Commonwealth Secretariat at COP26

Event date: 31 October 2021, 0:00 - 12 November 2021, 0:00

The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 was held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November. At COP26, the Commonwealth Secretariat hosted its first ever Commonwealth Pavilion, to serve as an inclusive and collaborative space for member countries and accredited organisations. Watch highlights and events recordings on our COP26 hub. You can also see what the Commonwealth Secretariat achieved at COP26 on social media by following the hashtag #CommonwealthForClimate.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 was held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November, bringing together leaders, negotiators, climate experts, civil society, companies and people on the frontline of climate change to adopt harmonised action for tackling the global climate crisis.

The summit was the first COP meeting to be held since the coronavirus pandemic began, and the largest gathering of world leaders ever hosted by the United Kingdom.

Commonwealth advocacy priorities

At this significant event, the Commonwealth Secretariat engaged stakeholders at strategic and technical levels, with the following aims:

  • To advocate and amplify the issues, concerns and recommendations of member countries, particularly small and other vulnerable states;
  • To exchange knowledge and best practices around robust climate action;
  • To forge and strengthen partnerships and networks for collaboration;
  • To mobilise resources to support Commonwealth climate change programmes.

Advocacy priorities for the Commonwealth Secretariat include:

  • enhanced access to climate finance;
  • ocean climate action;
  • gender equality and youth engagement in the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); and
  • achieving an inclusive and sustainable energy transition towards carbon neutrality by mid-century.

See a highlights video of the Commonwealth Secretariat at COP26:

Key Secretariat initiatives

COP26 also provided a platform to highlight key initiatives of the Secretariat such as: 

Commonwealth Pavilion at COP26

The Secretariat organised its first Commonwealth Pavilion at COP26 to serve as an inclusive and collaborative space for member countries and accredited organisations to meet, host side events and trainings, convene meetings and also showcase research and analytical work.

See what the Commonwealth Secretariat achieved at COP26 on social media with hashtag #CommonwealthForClimate.     

For more information, please contact the Climate Change Section.