COP26 seals climate deal COP26

Negotiators from almost 200 countries clinched a deal that seeks to keep the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement alive, breaking new ground in the fight against climate change but punting the hardest decisions into the future.

After two weeks of often fraught United Nations COP26 talks, delegates agreed to reduce the use of coal, end “inefficient” fossil-fuel subsidies and boost their climate targets sooner. 

The Glasgow Climate Pact puts the world, barely, on a path to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times — the stretch goal of the Paris Agreement and the level scientists say is needed to avoid catastrophic warming.

“This is the beginning of that 10-year sprint,” said John Kerry, the US climate envoy. “We are in fact closer than we have ever been before to avoiding climate chaos and securing cleaner air, safer water and a healthier planet.”

Delegates also approved the framework for trading carbon credits, breaking six years of deadlock, and emissions-reporting guidelines to increase scrutiny of climate pledges.

The Glasgow agreement was a more ambitious deal than many longtime COP observers had expected, with the coal commitment in particular held up as an important breakthrough. But it rests on the huge assumption that the biggest polluters will follow through on their promises to zero out their emissions over the next decades.

Reaching carbon neutrality will require trillions of dollars of investment in clean energy and stronger restrictions on fossil-fuel activities including combustion engine cars and polluting factories.

The accord was also criticised for not doing enough to raise financial support from rich countries to help developing nations transition to clean energy and prepare for more extreme weather. They also warned that concessions on carbon market rules could set back efforts to cut emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases.

UN climate agreements are, by their nature, messy compromises as they have to balance out the competing interests of more than 190 countries. In the final hours, countries including low-lying island nations like Maldives and carbon powers like the US complained that it didn’t go far enough.

Many were unhappy with the final text. But eventually countries agreed to a compromise as the clock ticked down and protesters outside the venue demanded they take action to stem warming that’s already led to floods, heatwaves and rising sea levels.

There was particular pressure to reach an agreement on carbon market rules as the private market outside the UN’s control booms, fuelling worries about free-for-all trading that could facilitate greenwashing. Demand is forecast to grow to $100 billion by the end of the decade as more companies set net-zero goals, but its effectiveness as a climate solution hinges on setting high standards.

The documents were approved to cheers and high-fives on Saturday evening even as COP26 President Alok Sharma expressed regret about how the last-minute haggling had been conducted in small huddles that excluded most countries. “I apologise for the way this process has unfolded, and I am deeply sorry,” he said, close to tears. “I also understand the deep disappointment, but as you have already noted it’s also vital that we protect this package.” — News24.

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