Nearly 200 nations on Saturday came together on a global deal to combat climate change after two weeks of painful negotiations, but fell short of what science says is needed to contain dangerous temperature rises.
Rich nations stood accused of failing at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, to deliver much-needed finance to vulnerable states at risk of drought, rising seas, fire and storms.
COP26 President Alok Sharma rounded up the negotiations, telling delegates: “It is now decision time, and the choices you are set to make are vitally important.”
Photo: AFP
However, China and India insisted that language on fossil fuels be weakened in the final summit decision text.
As the final deal was clinched, a tearful Sharma said: “I apologize for the way this process has unfolded. I am deeply sorry,” before banging down his gavel.
Delegates entered the talks charged with keeping the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C to 2°C within reach, and with finding the funding for nations most at risk of climate-related droughts, floods and storms supercharged by rising seas.
Observers said the agreement fell far short of what is needed to avert dangerous warming and help countries adapt or recoup damages from the disasters already unfurling globally.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the deal, but said that it was “not enough.”
“We are still knocking on the door of climate catastrophe,” he said.
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg said the talks had achieved nothing but “blah, blah, blah,” echoing earlier comments.
Laurence Tubiana, the architect of the Paris deal, said that “COP has failed to provide immediate assistance for people suffering now.”
Yet a statement from the European Commission said the deal had “kept the Paris targets alive.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose government hosted the talks, insisted the deal was a “big step forward,” even if much more work needed to be done.
The final text urged nations to accelerate efforts to “phase down” unfiltered coal and “phase out” inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
Large emitters China and India had opposed the mention of the polluting fuels, and the language in the final text was significantly more nuanced than earlier drafts.
The deal also called on all countries to accelerate their emissions cuts by submitting new national plans by next year, three years earlier than agreed in Paris.
However, after resistance from rich nations led by the US and the EU, the text omitted any reference to a specific finance facility for the loss and damage climate change has already caused in the developing world. It instead only promised future “dialogue” on the subject.
“For some loss and damage may be the beginning of conversation and dialogue, but for us this is a matter of survival,” Maldives Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology Shauna Aminath said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS