The COP26 Climate Summit, which was held last year in Glasgow, Scotland, grabbed headlines all over the globe.

After days of painstaking and at times fraught negotiations, countries agreed upon a deal which sought to build on 2015′s Paris Agreement and curb the worst effects of climate change.

However, it wasn’t always easy. As the Glasgow Climate Pact is known, it faced many obstacles related to the financial support for low-income countries, subsidies to fossil fuels, and the gradual elimination of coal.

India and China, both among the world’s biggest burners of coal, insisted on a last-minute change of fossil fuel language in the pact — from a “phase out” of coal to a “phase down.” Despite initial protests, both countries finally conceded.

CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick chaired a panel of industry experts who discussed the outcomes of the summit as well as how the future could look.

Jos Delbeke is an ex-director-general of climate action at European Commission. He said, “A lot more was anticipated, but what actually was delivered was really remarkable.”

Delbeke also serves as the European Investment Bank climate chair for the European University Institute. He stated that large oil and gas producers are now “onboard” with corporations, cities, and regional authorities.

He stated, “We’ve seen many commitments so that’s the main news.”

“It is not yet the one and a half degrees Celsius, as scientists are telling us we should get … but it is a major change,” he said. 

Delbeke’s 1.5-degree reference to global warming refers to the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to “well below 2,preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius” compared with pre-industrial levels.

It will not be easy to hit that goal. The U.N. secretary-general struck a grave tone Monday in his speech to the World Economic Forum. “Emissions must fall, but they continue to rise,” António Guterres said. “Coal-fired energy generation is on track to break an all-time record.”

“But even if all countries in the world kept their promises, very important ones, of drastically reducing their carbon emissions by 2030,” he said. “The problem is that despite all countries developing countries meeting their Nationally Determined Contribution, particularly emerging economies, global emission would be still too high to continue.” [the]1.5 degree goal in reach

NDCs, in simple words, refer to specific countries’ goals for reducing emissions and adapting the climate effects. United Nations: The Glasgow Climate Pact, which calls for all nations to submit stronger plans of action in the coming year, is a call to arms to countries. [2022]Instead of 2025 as originally planned, it will be in 2020.

However, many were disappointed by the result of the negotiations at COP26. But there were a lot of notable pledges and announcements made during this summit.

One example is a joint declaration of the United States with China in which these two superpowers declared they will work together on a number of climate-related actionsMany were taken by surprise.

A second declaration was signed by summit signatories. They pledged to “work toward all new car and van sales being zero-emission globally by 2040 and no later than 2035 on leading markets.”  

On Nov. 3, The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero stated that $130 trillion in private capital has been committed to “transforming the economy for net zero.”

Judy Kuszewski (CEO of Sancroft International), a sustainability consulting firm, was also on CNBC’s panel.

She said that it is rare for businesses or the business community to promise to help achieve a specific goal, as the way to do so may be unclear. 

“This is actually a very rare exception and the fact that there have been quite a few early adopters of net-zero pledges and targets towards meeting those net-zero pledges — they’ve been especially bold to take that kind of slight leap into the unknown.”

Over the past few years, a wide range of high-profile businesses — including major oil and gas firms — have made net-zero pledges.

These initiatives are called Amazon’sThe Climate Pledge is also available. Its signatories — who include Microsoft, UberAnd Unilever — have committed to what the Pledge calls “net zero carbon” by the year 2040.

Climate Pledge websites indicate that companies who sign up have committed to reporting greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis, eliminating carbon, and providing “credible offsets”.