Quick answer: COP26 five years on, key figures

Answer-first COP26, Glasgow, 31 October to 12 November 2021 · Status reviewed May 2026
Countries signed
197
UNFCCC parties at COP26
Methane pledge
110+
Countries committing -30% by 2030
GFANZ at launch
$130tn
Assets under management, Nov 2021
GFANZ today
~$100tn
After US bank exits, May 2026
UK 2030 target
-68%
On 1990, partly on track
Working: UK power decarbonisation, OECD coal phase-out
Not working: Forests pledge, UK heat and transport

What was actually agreed at COP26

COP26 was the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Glasgow hosted it from 31 October to 12 November 2021, after a one year postponement for the pandemic. The headline output was the Glasgow Climate Pact, a final negotiated text, plus a string of side-deal pledges signed by groups of countries outside the formal UNFCCC process.

The Glasgow Climate Pact is the legal output, but it is not a treaty. It is a consensus text every COP delegation has to sign off. Think of it as the joint communique at the end of a G20, not a binding contract. Countries then translate it into their own laws at their own pace.

Four side-deal pledges grabbed most of the headlines:

  • The Glasgow Climate Pact itself, with the first ever COP text reference to a coal "phasedown";
  • The Global Methane Pledge, signed by more than 110 countries to cut methane 30% by 2030;
  • The Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests, $19bn pledged to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030;
  • The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), $130tn of finance signed up to net zero alignment.

Two other moves mattered more than they were reported at the time. India announced a net zero target for 2070, the first time the third largest emitter put a date on a target. The United States and China issued a joint declaration to "enhance ambition" on climate, signed by John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua, which steadied a wobbly process.

Plain language note. A pledge in a COP communique is closer to a New Year's resolution than a contract. It signals intent to a domestic audience and a global one. Whether it survives depends on national politics, economics and what the next government decides.

Was COP26 a success? Why most retrospectives miss the point

Most one year and three year COP26 retrospectives split into two camps. The first calls it a triumph because the Pact mentioned fossil fuels and the methane pledge crossed 100 signatories. The second calls it a failure because emissions kept rising in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Both miss the point.

COP26 was always theatre with substance. The theatre is the closing-night drama, the photo opportunities, the speeches. The substance is what happens in domestic legislation in the months either side. The UK 6th Carbon Budget, for example, was legislated in June 2021, four months before COP26 opened, partly so the UK could host the conference with a credible domestic target. That sequencing matters more than any line in the final text.

Five tests of whether COP26 actually mattered, set out before the conference and now checkable:

  1. 1Did large emitters set new 2030 targets? Partly. India set 2070 net zero. China repeated its "before 2030" peak. The EU and UK already had targets;
  2. 2Did fossil fuel finance start to dry up? No. International public finance for coal abroad fell, but private oil and gas finance is broadly flat to 2020 levels in 2024 to 2025;
  3. 3Did rich countries deliver the $100bn a year climate finance promise? Late. The OECD says it was met for the first time in 2022, two years after the 2020 deadline;
  4. 4Did the methane pledge bend the curve? Not yet. The IEA says energy sector methane emissions in 2024 were close to 2020 levels;
  5. 5Did the forest pledge halt deforestation? No. The Forest Declaration Assessment 2024 says loss is still 45% above the level consistent with the 2030 target.

Two clear wins, three clear misses. Calling COP26 a success or a failure in shorthand obscures that mixed record.

The four headline pledges, five years on

A pledge-by-pledge breakdown of where the four big Glasgow side deals stand in May 2026, with the practical implication for a UK bill payer.

Coal phasedown: the wording that nearly fell apart

The original draft text said "phase out". India intervened on the closing night, backed by China, and forced a change to "phase down". COP president Alok Sharma visibly fought back tears as he gavelled the change through. In the UK, the practical effect was already happening: the last coal-fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, closed in September 2024, ending 142 years of coal power in Britain.

Globally the picture is the opposite. The International Energy Agency reported global coal consumption hit a record in 2024, driven by China, India and South East Asia. OECD coal is falling, non-OECD coal is rising faster.

Methane pledge: signed by many, ignored by the biggest

Methane is a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times stronger than CO2 over 20 years, mostly from cattle, leaky gas pipes and rotting food in landfill. Cutting it is the fastest way to slow near-term warming. More than 110 countries signed at COP26, including the EU, US and UK.

China, Russia and India, three of the four largest methane emitters, did not. The IEA Methane Tracker for 2024 says global energy-sector methane was within 1% of 2020 levels, so the pledge is well behind a 30% cut by 2030.

Forests pledge: the money did not turn up

The Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests committed $19bn of public and private money to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. The Forest Declaration Assessment 2024 counted roughly $2.4bn delivered through end-2024 against that pledge. Tropical primary forest loss fell modestly in 2023, then spiked again with Amazon and Congo basin fires in 2024.

GFANZ: the $130tn number that quietly broke

GFANZ launched with a single eye-catching number: $130 trillion of assets under management aligned with net zero. AUM means assets under management, the total pile of money a financial firm manages. Critics pointed out at the time that committing to align with net zero is not the same as actually divesting from fossil fuels, and the alliance had no enforcement.

Between November 2024 and January 2025, the six largest US banks (JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs) left the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, the banking arm of GFANZ, under political pressure from the new US administration. Several US asset managers stepped back from related groups. The wider alliance still exists, but the headline AUM has fractured to an estimated $100tn or so.

What COP26 changed in the UK

The UK government used the COP26 presidency to push three things at home, in the months either side of the summit.

The 6th Carbon Budget, legislated June 2021

Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the UK sets five year carbon budgets recommended by the independent Climate Change Committee. The 6th Carbon Budget, covering 2033 to 2037, was legislated in June 2021, four months before COP26. It set a target of -78% on 1990 emissions by 2035, a faster pace than any other G7 economy.

This was the UK's "show your work" before chairing COP26. It is also the toughest legally binding target the UK has, and the one against which the Climate Change Committee tracks progress every year.

The Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy

Published in October 2021, two weeks before COP26, the Net Zero Strategy was the first cross-government plan to put 2050 net zero into sectoral pathways. The Heat and Buildings Strategy, published the same day, introduced the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (a grant for heat pumps), the 2035 phase-out date for new gas boilers, and a target of 600,000 heat pump installs a year by 2028.

Retail energy and the cost of getting there

COP26 did not invent the costs that show up on your bill. It did sharpen them. Network investment to connect new offshore wind, the smart meter rollout, the Renewables Obligation legacy costs and the Capacity Market all sit inside your unit rate or standing charge.

In the Autumn Budget 2025, the government moved roughly £130 per typical dual fuel household of green and social levies off energy bills and into general taxation, partly to cushion the rollout of further decarbonisation costs. The Ofgem price cap for Q2 2026 sits at £1,641 a year for a typical home, down £117 on Q1 2026, largely because of that levy move.

Where the UK is winning and where it isn't

The Climate Change Committee's 2024 Progress Report is the closest thing to an independent scorecard. It says the UK is on track to hit its 6th Carbon Budget on power, but not on heat or transport.

Winning: power decarbonisation

UK electricity generation is now around 60% low-carbon (wind, solar, nuclear, hydro), the highest share of any large economy. The last coal-fired power station closed in September 2024. Offshore wind capacity is on track to roughly double by 2030 under the latest Contracts for Difference auctions. Per unit of electricity, the grid is roughly four times cleaner than in 1990.

Losing: heat in homes

Heat pump installs are running at roughly a third of the pace the 6th Carbon Budget needs. The 2028 target of 600,000 installs a year is almost certainly unreachable on current trends. Insulation rates have improved slightly but remain below the rate needed. Gas boilers are still the default in over 22 million UK homes.

Losing: surface transport

Surface transport (cars, vans, buses, rail) is now the UK's largest emitting sector. Electric vehicle sales hit roughly 22% of new car registrations in 2025, but the total car fleet turnover is slow, and miles driven by petrol and diesel cars rose modestly in 2024. The 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales was pushed to 2035 by the previous government, then partly reinstated; the policy clarity that fleet buyers need is still patchy.

Live tracker

The COP26 pledge tracker

Click any pledge to see what happened and what it means for a UK bill payer. Status is reviewed May 2026.

India watered down the wording from "phase out" to "phase down" on the closing night. Five years on, the UK closed its last coal plant in September 2024 and most OECD countries are on track. China and India added more coal capacity in 2024 than the rest of the world retired. For your UK bill, the cost of taking coal off the grid is already in your standing charge through network investment.

Methane is a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times stronger than CO2 over a 20 year window, mostly from cattle, leaky gas pipes and rotting food. Over 110 countries signed at COP26, but the three largest emitters (China, Russia, India) did not. The IEA reported energy sector methane emissions roughly flat to slightly higher in 2024 versus 2020. For UK households, leak repair on the gas grid is a small slice of your gas standing charge.

Of the $19bn promised, the Forest Declaration Assessment counted roughly $2.4bn actually delivered through 2024. Tropical primary forest loss rose in 2022, fell modestly in 2023, then spiked again with Amazon and Congo basin fires in 2024. UK supply chain rules under the Environment Act 2021 are still not fully in force in 2026, so the bill payer impact is indirect.

GFANZ launched at COP26 with $130 trillion of AUM signed up to net zero commitments. By early 2025, the six largest US banks (JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs) had left the banking arm, citing political pressure. Remaining AUM is estimated near $100 trillion. For UK retail energy, the practical effect is patchy: green capital for renewables remains plentiful, but coal and oil financing has not dried up at the pace COP26 implied.

The UK legislated the 6th Carbon Budget in June 2021, partly to lead by example into COP26. The Climate Change Committee says the power sector is on track to be largely decarbonised by 2030, but heat pump installs are running at roughly a third of the pace required, and surface transport emissions fell only slightly in 2024. The bill payer impact is direct: home heating policy and electricity network upgrades both feed into your standing charge.

