Negotiators at COP26 have agreed to the Glasgow Climate Pact, the Guardian reports.
The text calls for countries to resubmit more ambitious climate pledges every year and to “at least double assistance to developing counties to help them deal with the impacts of climate change” by 2025.
“If it has been a good negotiation, all the parties are uncomfortable,” John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, said. “And this has been, I think, a good negotiation. We are seeking the shared goal of keeping the Earth’s temperature at a level that the worlds’ scientists say we must do.”
The “Glasgow climate pact” was adopted despite a last-minute intervention by India to water down language on “phasing out” coal to merely “phasing down”.
The pledges on emissions cuts made at the two-week long Cop26 summit in Glasgow fell well short of those required to limit temperatures to 1.5C, according to scientific advice. Instead, all countries have agreed to return to the negotiating table next year, at a conference in Egypt, and re-examine their national plans, with a view to increasing their ambition on cuts. www.theguardian.com/...
earlier reporting:
The New York Times reports:
The latest draft retains language calling on countries to accelerate efforts “towards the phaseout of unabated coal power and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, recognizing the need for support towards a just transition.”
If it stays in, it will be the first time an international climate agreement explicitly mentions fossil fuels, which are the root cause of global warming. But behind closed doors, negotiators said, that language faces opposition from nations like India, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Talks on Loss and Damage continue today.
"Loss and damage is still a taboo for developed countries," said Alpha Oumar Kaloga, one of the lead negotiators of the Africa Group, who also represents Guinea in the Least Developed Countries bloc (LDC).
As the talks continued, activists staged a “ceremony of grief” outside the venue with Extinction Rebellion’s “Red Rebels” leading the procession. Twenty-six protestors were attired in black shrouds to represent the years of failure since the UNFCCC framework was established 26 years ago.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the day.
Saturday, Nov 13, 2021 · 5:33:52 PM +00:00 · boatsie
GLASGOW — Negotiators from 200 countries appeared to be closing in on an agreement aimed at setting conditions to prevent dangerous levels of global warming late Saturday, but not without tension over how to pay countries that are least responsible for the problem but suffering irreparable harms.
John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, said: “If it has been a good negotiation, all the parties are uncomfortable. And this has been, I think, a good negotiation. We are seeking the shared goal of keeping the Earth’s temperature at a level that the worlds’ scientists say we must do.” www.nytimes.com/...
Saturday, Nov 13, 2021 · 7:23:30 PM +00:00 · boatsie
The latest text, said Shauna Aminath, environment minister of the Maldives, lacked the “urgency” that vulnerable countries like hers required. “What looks balanced and pragmatic to other parties will not help the Maldives adapt in time,” she said.
Representatives spent much of the day arguing over language in a revised draft agreement — the third version cobbled together during the summit, known as COP26. By tradition, all countries must agree on language; if any one objects, the talks deadlock.
Saturday, Nov 13, 2021 · 7:28:15 PM +00:00 · boatsie
Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “This text is still pretty good and one I hope that all countries can embrace. It continues to request countries to deliver more ambitious pledges next year.
“Countries will leave Glasgow painfully aware that collectively current pledges for emissions cuts by 2030 are not ambitious enough. They are not aligned with the goal of the Paris agreement of holding the rise in warming to well below 2C degrees, and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C. The draft text also still calls on all countries to accelerate efforts towards the phase-out of unabated coal power and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
“Importantly, the UK presidency has now published draft text that outlines a good process for agreeing a significant increase in investment in developing countries to help them make their economies zero-carbon and climate-resilient. It is time for countries to stop arguing over the text and to start taking the action that has been promised, particularly to increase the flows of financial support to developing countries.” www.theguardian.com/...
Saturday, Nov 13, 2021 · 7:49:41 PM +00:00 · boatsie
From the text;
Urges developed country Parties to at least double their collective provision of climatefinance for adaptation to developing country Parties from 2019 levels by 2025, in the contextof achieving a balance between mitigation and adaptation in the provision of scaled-up financial resources, recalling Article 9, paragraph 4, of the Paris Agreement;
This won’t get them near the $3 trillion India said developing countries need to address climate change and shift to clean energy.
Saturday, Nov 13, 2021 · 8:16:30 PM +00:00
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boatsie
One of the most contentious clauses in the final decision was a vaguely worded resolution to accelerate the phase-out of coal and “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies, which was weakened to “phase down” by India at the last minute. Energy experts are clear that phasing out coal completely will be essential to stay within 1.5C of global heating, but the opposition to the inclusion of the reference to a phase out – particularly from major coal-using countries including China, India and South Africa – showed how hard it will be to gain a global end to the dirtiest fossil fuel in time to avoid a 1.5C rise. www.theguardian.com/...