How will COP26 affect our lives?published at 13:25 Greenwich Mean Time 8 November 2021

13:25 GMT 8 November 2021

Peter Betts
Former lead climate negotiator for the UK and the EU

Greta Thunberg famously described the UN climate change summit as a "two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah, blah, blah". Allegra, 49, from Paris, wants to know what is concretely being decided at COP26 that could make a real difference in our daily lives?

There has been significant progress made in the last 30 years - just not nearly enough.

Before the Paris COP in 2015, we were looking at global temperature increases of more than 4C, after Paris nearer 3C and after this COP arguably getting near to 2C.

But most countries' commitments were made before the Glasgow COP even started and will not be negotiated here because big, developed and developing countries are unwilling to do so - they are "nationally determined".

The targets which have been set are significant in some cases, in others not. And we need to hold all to account to deliver.

We're turning our attention now to your questions about climate change.

Answering them is Peter Betts, who is a former lead climate negotiator for the UK and the EU .

We'll also continue to bring you the latest developments from Glasgow.

Image source, Getty Images

We're half way through day eight of COP26 and the theme today is "Adaptation, Loss and Damage", a UN-type term which simply refers to how the world will adapt to the impacts of climate change. Things like flood defences, weather warning systems, heat shelters etc.

It's also about dealing with what's lost to climate change - things countries can't adapt to.

But you could be forgiven for thinking it's also Obama day. The former US president has flown in and will be adddressing the summit about the battle ahead.

Here's what to look for:

• President Obama's speech about fighting climate change and what young people can do - that's at 14:00 GMT. He's already addressed a panel saying that island nations - which could be threatened by rising sea levels - need to be heard
• How countries and delegates (like activists and scientists) react to what the UK says COP26 has achieved so far
• The question of helping poorer countries pay for climate change adaptation and how quickly is really important

Former Tottenham Hotspur footballer Ledley King says people should not "be afraid to learn" about ways to help the environment.

He's told BBC Sport about the club's efforts to help the environment including using renewable energy at their new stadium, bug hotels and growing herbs and vegetables for the players to eat.

Image source, COP26

Here's a bit more on what former US president Barack Obama told a panel a bit earlier. He says that "youthful impatience" and the willingness to speak truth to power is absolutely vital in tackling the climate crisis.

He says that the current national plans and pledges still don't get to the 1.5C target - to prevent the worst impact of global warming - and says that naturally makes people feel "discouraged". He also says that if countries follow through on pledges made then "that's real progress, not enough but progress".

But that requires activism and citizen pressure between COP events to make sure countries follow up, he adds.

Obama goes on to say that "the politics in the United States are not always easy".

He says his successor - referring to President Donald Trump - "maybe wasn't as interested in climate science as I was" but he says that there are a lot of people in the US government who "care about this deeply".

Image source, COP26

The deputy secretary general of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, tells the summit rich countries should ensure at least 50% of money pledged to developing countries goes towards helping them adapt to the consequences of climate change.

She says: "The signs are all around us - floods, drought, heat, and catastrophic storms.

"The human toll is devastating - lost lives and livelihoods, displacement and migration and young people losing hope in the future.

"The burden will fall disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable who contributed least to this problem."

She says the latest report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows just over $20bn (£14.8bn) - about 25% of total climate finance - goes to adaptation.

"This is a fraction of the expected $300bn needed by 2023," she says. "That's why the secretary general continues to call on all donors to allocate at least 50% of their climate finance to adaptation."

Image source, COP26

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama follows Barack Obama and tells the conference "the legacy of leadership" from the Paris accord is at risk in Glasgow, adding that "so is the very existence of Fiji's low-lying neighbours".

He says he welcomes the new commitments made last week but says they are "timid and inadequate".

He adds that several major players are "missing in action" while others have turned up with "insufficient commitments".

Bainimarama says 13 cyclones have hit Fiji since the Paris agreement and says that although his country's carbon emissions are negligible they are still embracing net zero and green jobs.

He says the country is also breaking ground "In tragic ways", including offering refuge to nearby islands if their nations are "lost to the rising seas".

Image source, COP26

Barack Obama closes his speech with an old Hawaiian proverb which he says means "unite to move forward".

"It's a reminder that if you all want to paddle a canoe you better all be rowing in the same direction and at the same time, every oar has to move in unison, that's the only way that you move forward," he says.

"That's the kind of spirit that we need to protect our island resources, that's the kind of spirit we need to protect our people," he says.

Image source, COP26

Barack Obama goes on to say he doesn't think there would have been as ambitious an agreement in Paris in 2015 if it was not for island nations being heard.

"As was true five years ago we have not done enough and our islands are threatened more than ever," he says, adding he is proud the US government and President Joe Biden is giving the issue "the attention that it deserves" by committing to provide $3bn to support those most vulnerable to climate change.

Obama says that "all of us have a part to play, all of us have work to do, all of us have sacrifices to make" but adds "those of us who live in big wealthy nations... have an added burden to make sure we are working with and helping and assisting those who are less responsible and less able but more vulnerable to this oncoming crisis".

Image source, COP26

Former US president Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii, is speaking at a panel on island resilience at COP26.

He begins his speech by declaring he is "an island kid" and says he is proud of the work he did as president to work with island nations "who are most vulnerable to changing climate, even if they did less than the larger nations in actually causing the climate crisis".

He says the islands are "in many ways the canary in the coal mine" and says they are sending a message that if we don't act now it is going to be too late.

David Shukman
Science editor, BBC News

Cheers and whoops greeted Barack Obama - and a cry of "we love you".

The talks seem to have ground to a halt for a moment as crowds of delegates strained for a view.

