Councillor Alok Sharma, Chairman of COP26 (Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
Alok Sharma, chairman of COP26, said that there is still a series of unfinished work at the tightening United Nations climate summit on Thursday, as scientists urge negotiators to heed their warnings that urgent action on global warming is needed. .
Representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered in Glasgow for arduous talks aimed at keeping the world within the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting temperature rise to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius.
However, because emissions are still rising, and current commitments put the world on the road to heating, far beyond that goal, negotiators are arguing over a range of issues-from cutting greenhouse gas emissions to being already facing a super storm. , Floods and droughts to provide financial assistance.
“We are not there yet. There is still a lot of work to be done,” Sharma told delegates on Thursday, adding that he was “worried”, especially the number of unresolved financial issues the day before the meeting ended.
“The whole world is watching us. They want us to work together and reach a consensus. We know we can’t let them down.”
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His comments came after China and the United States signed a joint agreement to accelerate climate action over the past decade. Experts said the agreement should alleviate fears that the tensions seen at the beginning of the summit could derail the negotiations.
The unexpected statement issued by special envoys John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua stated that the two largest emitters in the world “recognize the severity and urgency of the climate crisis”, although they did not elaborate on their actions.
Importantly, the document emphasized the need to reduce carbon pollution within this decade, and promised to work quickly to reduce methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas.
“The United States and China are working closely to address climate change and reduce methane emissions. This can only be good news,” said Bernice Lee, research director of the Chatham Institute think tank.
“But the statement is not enough to complete the transaction. The real test for Washington and Beijing is their strength in pushing for a 1.5C consensus agreement in Glasgow.”
The 2015 Paris Agreement saw the commitment of countries to limit heating to “far below” 2 degrees Celsius and to achieve a safer 1.5C ceiling through comprehensive emission reduction efforts.
Countries also agreed to double their emission reduction plans every five years under the agreement “ratcheting” mechanism aimed at generating growing climate ambitions.
So far, the 1.1C warming has amplified extreme weather, causing communities around the world to face more severe fires and droughts, displacement, and severe economic difficulties.
The United Nations says that even the latest national pledges will warm the planet by 2.7 degrees Celsius this century.
In order to avoid exceeding the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that emissions must be reduced by 45% this decade.
On Thursday, more than 200 scientists sent an open letter to the COP26 summit, urging countries to take “immediate, forceful, rapid, sustained and large-scale actions” to stop global warming.
The letter said: “The accumulated greenhouse gas emissions so far have exposed our planet to critical changes in the climate system that affect human society and marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Some of these changes will be irreversible for future generations. ”
The draft of the “decision” was announced on Wednesday, which is the first place that truly shows that countries have entered in-depth technical discussions for 10 days.
The text will definitely change during the ministerial debate, and it calls on countries to “re-examine and strengthen” their new climate plan, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), by next year, instead of the previously agreed 2025.
The unresolved issues at COP26 include how to financially support fragile countries to achieve a green economy and prepare for future shocks.
Read | What are the contents of the draft agreement of the COP26 climate summit?
Common reports on transparency, climate action, and carbon market rules are still under discussion.
Countries that have been hit by climate disasters are asking rich emitters to provide “loss and damage” support.
But the main sticking point is ambition: which countries plan to cut carbon emissions fast enough to avoid dangerous heating.
Frans Timmermans, vice president of the European Commission, said that the US-China agreement will have a “positive impact” on the Glasgow discussions.
“Although they have encountered all the difficulties on other issues, it is now actually showing that this issue transcends other issues… This helps the international community to accept the fact that we must act immediately,” he told AFP .
