World

What to watch for on Monday at COP26.

The next two days of the United Nations-led climate talks in Glasgow will be an opportunity to hear from nearly 100 heads of state and governments on what steps they plan to take to tackle climate change.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain will be one of the first speakers, welcoming the more than 100 guests to the World Leaders Summit. He will be followed by the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, and other dignitaries, including Prince Charles, and David Attenborough, the nature documentarian. Standard fare for conferences, there will be a cultural performance.

In the afternoon, the leaders will give brief speeches that lay out “concrete actions and credible plans” through Tuesday, according to organizers. The presidents and prime ministers will then have time to break off into one-on-one meetings.

The focus will be on what the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations, known as the Group of 20, will say. On Sunday, they wrapped up a meeting in Rome, agreeing on language that they hoped would frame the talks in Glasgow. The speeches will be opportunities for them to outline real-world actions.

The speakers list includes President Biden, Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy and President Narendra Modi of India. Of note, President Xi Jinping of China will not make an appearance.

The speeches are a preamble to the nuts-and-bolt negotiations that diplomats and climate experts will engage in during the next two weeks, in the hope of making progress on an overall plan to confront climate change.

Shortly before traveling to the summit, Mr. Biden, who is also scheduled to make a statement on Monday, said that he would “be there with bells on.”

Back to top button