U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry has hailed the COP26 agreement as a 'good deal' even after a last-minute change that let major coal ...
U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry has hailed the COP26 agreement as a 'good deal' even after a last-minute change that let major coal users such as China off the hook for reigning in their emissions.
The Glasgow agreement, aimed at capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, was altered at the last minute on Saturday to call for coal power to 'phase down,' rather than 'phase out.'
India, backed by China and other coal-dependent developing nations, demanded the change and asked for the wording to be rewritten, and the clause was hurriedly amended in the final minutes of negotiation.
China, which uses coal-fired power plants to fuel its explosive economic growth, consumes half the world's coal, while India is in second place accounting for 11 percent of global coal use.
'It's a good deal for the world,' Kerry insisted in an interview with The Associated Press after the agreement was gaveled in.
Alok Sharma, the conference chairman, was visibly emotional before banging down his gavel to signal that there were no vetoes to the deal.
His voice broke after he heard small island nations vulnerable to rising sea levels express their fury over the last-minute changes going easy on coal.
'May I just say to all delegates, I apologize for the way this process has unfolded and I am deeply sorry,' he told the assembly.
'I also understand the deep disappointment but I think, as you have noted, it's also vital that we protect this package.'
US Climate Envoy John Kerry has hailed the COP26 agreement as a 'good deal' even after a last minute change that let major coal users such as China off the hook
India's environment and climate minister, Bhupender Yadav, pushed for the change, backed by China and other coal-dependent developing nations
A coal fired power plant is seen last month in Hanchuan, Hubei province, China. China accounts for half of all coal consumption in the world
Alok Sharma, the conference chairman, was visibly emotional before banging down his gavel to signal that there were no vetoes to the deal
India's environment and climate minister, Bhupender Yadav, said the revision to the language on coal was needed to reflect the 'national circumstances of emerging economies.'
'We are becoming the voice of the developing countries,' he told Reuters, adding that coal had been 'singled out' during the COP26 talks while there was no similar call to phase out oil or natural gas.
'We made our effort to make a consensus that is reasonable for developing countries and reasonable for climate justice,' he said, alluding to the fact that rich nations historically emitted the largest share of greenhouse gases.
The one-word change in the agreement was met with dismay by the rich economies of the European Union and Switzerland, as well as by a large group of small island states, whose existence is under threat from rising sea levels.
But all said they would let it stand for the sake of an overall agreement.
'The approved texts are a compromise. They reflect the interests, the conditions, the contradictions and the state of political will in the world today,' said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
'They take important steps, but unfortunately the collective political will was not enough to overcome some deep contradictions.'
Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment for Egypt, puts her hand on her head in frustration after the coal compromise made at the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Scotland, Saturday
Delegates celebrate the passage of the agreement during the Plenary session of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday
Nation after nation had complained earlier on the final day of two weeks of UN climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland about how the deal did not go far or fast enough, but they said it was better than nothing and provided incremental progress, if not success.
Negotiators from Switzerland and Mexico called the coal language change against the rules because it came so late. However, they said they had no choice but to hold their noses and go along with it.
Swiss environment minister Simonetta Sommaruga said the change will make it harder to achieve the international goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, since pre-industrial times.
'Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread,' United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
'We are still knocking on the door of climate catastrophe.'
John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate gestures during a press conference at the end of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Saturday
Climate activists hold a demonstration through the venue of the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Friday, November 12
Many other nations and climate campaigners pointed at India for making demands that weakened the final agreement.
'India's last-minute change to the language to phase down but not phase out coal is quite shocking,' said Australian climate scientist Bill Hare, who tracks world emission pledges for the science-based Climate Action Tracker.
'India has long been a blocker on climate action, but I have never seen it done so publicly.'
Others approached the deal from a more positive perspective. In addition to the revised coal language, the Glasgow Climate Pact included enough financial incentives to almost satisfy poorer nations and solved a long-standing problem to pave the way for carbon trading.
The agreement also says big carbon polluting nations have to come back and submit stronger emission cutting pledges by the end of 2022.
A climate activist holds a placard next to police officers near the venue for the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Friday
Delegates from different countries pose for a group photograph together on stage in the plenary room at the COP26 UN Climate Summit
Conference President, Britain's Alok Sharma, pictured, said the deal drives 'progress on coal, cars, cash and trees' and is 'something meaningful for our people and our planet.'
Before the India change, negotiators said the deal preserved, albeit barely, the overarching goal of limiting Earth's warming by the end of the century to 1.5 degrees Centigrade.
The world has already warmed one degree Centigrade compared to pre-industrial times.
Ahead of the Glasgow talks, the United Nations had set three criteria for success, and none of them were achieved.
The UN's criteria included pledges to cut carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2030, $100 billion in financial aid from rich nations to poor, and ensuring that half of that money went to helping the developing world adapt to the worst effects of climate change.
'We did not achieve these goals at this conference,' Guterres said Saturday night.
'But we have some building blocks for progress.'
Negotiators Saturday used the word 'progress' more than 20 times, but rarely used the word 'success' and then mostly in that they've reached a conclusion, not about the details in the agreement.
Pictured: a climate protester walks from Times Square to New York Governor Kathy Hochul's office to demand more action against climate change on Saturday in New York City
Climate activist Zainab Sunmisola Yunusa, pictured, takes part in a demonstration through the venue of the COP26 summit on Friday
Conference President Alok Sharma said the deal drives 'progress on coal, cars, cash and trees' and is 'something meaningful for our people and our planet.'
Environmental activists were measured in their not-quite-glowing assessments, issued before India's last minute change.
'It's meek, it's weak and the 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit goal is only just alive, but a signal has been sent that the era of coal is ending. And that matters,' said Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan, a veteran of the UN climate talks known as the Conferences of Parties.
Former Irish President Mary Robinson, speaking for a group of retired leaders called The Elders, said the pact represents: the pact represents 'some progress, but nowhere near enough to avoid climate disaster... People will see this as a historically shameful dereliction of duty.'
Next year's talks are scheduled to take place in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Dubai will host the next world climate meeting in 2023.
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