- On Saturday’s COP26 negotiators worked hard to bridge the deep differences that hindered reaching an agreement on emissions reduction and financial support.
- Delegates said that major emitters such as China, Saudi Arabia and Russia have tried to delete references to polluting fuels.
- A proposal that included the establishment of specialized facilities to manage financial support was overturned by historical emitters.
The COP26 negotiators who lacked sleep on Saturday worked hard to bridge the deep differences to reach an agreement to provide the emission reduction and financial support needed to prevent climate change from accelerating disasters.
The British presidency of the Glasgow summit worked overtime and released a new draft, urging countries to accelerate efforts to phase out unfiltered coal and “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies.
Delegates said that major emitters such as China, Saudi Arabia and Russia have tried to delete references to polluting fuels.
But after being boycotted by rich countries, led by the United States and the European Union, the draft text did not mention a specific financing mechanism for “loss and damage”-the cost of global warming has so far been rising-which is the main issue in poorer countries. need. nation.
The text “deeply regretted” pointed out that the rich countries also failed to come up with the annual total of 100 billion US dollars they promised more than a decade ago, but only said that it will be achieved in 2023.
Jennifer Morgan, head of Greenpeace International, told AFP that the language on fossil fuels “is far from what is needed, but it sends a signal-I dare countries to delete it from the text now.”
“The United States must support the most vulnerable groups on the issue of loss and damage. They can no longer avoid this problem. Nor can the EU,” she added.
“I will call on President (Joe) Biden to do the right thing and support the most vulnerable groups to help them cope with losses.”
The US and EU delegations did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
‘Bullied’
Saleemul Huq, director of the climate NGO of ICCCAD, said that the chairman of COP26 in the United Kingdom was “bullyed” overnight and refused to provide specific loss and damage funds.
“What Britain said to fragile states has proven to be completely unreliable,” he said.
An observer who participated in the discussion told AFP that they hoped that developing countries “strike back and try to turn the dialogue into a non-stop nonsense, nonsense, nonsense.”
Representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered in Glasgow to try to finalize how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit the temperature rise to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius.
The third round of revisions since Wednesday was carried out after frantic bargaining, which continued until the scheduled end time of the summit on Friday night.
Countries that have been hit by record-breaking droughts, floods and storms and other climate disasters require compensation for their losses and damages, making it a red line issue.
However, representatives said that a proposal that included the establishment of a special facility to manage financial support was overturned by historical emitters.
Instead, there is a line that provides a “dialogue, discussing the arrangement of activity funds” on loss and damage.
Amadou Sebori Touré, head of the G77+ China Negotiation Group, told AFP that the proposal “is proposed by the entire developing country and represents six out of every seven people on the planet.”
He said that separate funds are needed “to effectively respond to our needs and to address the losses and damages caused by the impact of climate change on our people, our communities, and our economy.”
Alden Meyer, a senior assistant to the climate policy think tank E3G, said that the loss and damage negotiations are a “cliff moment” that may jeopardize Britain’s goal of ending the summit later on Saturday.
Developing countries said it was unfair for the summit to reach an unbalanced agreement that focused on “mitigating” – how the economy would abandon fossil fuels by 2050.
They hope to get specific guidance on how to meet the decarbonization bill while adapting to natural disasters that are increasing global warming.
Before the deadline on Friday night came and went, hundreds of indigenous and other protesters marched on the summit grounds, demanding that the rich world honour its promises.
Insufficient commitment
The summit began with great vigor, and world leaders released a series of headlines, from pledges to cut methane emissions to plans to save tropical rainforests.
On Wednesday, when the two largest emitters, the United States and China, announced a joint climate action plan, the negotiations got a further boost, albeit with simple details.
But according to the United Nations, the current plan to reduce national emissions will result in heating at 2.7 degrees Celsius, far exceeding the Paris target.
The latest draft text requires countries to submit their latest climate commitments next year.
