Challenging Climate Negotiations Deliver Limited Progress Toward COP26

A World Resources Institute briefing analyzing the outcomes of the UN Climate Change subsidiary bodies sessions held online prior to COP26. The document reports that progress on implementing the Paris Agreement was uneven and limited, hampered by both virtual logistical challenges and deep political divides between nations.

• The virtual nature of the UN Climate Change subsidiary bodies sessions created significant logistical hurdles, including connectivity issues and time zone coordination difficulties, though these were secondary to the substantive political divides between countries.
• Developing countries expressed dissatisfaction with an imbalanced agenda that omitted critical priority topics such as the $100-billion climate finance goal, a post-2025 finance target, loss and damage, and the global goal on adaptation.
• Progress on the Paris Agreement Rulebook remained limited; while some standardized reporting tables were proposed for the enhanced transparency framework, negotiations on Article 6 carbon markets reached no clear breakthroughs due to disputes over double counting, revenue for adaptation, and human rights safeguards.
• There was broad consensus on the importance of non-state actor input for the first cycle of the global stocktake, which is scheduled to begin at COP26.
• Discussions on climate finance highlighted persistent barriers to access, the risk of debt stress caused by the increasing use of loans, and the urgent need to scale up funding to meet the annual $100-billion goal.
• Negotiations on 'response measures' regarding the impacts of climate action stalled due to disagreements over COVID-19 related delays, though developing countries specifically sought to include the impact of fuel levies on tourism and Carbon Border Adjustment Measures.
• China's insistence on closing sessions regarding the enhanced transparency framework to observer organizations, including civil society and the private sector, was noted as a move that undermined trust in the process.

APA

World Resources Institute (2021). Challenging Climate Negotiations Deliver Limited Progress Toward COP26. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/challenging-climate-negotiations-deliver-limited-progress-toward-cop26

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Challenging Climate Negotiations Deliver Limited Progress Toward COP26. 2021. https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/challenging-climate-negotiations-deliver-limited-progress-toward-cop26.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Challenging Climate Negotiations Deliver Limited Progress Toward COP26 |date=21 June 2021 |url=https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/challenging-climate-negotiations-deliver-limited-progress-toward-cop26 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2021challenging, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Challenging Climate Negotiations Deliver Limited Progress Toward COP26}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/challenging-climate-negotiations-deliver-limited-progress-toward-cop26}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }