Sleep-deprived COP26 negotiators yesterday struggled to bridge deep divisions holding up a deal to deliver the emissions cuts and financial support needed to avert the accelerating disaster of climate change.
A new draft text, released deep into overtime by the Glasgow summit’s UK presidency, urged nations to accelerate efforts to phase out unfiltered coal and “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies.
Large emitters such as China, Saudi Arabia and Russia had tried to remove the mention of polluting fuels, delegates have said.
After resistance from rich nations led by the US and EU, the draft text omitted any reference to a specific finance facility for “loss and damage” — the mounting cost of global warming so far — which has been a key demand of poorer nations.
The text noted “with deep regret” that wealthy nations had also failed to stump up a separate annual sum of US$100 billion they promised more than a decade ago, but said only that it would come by 2023.
Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan said that the language on fossil fuels “is far from what is needed, but sends a signal; I dare countries to take that out of the text right now.”
“The US has to support the most vulnerable on the issue of loss and damage. They cannot avoid this issue any longer. Nor can the European Union,” she said. “I would call on President [Joe] Biden to do what’s right, and support the most vulnerable in helping them deal with their losses.”
The US and EU delegations did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
International Centre for Climate Change and Development director Saleemul Huq said that the British COP26 presidency had been “bullied” overnight into rejecting specific loss and damage funding.
“The UK’s words to the vulnerable countries have been proven to be totally unreliable,” he said.
One observer party to discussions said that they expected developing nations to “push back and try to turn the dialogue into something that is not endless blah, blah, blah.”
The third round of revisions since Wednesday came after frenetic haggling that stretched overnight past the summit’s scheduled conclusion on Friday evening.
Countries already battered by climate disasters such as record-breaking drought, flooding and storms are demanding they be compensated separately for loss and damage, and have made it a red-line issue.
However, a proposal to include the creation of a dedicated facility to administer financial support was quashed by historical emitters, delegates said.
In its place was a line offering “dialogue to discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities” on loss and damage.
Amadou Sebory Toure, head of the G77+China negotiating bloc, said the proposal was “put forward by the entire developing world, representing six of every seven people on Earth.”
He said separate finance was needed “to effectively respond to our needs to address the loss and damage being inflicted on our peoples, our communities, our economies, by the impacts of climate change.”
Developing nations say they want specific instruction on how they can meet the bill of decarbonizing, while also adapting to the natural disasters supercharged by global warming.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS