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Final Cop26 agreement 'an utter betrayal' that 'barely keeps 1.5°C alive'

THE final Cop26 agreement is an “utter betrayal of the people,” civil society groups said yesterday as world leaders were accused of striking a deal that “barely keeps 1.5°C alive.”

Campaigners reacted with despair over the outcome of the UN climate summit as they said that the absence of pledges to stop investment in new fossil fuel projects, to phase out coal, gas and oil, and to offer compensation to poor nations for damage caused by climate change constituted a “catastrophic failure.” 

The deal, secured in Glasgow on Saturday night, appears to not go far enough to keep global warming at a maximum of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, beyond which radical changes in the environment are likely to spell “climate catastrophe.” 

Nations’ pledges for 2030 instead put the world on course for warming of 2.4°C by the end of the century, experts say.

Big emitting nations will be required to return next year to improve their pledges in a bid to keep to the 1.5°C goal.
 
A last-minute intervention by India on Saturday night saw a pledge to “phase out” the use of coal weakened to “phase down,” leading campaigners to brand the Cop26 agreement the “Glasgow get-out clause.” 

The Cop26 Coalition, which includes some of the world’s largest environmental organisations, said the pact left poor nations going home with nothing.

“This agreement is an utter betrayal of the people,” spokesman Asad Rehman said. “It is hollow words on the climate emergency from the richest countries, with an utter disregard of science and justice.

“The rich refused to do their fair share, with more empty words on climate finance and turning their back on the poorest who are facing a crisis of Covid coupled with economic and climate apartheid — all caused by the actions of the richest.”

Vulnerable and poorer nations had demanded compensation for the damage already being inflicted on them by the climate crisis, but such demands were shot down in the final moments by the US, the EU and Britain.

Ugandan climate campaigner Vanessa Nakate said the decision to water down the concept of a “loss and damage” fund to a “workshop” demonstrated that “rich countries clearly do not want to pay for the costs they are inflicting on poorer nations.”

Maldives Environment Minister Aminath Shauna said the pact was too late to save the island nation from rising sea levels.

“What is balanced and pragmatic to other parties will not help the Maldives adapt in time,” he said.

Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said the British government had refused to “stump up its fair share of climate finance,” “failed to push rich allies to achieve the inadequate target of $100 billion (£74.5bn)” of annual finance for poorer nations to fight climate change, “and colluded to block proposals for loss and damage compensation for climate-vulnerable countries.”

The pact triggered protests across the country on Saturday, when Extinction Rebellion activists disrupted the Lord Mayor’s Show in the City of London and declared Cop a failure.

Some other environmental groups were less critical, however, and noted that the inclusion of pledges to reduce coal signalled progress.

“The line on phasing out unabated coal and fossil fuel subsidies is weak and compromised, but its very existence is nevertheless a breakthrough and the focus on a just transition is essential,” Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan said. 

Although she said the agreement was “meek and weak,” Ms Morgan noted that the call for emissions reductions of 45 per cent by 2030 is in line with 1.5°C of warming, providing that it’s actually implemented.

Politicians also gave mixed reactions to the pact.

Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie said the outcome reflected the influence of fossil fuel companies at Cop26, and that failures to reach an agreement on limiting global warming to 1.5°C were “shameful.” 

Cop26 president Alok Sharma disputed claims yesterday that the conference had been a failure, after being questioned over his emotional reaction to the change in language on coal at the summit on Saturday evening. 

Mr Sharma had appeared to hold back tears after the watered-down deal was agreed, saying he was “deeply sorry” for how the negotiations had ended.

But he said yesterday: “I wouldn’t describe what we did yesterday as a failure — it is a historic achievement.”

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