Status reviewed 18 May 2026. Sources: UNFCCC NDC registry, IEA Methane Tracker 2024, Forest Declaration Assessment 2024, Climate Change Committee 2024 Progress Report, IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report.

What this means for your energy bill

COP26 does not show up as a line on your bill. It shows up in five places, mostly indirect, none of them obvious.

  1. 1

    Network costs in your standing charge.

    Connecting new offshore wind, upgrading the grid for heat pumps and EV chargers, and rebuilding regional networks all sit inside the daily standing charge. This is the slowest moving but largest single driver of bill structure in the 2030s.

  2. 2

    Renewables levies in your unit rate.

    The Renewables Obligation (closed to new entrants) and Contracts for Difference (which guarantees a price to new wind and solar) are funded through electricity. Many earlier contracts are now paying money back to consumers when wholesale prices spike.

  3. 3

    Future hydrogen levies.

    A hydrogen levy on energy bills was legislated in the Energy Act 2023 but its implementation date and scope are still being designed in 2026. If switched on, it would be a small but visible add to bills, primarily on gas.

  4. 4

    Boiler Upgrade Scheme and heat pump grants.

    The grant value rose from £5,000 to £7,500 in 2023 and is still in place in 2026. For owner-occupiers, it cuts the upfront cost of a heat pump by roughly half. It is funded from general taxation, not from bills.

  5. 5

    Tariff design.

    COP26 era policy has pushed time-of-use, EV and heat pump tariffs into the mainstream. If you have a smart meter, you can shift load to cheap windows. This is the lever a household can actually pull in 2026.

For a broader look at what shapes your bill in 2026, see our guide to the cheapest electricity supplier, and our explainer on the Paris Agreement for the legal framework Glasgow was built on.

Frequently asked questions

The Glasgow Climate Pact was the first COP final text to name fossil fuels and call for a phasedown of unabated coal. Symbolically large, practically slow: five years on, coal use is falling in OECD countries but rising in Asia. For UK consumers, the more concrete UK legacy is the 6th Carbon Budget, legislated in June 2021 ahead of COP26, which set a -78% target by 2035 on 1990 levels.

Technically yes, politically barely. The pact reaffirmed the 1.5 degree target and asked countries to come back with stronger plans. In practice, current pledges put the world on track for roughly 2.5 to 2.7 degrees of warming by 2100 according to the UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2024. Calling 1.5 "alive" in 2026 is generous; the IPCC AR6 says the carbon budget for 1.5 will likely be spent before 2030 on current trajectories.

Indirectly, but in several places. Standing charges include network investment to connect new wind and solar, smart meter rollout, and grid upgrades for heat pumps and EV charging. The Renewables Obligation, Contracts for Difference and the Capacity Market are all funded through your electricity unit rate. Future hydrogen levies are still being designed. In 2026, the Autumn Budget 2025 moved some green and social levies into general taxation, which cut the typical dual fuel bill by around £130.

Methane is a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times stronger than CO2 over 20 years, mostly from cattle, leaky gas pipes and rotting food in landfill. The pledge signed at COP26 commits more than 110 countries to cut methane 30% by 2030 against 2020 levels. The three largest emitters (China, Russia, India) did not sign. The IEA says energy sector methane was roughly flat in 2024, not falling, so the pledge is slipping.

Partly. The Climate Change Committee 2024 Progress Report says the power sector is on track, with offshore wind and solar driving rapid decarbonisation. Heat and surface transport are off track: heat pump installs are running at roughly a third of the pace required to hit the 6th Carbon Budget, and surface transport emissions barely fell in 2024. Without faster progress on home heating, the UK will miss the 2030 and 2035 milestones even if power stays on track.

GFANZ stands for Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. AUM means assets under management, the total pile of money a financial firm manages. The $130tn headline was the combined AUM of all signatories at launch. Between 2024 and early 2025, the six largest US banks left the banking arm under political pressure, and several US asset managers stepped back. The remaining AUM is estimated near $100tn. The alliance still exists, but its market grip is much weaker than at launch.

A "100% renewable" label on a UK tariff usually means the supplier buys enough Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates to match your annual use. It does not always mean the supplier directly funds new wind and solar projects. If you want a tariff that backs the energy transition, look at suppliers that own or directly contract generation, or that publish their fuel mix transparently. Use our free comparison tool to run the numbers across every live deal at /energy/compare-prices.

Switch to a tariff that takes climate seriously

Most "100% renewable" UK tariffs work by buying Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates to match annual use. A smaller group of suppliers directly contracts new wind and solar generation, or owns it outright. The difference matters if you want your bill to fund new build, not just paper credit.

Selectra UK's free comparison tool runs across all live tariffs, filters for suppliers with credible green credentials, and shows you what a switch would cost or save against your current bill, using live market data. Compare energy deals or see electricity prices today. No sales pressure, no email capture.

For related reading, see our guide to carbon offsetting, our explainer on the Paris Agreement, and the list of UK energy providers.