On Saturday, nearly 200 countries accepted a controversial climate compromise aimed at keeping key global warming goals alive, but it contained last-minute changes and played down key language about coal.
Several countries, including small island states, said they are deeply disappointed by India’s “gradual reduction” rather than “phasing out” coal power, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
One country after another complained earlier on the last day of the fortnight UN climate negotiations In Glasgow, Scotland, on how the deal has not progressed far enough or fast enough, they said that it is better than nothing, and even if it cannot succeed, it provides gradual progress.
Negotiators from Switzerland and Mexico said the change in coal language violated the rules because it came too late. However, they said that they had no choice but to walk with their noses in their hands.
Swiss Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga stated that since the industrialization era, this change will make it more difficult to achieve the international goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement: “Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread.” “We are still knocking on the door to climate disaster.”
Many other countries and climate activists accused India of making demands to weaken the final agreement.
“It’s shocking that India changed its language at the last minute to gradually reduce but not phase out coal,” said Australian climate scientist Bill Hale, who tracks world emissions commitments for a science-based climate action tracker. “India has long obstructed climate action, but I have never seen it do so publicly.”
Others viewed the deal from a more positive perspective. In addition to the revised coal language, the Glasgow Climate Convention also includes sufficient financial incentives to almost meet the needs of poorer countries, and solves a long-standing problem, paving the way for carbon trading.
The agreement also stipulates that major carbon polluting countries must resubmit stronger emission reduction commitments before the end of 2022.
“This is a good deal for the world,” John Kerry, the US climate envoy, told the Associated Press. “It has some problems, but in general, this is a very good deal.”
Before India changed, negotiators said that the agreement barely retained the overall goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by the end of this century. Compared with the pre-industrial era, the earth has warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit).
Before the Glasgow talks, the United Nations set three success criteria, but none of them were realized. United Nations standards include a commitment to halve carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, rich countries provide 100 billion US dollars in financial assistance to the poor, and ensure that half of the funds are used to help developing countries adapt to the worst effects of climate change.
“We did not achieve these goals at this meeting,” Guterres said Saturday night. “But we have some cornerstones for progress.”
The negotiators on Saturday used the word “progress” more than 20 times, but rarely used the word “success”. When they do this, it is mainly that they have reached a conclusion during the conversation, not the details of the agreement.
Conference chair Alok Sharma said that the deal promoted “the progress of coal, cars, cash and trees” and “all are meaningful things for our people and our planet.”
Environmental activists were weighed in the less enthusiastic assessments issued before India’s last-minute change.
“It’s very mild and weak. The 1.5 C goal is just to be alive, but it has already signaled that the coal age is about to end. This is very important,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International, a veteran of UN climate negotiations. Known as the Conference of the Parties.
Former Irish President Mary Robinson, speaking on behalf of a group of retired leaders named The Elders, said that the agreement represents “some progress has been made, but it is far from enough to avoid a climate catastrophe… People would think this is Shameful dereliction of duty in history.”
India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav opposed the phasing out of coal, saying that developing countries “have the right to use fossil fuels responsibly.”
Yadav blames global warming on “unsustainable lifestyles and wasteful consumption patterns” in rich countries.
After Yadav first proposed the specter of changing the language of coal, the frustrated EU Vice President Frans Timmermans pleaded with negotiators to unite for future generations, the EU’s 27 countries’ climate envoys.
“For God’s sake, don’t kill this moment,” Timmermans pleaded. “Please embrace this text and let us bring hope to the hearts of our children and grandchildren.”
Helen Mountford, vice president of the World Resources Institute think tank, said that India’s demand may not be as important as people fear, because the economics of cheaper renewable fuels are making coal increasingly obsolete.
“Coal is dead. Coal is being phased out,” Mountford said. “It’s a pity that they downplayed it.”
Kerry and several other negotiators pointed out that a good compromise made everyone somewhat dissatisfied.
“Not everyone in public life… can make a choice between life and death. Not everyone can make a choice that really affects the entire planet. We are fortunate to do this today,” he said.
Before the coal revolution, small island nations that were vulnerable to the catastrophic effects of climate change and pushed for bolder action in Glasgow said they were satisfied with the spirit of compromise, if not the outcome of the negotiations.
“The Maldives accepts the gradual progress that Glasgow has made,” said Aminath Shauna, the island country’s Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology. “I want to point out that this progress does not match the urgency and scale of the problem at hand.”
Shauna pointed out that to stay within the warming limits that countries agreed in Paris six years ago, the world must cut carbon dioxide emissions by half within 98 months. She said that developing countries need the rich world to stand up.
“The difference between 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees is the death penalty for us,” Xiao Na said. “The climate crisis was not caused by us. No matter what we do, we cannot reverse this situation.”
Next year’s talks are planned to be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh. Dubai will host the conference in 2023.
— Reports by Aniruddha Ghosal, Karl Ritter and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.
© 2021 Canadian Press
