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GLASGOW, SCOTLAND—Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) announced today that she is among the members of Congress traveling to Glasgow, Scotland with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the 26^th Conference of the Parties (COP26). The members, who will be in Glasgow for the second week of the global climate summit, will be there to help reassert American leadership on addressing the climate crisis. 

“Climate change is our single greatest threat, and its impacts are already being felt in Maine and around the world. The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99 percent of other bodies of water on the planet. Rates of asthma and Lyme disease have grown exponentially. Acidifying waters are making it harder for shellfish to grow their shells. Coastal flooding and sea level rise have increased dramatically. For too long, scientific warnings have been ignored and we’ve reached a crisis point. Immediate action must be taken,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. “This summit is our chance to hear from other nations about how we can address climate change on a global level. There needs to be a worldwide commitment to preventing average global temperatures from increasing beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. We must do this now—for our children, for our grandchildren, and for generations to come. There is no time to waste.”

Click here to download a video message from Congresswoman Pingree before her departure. 

Delegates, high-level government officials, and leaders from 197 nations will be in Glasgow for the summit, including President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prince Charles, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, and many more. 

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and former Secretary of State John Kerry will lead the U.S. delegation, which includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, as well as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan. 

In addition to Pingree, the delegation led by Pelosi includes:

• Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Chair, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
• Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Chair, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
• Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee
• Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources
• Chairwoman Kathy Castor (D-FL), Chair, House Select Committee on Climate Crisis
• Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), House Committee on Ways and Means
• Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN), House Committee on Appropriations
• Congressman Bill Keating (D-MA), House Foreign Affairs Committee, 
• Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House Select Committee on Climate Crisis
• Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA), House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House Select Committee on Climate Crisis
• Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA), House Select Committee on Climate Crisis, House Committee on Natural Resources, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
• Congressman Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), House Committee on Natural Resources, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
• Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Chair, United States Joint Economic Committee, House Committee on Ways and Means, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology  
• Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA), House Committee on Ways and Means
• Congressman Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), House Committee on Appropriations
• Congressman Sean Casten (D-IL), House Select Committee on Climate Crisis, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
• Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX), House Select Committee on Climate Crisis
• Congressman Mike Levin (D-CA), House Select Committee on Climate Crisis, House Committee on Natural Resources
• Congressman Joe Neguse (D-CO), House Select Committee on Climate Crisis, House Committee on Natural Resources
• Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), House Committee of Oversight and Reform, House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth

During the first week of the two-week summit, President Biden and world leaders made commitments to curb methane gas emissions, end deforestation by 2030, and provide support to help developing countries adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change, among other notable pledges.

Background:

In 1992, nations agreed to commit to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and prevent dangerous changes to the climate, creating the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Nearly every year since 1995, nations have met to negotiate policy agreements to achieve these climate goals. 

At the 2015 summit in Paris, the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, was adopted. 196 nations negotiated to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. Countries also agreed to update the agreement in five years, but the meeting was postponed in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement in November 2020. In one of his first official acts, President Biden rejoined the agreement, recommitting the U.S. to combatting the climate crisis on a global scale. 

Pingree is Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. She has championed a bold agenda to combat the climate crisis, including introducing legislation to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. agriculture by 2040 and is a cosponsor of over 40 bills in the 117^th Congress to combat the climate crisis, including the visionary Green New Deal. 

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