All the requirements of countries to accelerate the phase-out of “unabated coal and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” have been extended in the new version of the agreement to overwhelm the Cop26 negotiations.
The latest draft released more than 13 hours after the UN Climate Summit Glasgow The original plan was completed, and countries are also required to “re-examine and strengthen” their 2030 emission reduction targets before the end of 2022.
This is seen as the key to maintaining the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C. Beyond this goal, the most serious impacts of extreme weather and sea level rise will be within reach, although it does not specifically mention the 1.5C goal.
It requires countries to “re-examine the target when necessary to align with the temperature target of the Paris Agreement by the end of 2022, while taking into account different national conditions”.
In the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries pledged to limit the temperature rise to “far below” 2 degrees Celsius and tried to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the most dangerous events such as storms, droughts, crop failures, floods, and diseases. Influence.
scientists It warned that keeping the temperature rise at 1.5C would require a 45% reduction in global emissions by 2030 and a reduction in overall emissions to zero by the middle of this century.
However, although countries are required to update their action plans (known as Nationally Determined Contributions) to achieve emissions reductions by 2030 on the eve of the Glasgow Conference, the latest commitments have kept the world away from achieving the goals.
Therefore, countries are under pressure to reach an agreement in Glasgow, which will enable them to rapidly increase their emission reduction targets in the 2020s to prevent the 1.5C target from being out of reach, and to provide funding for developing countries to cope with the crisis.
It urges developed countries to double their collective climate funding by at least 2025 to help developing countries adapt to climate change, starting from 2019 levels.
The historic mention of coal and fossil fuel subsidies has been retained in the latest draft of the “coverage decision” text, which is a general agreement that countries hope to reach in Glasgow, although it is expected to be opposed by some major producing and emitting countries .
This is the first time such a climate change agreement specifically mentions coal or fossil fuels.
It calls on countries to accelerate the transition to low-emission energy systems through technologies and policies through the expansion of clean power generation and energy efficiency, including efforts to accelerate the phasing out of unabated coal power and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
But it also recognizes the need to support a “just transition”, which is important to protect people in countries that may lose their jobs or increase costs due to the switch to clean energy.
Examples of such support include South Africa and the United States, the United Kingdom, France Germany And the European Union announced at the 26th Conference of the Parties to help this coal-heavy country switch to a clean energy system.
Underwriting decisions also include efforts to deal with the loss and damage to people’s homes, livelihoods, land and infrastructure in fragile countries due to climate-related sea level rise, storms, floods, and droughts.
It includes the establishment of “dialogues” between countries and organizations to discuss measures to provide funding arrangements for activities that avoid, minimize, and resolve losses and damages-but does not involve rich countries paying compensation for climate damage caused by them.
Until the formal plenary meeting on Saturday afternoon, these texts may remain in most of their current form, but they may still change when nations gather to debate.
The key issues of the debate may be the mention of coal and fossil fuels that affect exporting countries such as Australia, the 2022 re-examination of climate plans that emerging economies such as China may oppose, and the US concerns about loss and damage and adaptation financing.
There is still debate about what countries are doing and the transparency of establishing carbon markets.
But countries must publicly express their concerns in plenary meetings-in front of other countries and the observing world.
Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan (Jennifer Morgan) said: “The focus on fossil fuels is still in the text.
“It is weak and compromised, but it is a breakthrough, it is a bridgehead, and we must do our best to keep it there and strengthen it.
“Today’s plenary meeting may witness a decisive moment when some countries are trying to draw a line in the agreement and play down plans to force countries to re-make better emission plans next year.”
Tasneem Essop, executive director of the Climate Action Network, accused rich countries of betraying fragile countries by preventing the establishment of Glasgow loss and damage financing mechanisms to support poorer countries affected by the climate.
To some extent, when we come back next year, we will know if it is successful, and we will see what the country and other countries have done after returning home
Helen Mountford, vice president of climate and economics of the World Resources Institute, said: “I am more optimistic than the first day that we can reach a good enough agreement here. This is actually about whether we can implement processes and systems to actually Close the gap that still exists.”
She added: “In a way, when we come back next year, we will know if it is successful, and we will see what the country and other countries do when they return home. What they did on Monday morning Is the most important thing.”
In terms of timing, she believes that the talks may be “postponed to (Sunday) early morning.”
