COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series

Chatham House is organizing monthly briefings to discuss the most pressing climate issues with UK and international government officials and experts.

In November 2021, the UK is hosting the UN’s annual climate change conference (COP26), in partnership with Italy. The conference is considered to be the most important climate summit since 2015’s COP21 in Paris and its main aim is to increase climate ambition – on mitigation, adaptation and finance.

In the run-up to COP26, Chatham House is organizing monthly briefings for diplomats and other government officials worldwide. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all events online. Since January 2020, the diplomatic briefings have covered a range of pertinent topics, like climate finance; adaptation and resilience; the energy transition; and the shifting politics of the UN climate negotiations.

Speakers have included H.E Ban Ki-Moon (8th Secretary General of the UN; Chair of the Board of the Global Center on Adaptation; Deputy Chair of the Elders), Tenzin Wangmo (Lead Negotiator for the Least Developed Countries Group), the Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan (UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency; Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth), Archie Young (the UK’s Lead Climate Negotiator), and H.E. Saida Muna Tasneem (High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the UK, Ireland and Liberia).

Would you like to receive invitations to the diplomatic briefings? Please email Anna Aberg, Research Analyst.

Chatham House is also producing a podcast – the Climate Briefing – which follows the themes of the diplomatic briefings. All episodes are available below and on all major podcast platforms.

Project content

What was achieved at COP26? And what do different parties make of the outcome?

How did developing countries respond to the outcomes from COP26?

Why do the impacts of climate change fall disproportionately on women? And what does gender-responsive climate policy look like?

What have the COP26 negotiations achieved so far? And what’s coming up next week?

How are states approaching the issue of restoring and protecting biodiversity alongside the climate action agenda?

What could be the knock-on effects of failure to limit global warming?

The Environment and Society Programme take stock of what the negotiations have achieved so far, and what positive outcomes may emerge in Glasgow.

The Climate Briefing banner showing two people in a boat on a late with wind turbines in the background.

Italy’s hosting of the G20 this year could present a significant opportunity to achieve progress at COP26.

Ahead of the G7 Summit, the Climate Briefing returns to the question of financing climate action.

As the G7 Leaders summit approaches, The Climate Briefing considers the opportunities it presents for progress on global climate action.

How can societies deal with the real-time effects of climate change?

More than five years have passed since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, and there are only nine months to go until COP26.

How could the adoption of carbon pricing mechanisms contribute to global action on climate change? And what is driving the the UN negotiations over Article 6 of the Paris Agreement?

Hopes for progress on international climate action could hang in the balance at the upcoming US presidential elections.

The Climate Briefing returns from its summer break with a deepdive into the history of the international climate agenda.

The Climate Briefing returns with two new interviews on the transition towards a renewable energy sector.

This episode focuses on the strategies that can be deployed to enable the industrial sectors in both developed and developing countries to reach net-zero emissions.

In this episode, the team consider the question of financing international action to address climate change.

How could COVID-19 change our approach to environmental issues?

This explores the implications of climate change for national security, and how defence establishments are incorporating environmental concerns into their military planning.

The Climate Briefing returns with interviews on European approaches to climate action, and the role that business can play in achieving the Paris Agreement goals.

Past events

What progress are African countries making towards updating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?

How, in concrete terms, can governments help deliver a ‘just transition’?