His first meeting is with the leaders of islands threatened by rising seas.

The hope is that he’ll bring some stardust and energy to a difficult process.

David Shukman
Science editor, BBC News

We are here waiting to see former US President Barack Obama.

I haven’t seen crowds like this at a climate conference since Greta Thunberg appeared in Madrid in 2019.

Can Obama stardust help the COP26 talks?published at 11:33 Greenwich Mean Time 8 November 2021

11:33 GMT 8 November 2021

David Shukman
Science editor, BBC News

The ministers and officials here aren’t exactly household names so attracting a global star like Barack Obama is meant to bring much-needed momentum.

And he’s credited with being a driving force behind the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015 – the world’s first accord on climate change - so that helps too.

But Mr Obama also knows how bruising international climate talks can be.

Back in 2009, he tried to salvage something from the chaos and mismanagement of a summit in Copenhagen.

The US and others made a dramatic promise to the poorest nations that they’d be getting $100bn a year in climate aid by now.

But this crucial finance has yet to be delivered and some of the disappointment and anger about that are being directed his way now.

So although the Obama presence brings glamour and energy, it’s also a reminder that climate negotiations involve a long and painful journey.

Image source, COP26

South Korea's Ban Ki-Moon, former secretary-general of the United Nations, is addressing ministers at the climate summit.

He says: "We have been failing the world and we have been failing the most vulnerable communities living on the front lines."

It is time for change and we all have a responsibility to make it happen, he says.

"Young people are accusing us of not acting with the sense of urgency the climate crisis requires. We must assure them we understand there can be no more hollow promises."

He says he is "pleased to see" the UK has made adaptation a priority and that more than 30 countries have now submitted national adaptation plans, representing 2bn people.

With today's spotlight focusing on countries on the front line of the climate crisis, you may be wondering about steps you can take to help.

A report released last year outlined a list of the 10 best ways for people to reduce their carbon footprints.

• Living car-free, which saves an average of 2.04 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per person annually
• Driving a battery electric car, which saves 1.95 tonnes of CO2
• Taking one less long-haul flight each year - 1.68 tonnes of CO2

This graphic gives an idea of other ways we can make a difference:

How climate change is exacerbating mass migrationpublished at 10:57 Greenwich Mean Time 8 November 2021

10:57 GMT 8 November 2021

Will Grant
BBC News Central America correspondent

As the dignitaries gather in Glasgow, there’s a timely reminder in a south-eastern corner of Mexico of the migratory pressures created by climate change.

Frustrated over unanswered asylum claims in Mexico, around 4,000 immigrants – most from Central America – recently pushed past a heavy police cordon to begin an arduous 3,000 km-long journey to the border with United States.

There’s a variety of factors pushing them north, of course. Some are political, others are economic or linked to violent crime in their home nations. But many are environmental.

Thousands have fled rural regions battered by severe weather events in recent years, a situation exacerbated by climate change. Indeed, in the very month that President Biden was elected, two huge storms wrought havoc in Guatemala.

The result is entire communities abandoning their fields in search of a more stable income up north. It’s a journey fraught with danger.

Earlier this year, 16-year-old Anderson Antulio – exhausted at toiling the unfertile soils of the Guatemalan highlands – left his family behind to reach the US. However, he was among a group of 16 migrants who were murdered close to the border with Texas. A dozen local police officers, with suspected links to violent cartels who control the migration routes north, were charged with the killings.

“I knew I shouldn’t let him go but nor could I tie him to the bed,” his father, Marco Antonio, told me from their impoverished village.“Every single young person has the right to a life, has the right to pack their bags, to try to fulfil their dreams.”

Anderson’s tragic story is unlikely to feature in any of the speeches at COP26. Nor will most of the Central American migrants carrying their kids in their arms as they walk or sleep in public plazas in Chiapas state.

But for activists, the link between these journeys and inaction on climate change couldn’t be clearer.

Image source, COP26

Ministers have been shown a video from India explaining how international aid is helping communities to recover from drought.

Naseem Shaikh has worked as an associate programme director at Swayam Shikshan Prayog for 30 years in seven disaster-prone states of India.

"In 2009 we realised after the serious drought in our Marathwada region, women are struggling for food, livelihoods, security because their man farmers are giving more priority to the cash crops and women are not having any say in agriculture planning or decision making," she says.

The group used money from a community resilience fund to create a model that meant women could be recognised as farmers.

It also diversified crops to improve food security and started a water management scheme, she says.

Image source, COP26

There's a presidency event under way at the COP26 summit in Glasgow where ministers are hearing from communities at the frontline of climate change.

Delegates are shown a video from Kenya in which Anatacia Philan from Baringo County explains how during droughts the men migrate with their animals and women stay to look after the children and elderly.

The men are gone for many months with no communication at all, she says.

"The women and children left at home have no food, no water. We walk long distances to look for food and water, sometimes we don't find any."

Dr Wilber Ottichilo, the governor of the Vihigar County is at the summit and says "it is the local people that are suffering the brunt of the climate change".

Image source, Getty Images

You could be excused for thinking the most high-profile visitors to COP26 were long gone as we move into week two of the summit.

But then who should arrive in Glasgow but former US President Barack Obama.

He will be speaking to the summit about the road ahead in the battle against climate change and what young people can do.

You will be able to follow his press conference with us from about 12:45 BST, before he addresses delegates at 14:00.

Developing nations often say they are unfairly targeted by wealthy countries to curb economic growth to protect the planet.

This debate is playing out in central India's Buxwaha forest - where billions of dollars' worth of diamond reserves lie in the ground.

The Madhya Pradesh state government has given permission for 200,000 trees to be cut down for a mine - threatening thousands of animals and local tribes.