are doing in the run-up to COP26, and your efforts to make sure that this moment galvanises all of us to do the work we need— not just in November in Glasgow, but afterwards. We need to make radical changes to our economy and politics and society, in order to develop a just global response to the climate crisis and the causes of the climate crisis.

I invite our readers to get involved in their Hubs, follow the COP26 Coalition on social media, and get registered for hosting. You can find out more and get involved here: cop26coalition.org/Glasgow/how-can-i-getinvolved

Here’s the link to find your local hub: cop26coalition.org/resource/local-hubassemblies

And you can offer to host an activist here: humanhotel.com/cop26

Follow the action and show your support through these Twitter channels: @COP26_Coalition @Ggow_COP26 @Fridays4future