November 18, 2021

We Go Inside the COP26 Climate Talks

41 minutes

At the COP26 UN climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, nearly 200 countries signed a deal aimed at increasing efforts to tackle climate change. The goal? "Keep 1.5 alive" — that is, set the world on a credible path to limit warming to 1.5°C and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. So, did countries succeed? We take you inside COP26: from the protests at the gates to the late night negotiations — and the single word that almost brought the whole deal down.

Calls to action

How do you get better results at the UN climate talks? By taking action at home! And if your home is the U.S., there’s a particularly effective action you can take right now: Call Congress! Yes, we know, we’ve said it before. But lawmakers are still, right this very moment, debating the “Build Back Better” plan, which includes major investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles and more — and would get the U.S. much closer to meeting its pledge to cut emissions in half by 2030. Not sure how to call? Check out call4climate.com where you can find contact information for your representatives and simple scripts to help when you call.

Want to learn more? For more on the history of COPs, the Paris Agreement, and the 1.5°C goal check out our episode, “The Small Island Nations that Got Big Action on Climate”

Check out our Calls to Action archive for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Send us your ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Rachel Waldholz. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Anna Ladd, and Hannah Chinn. Our supervising producer is Lauren Silverman with help from Katelyn Bogucki. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Our intern is Nicole Welch. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard and Lonnie Ro with original music by Peter Leonard and Emma Munger. Our fact-checker this episode is Claudia Geib. The man you heard singing in the Darth Vader suit is Jamen Shively.

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