COP26 preview: Everything to know ahead of the climate summit

The United Nations called on Wednesday for the world's biggest economies to ensure net-zero commitments made by financial institutions were robust, backed by science and ended financing for new fossil fuel projects.

A study suggests the world will need to shut down nearly 3,000 coal-fired power plants before 2030 if it is to have a chance of keeping temperature rises within 1.5°C.

China has submitted updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to fight climate change, a UN registry showed on Thursday, formally boosting headline emissions-cutting pledges but offering nothing new ahead of the key climate talks in Glasgow.

The European Union is set to launch a project with South Africa at COP26 to speed up the country's exit from coal.

The UN's biodiversity chief has called for any new pledges made at COP26 to include protection and restoration of natural areas.

Russia will press for its forests, nuclear plants and hydro-electric power to be recognized as green projects at COP26, its environment minister told Reuters.

Australia will not back a pledge, led by the European Union and the United States, to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 due to concerns about the impact on farming, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this week.

The World Bank said this week that climate change will force tens of millions of people in East Africa to abandon their homes in the next three decades.

Ahead of COP26, India has rejected calls to announce a net-zero carbon emissions target. Instead, it said it was more important for the world to lay out a pathway to reduce such emissions and prevent a dangerous rise in global temperatures.

Environment Secretary R.P.Gupta told reporters that announcing net zero was not the solution to the climate crisis.

"It is how much carbon you are going to put in the atmosphere before reaching net zero that is more important."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the climate summit in Glasgow, which will run from 31 October to 12 November.

The United Nations warned this week that current commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions put the world on course for an average temperature rise of 2.7°C.

The report came ahead of COP26, when world leaders will meet to discuss climate targets and how to keep the world on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

"If there is no meaningful reduction of emissions in the next decade, we will have lost forever the possibility to reach 1.5 degrees," UN Secretary-General António Guterres told a press briefing.

"It is absolutely essential that all G20 countries present before Glasgow or in Glasgow (pledges) that are compatible with 1.5°C," he added.

You can follow the World Economic Forum's coverage of COP26 on Agenda, on our Radio Davos podcast, at Forum COP26 Live and across social media.