Vladimir Putin, Russia
Russia’s president will not be attending COP26. His country’s committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2060, which is not in line with the goal of keeping global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of pre-industrial levels. That pledge has yet to be codified with the UN and there are no details about how the country plans to do so. Russia’s current pledge with the UN is rated as “critically insufficient” by the Climate Action Tracker, and the country recently started construction on an oil project that will produce 25 million tons per year. Maybe Putin didn’t want to hear an earful from his fellow world leaders. Or maybe he just wanted to ride his horse. Either way, he hasn’t explained his absence.
