The agreement between the countries came with a 24-hour delay and much more “mildly” in the commitments, compared to the drafts. The pros and cons of the outcome of the Conference.
After two weeks of tough negotiations and an end that lasted 24 hours, the long-awaited 26th Glasgow Climate Conference (COP26) closed with a controversial agreement between 197 countries to reverse climate change. But is this what everyone expected? Probably not, for a conference that had been described as a “milestone” for the sustainability of the planet. The tears and public apology of Conference President Alok Sarma for the turnaround in the agreement and the statement by host Boris Johnson that he “just hopes this Conference is the beginning of the end for climate change” do not inspire much confidence.
Most British Sunday newspapers today talk about “drama”. The Sun describes the Conference as a “climate fairy tale”. The Sunday Times points out that China and India “put the brakes on the deal.”
The word that defined the deal
The truth is that while all the drafts wrote about “phase-out” of carbon, at the last minute the word was changed and replaced with the term “phase-down”. A small but decisive change demanded by China and India, as Indian Environment Minister Bupinder Yadav argued, “how can we eliminate coal when we have to tackle poverty?”
Reducing carbon consumption is so important to achieving the goal of maintaining the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as it is responsible for 40% of annual CO2 emissions.
The positives of the Conference
On the plus side, it is the first conference in the history of the COP to mention any commitment to carbon reduction, as some environmental organizations, such as the WWF, admit.
Even vaguely, the need to increase financial assistance from developed to developing countries has been recognized, beyond the $ 100 billion agreed in 2009. At the same time, the key to the agreement is the commitment of states to present their annual progress in reducing pollutant emissions, giving the hope that they will remain committed to the goals they set.
Zoe Katzagiannaki, London
Source: Deutsche Welle
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