SecondStrengthen the 1.5-degree target, but reduce coal and climate assistance to poor countries: At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, representatives from nearly 200 countries decided on a series of compromises. British COP26 chairman Alok Sharma announced on Saturday night the resolution of the “Glasgow Climate Convention”, which strengthened the Paris Climate Agreement’s maximum goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.
Under the instigation of India and China, the wording of abandoning coal was greatly weakened at the last minute. The document calls on countries to “speed up the pace of exiting coal use” and stop “inefficient subsidies” for fossil fuels. At the last second, India managed to weaken the wording of coal elimination. It can only be said that coal power will be “shut down.”
The climate aid agreement is also controversial. Participants negotiated for the further implementation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement for nearly two weeks. Many countries in the plenary session were deeply disappointed or angry at the wording changes to phase out coal and eliminate subsidies for other fossil fuels. Sharma resisted the tears and apologized to the representatives for how and how this last-minute decision was made. The British said he was “deeply sorry” for this. Previously, many people classified getting rid of coal as one of the most important achievements of COP26.
The Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) believes that the resolution of the United Nations Climate Conference is a success. Schultz was convinced in Glasgow on Saturday night that “we are truly experiencing a historic moment.” At COP26, “coal phase-out has now been initiated globally.” Schultz said that with the acceleration of the global energy transition, a “new economic model” has emerged. Therefore, COP26 has brought about a “significant acceleration in climate protection.”
You want the statement about coal to be “a little clearer.” Now it has “weakened a bit, but it still exists”. This is “until the last second, very, very difficult”, and Germany and the European Union have to “build many bridges” here.
Environmental organizations also view the agreement as an important signal. After all, in the resolution of the World Climate Conference, for the first time, a clear stance on climate-damaging energy will be taken. On the other hand, Greta Thunberg, the world’s most famous climate activist, achieved a devastating balance. “COP26 is over. This is a quick summary: nonsense, nonsense, nonsense,” the Swede tweeted. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed disappointment with the results. “This is an important step, but it is not enough. It’s time to enter emergency mode,” Guterres wrote on Twitter.
In the resolution announced on Saturday night, among other things, it was emphasized that a 1.5 degree rise in global temperature will have a much smaller impact on climate change than a 2 degree rise in temperature. The Paris Climate Agreement sets a limit far below 2 degrees, if possible, 1.5 degrees.
In addition, states are now required to review their national climate targets by the end of 2022, which are still completely inadequate—three years earlier than originally planned.
