While a great start, the targets set by the Paris Agreement would still result in warming above 3 degrees by 2100. To prevent this, each country is expected to up the ante with updated emissions reductions targets (NDCs) every 5 years that reflect their highest possible impact. To deliver on these stretching targets, countries will need to accelerate everything from phasing out coal to investing in renewable energy technologies, conserving existing forests and transitioning from gas to electric vehicles.

As climate leaders recognize, forests play a vital role in removing carbon from the atmosphere and protecting them is crucial to meeting our climate goals. And right now, they're still being lost at a staggering rate. To address this, countries are being encouraged to work together to reform global trade and industrial agriculture so that sustainable production is rewarded and unsustainable practices are directly discouraged.

Our climate is already changing and will continue to do so regardless of how much we reduce our emissions today. And sadly, those that have done the least to cause climate change are the ones who most acutely feel its effects.

At COP26, world leaders will need need to work together to support the countries most affected by climate change as they work to protect and restore ecosystems, build defenses, establish warning systems and increase the resilience of agriculture and infrastructure.

Bolstering "green infrastructure" by conserving and restoring forests and other natural habitats is an important part of building climate change resilience across the globe. From coastal mangroves to urban oaks, healthy trees literally shield communities from extreme heat and weather events, support the healthy ecosystems that billions depend on for their livelihoods, and more.

To achieve the first two goals, developed countries must deliver on their 2009 promise to raise at least $100 billion in climate finance per year. As climate change ramps up, it's increasing impacts on peoples lives stretches governmental budgets across the globe — especially in the developing countries that are hit the hardest.

To meet the moment and ramp up to the necessary scale and speed of change will require funds from both the public and private sectors. Public finance will be needed for the development of green, climate-resilient infrastructure. And private finance will need to be mobilized to fund green technology and innovation — and to help transform billions of public dollars into trillions of total climate investment. If that seems like a lot, consider this: to address the massive scale of the global climate crisis requires a similarly massive scale of investment and resources. The ROI? Protecting human societies, wildlife and ecosystems from catastrophic climate change.

Climate change is a global threat, and no one country can or should be expected to bear the brunt of it — or solve it alone. At COP26, attending countries will  need to finalize the Paris Rulebook (the rules needed to implement the Paris Agreement) and accelerate climate action across the globe. On the ground, this will require collaboration between governments, businesses and civil society — but to make this happen, collaboration will need to be assured at the top, too. The UN negotiations are consensus-based, and reaching agreement will depend on leaving no issue behind and making sure everyone’s voice is heard. 

This problem is huge and scary, but we firmly believe that if we all come together, there's nothing that we cannot accomplish. One Tree Planted is prepared to continue our work connecting funding from businesses that care with the government, nonprofit and volunteer organizations that are planting trees on the frontlines of climate change across the globe.