Environmental organizations consider the commitment reached “too poor” and lacking “firm and concrete commitments” to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) ends in Glasgow (Scotland) with an agreement to call on countries around the world to initiate the abandonment of coal, in what is the first global call to leave this fuel behind and manages to keep alive the goal of limiting global warming by the end of the century by 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In addition, the delegates have agreed to push for climate action and approved the rules of article 6 to create a framework for the global carbon markets.
The final version of this document, called Glasgow Climate Package, maintains the proposals despite the fact that in the last minute China and India, two of the main emitters of greenhouse gases, had opposed. This includes maintaining language that establishes the reduction of carbon and fossil fuel subsidies and calls for the next Summit (COP27) to adopt new climate targets.
Experts are cautious with the measures adopted to keep alive the goal of 1.5ºC compared to pre-industrial levels.
During the plenary voting on the partial texts of the Glasgow Package, Lichtenstein and Mexico have criticized that the summit has been neither inclusive nor transparent and have lamented the unambitious language in the process of ending fossil fuels.
The Marshall Islands has shown its deep disagreement with the last minute language change and, although it has accepted those modifications, it has wanted to show its disagreement. Along the same lines, Fiji has criticized that the novelties in the texts, after two long weeks of negotiation, have been introduced in “the last hours” and without “due debate”, something that it considers to be particularly detrimental to small states. .
Antigua and Barbuda, along the same lines, has expressed its disagreement and after several delegates with the same criticism, the president of COP26, Alok Sharma, has lost forgiveness for how the process has developed and has understood the “disagreement” of the countries, although it has justified the way of doing it that it has wanted to “protect the Glasgow Package”.
Regarding the coal agreement, the final text of the summit has been strongly criticized by the Fiji delegate who regrets that the language finally adopted speaks of “reducing” rather than “abandoning” coal. However, this is the first time that a UN agreement makes express mention of fossil fuels.
The final text also calls for an end to inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and for countries to reinforce their greenhouse gas emission cuts in 2030 by the end of next year to limit warming and achieve the 1.5ºC target.
“Too poor”
Environmental organizations consider the commitment reached “too poor” and lacking “firm and concrete commitments” to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The head of Climate at SEO / BirdLife, David Howell, has pointed out from Glasgow that overall the result of COP26 is “totally insufficient”, because the abandonment of fossil fuels and the associated subsidies although they appear “finally” in the agreement In the end, “it is expressed in terms too timid to drive the colossal transformation required.”
In Howell’s opinion, the path to the limit of global warming of 1.5 degrees in relation to the pre-industrial era “is still far away”, this year “modest steps” have been taken, when each year we have to take giant steps and running.
In the following years, the steps will have to become increasingly “gigantic and hasty” and therefore, “will cost more and more”.
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