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COP26 President: China and India should explain their stance on coal

China and India will need to explain to developing countries why they have been pushing to soften the language of efforts to phase out carbon at COP26, conference chairman Alok Sarma said today.

The UN climate talks conducted in Glasgow, in Scotland, were concluded yesterday with an agreement that targeted fossil fuels for the first time.

But India, with the support of China and other coal-dependent developing countries, rejected a proposal calling for a “phase out” of coal-fired power, and the text was changed to “phasing out”. (phase down).

“As far as China and India are concerned, they need to explain this,” Sharma told a news conference in Downing Street, London.

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson he said: “Whether the expression was ‘phase down’ or ‘phase out’ does not seem to me as someone who speaks English to make such a big difference. The direction of the trip is essentially the same. “

Johnson said COP26 had successfully responded to the mandate to reduce coal-fired power generation, which was supported by real action by individual countries.

“If we add all this together, it is beyond any doubt that Glasgow marked the end of coal energy,” he told a news conference.

But the British prime minister said his satisfaction with the progress made was tempered by frustration because the deal did not go any further.

“Unfortunately, that is the nature of diplomacy,” said Boris Johnson. “We can lobby, we can shape, we can encourage, but we can not force sovereign countries to do something they do not want to do.”

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