2021 was a year in which environmental issues reached an unprecedented prominence on the global stage. The eyes of the world focused on the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. While our leaders did not fully deliver, they have kept the door open to holding global temperature rise to 1.5°C. Negotiators continued to flesh out the post-2020 global biodiversity framework – so that nations can reach an agreement at COP15 in 2022. Momentum to address pollution and waste grew, with nations increasingly looking at a global framework to address plastic pollution and all its impacts, alongside existing frameworks and conventions on chemicals. Progress was also made at the COPs focused on the ozone layer, mercury and hazardous waste.