By Seth Borenstein and Frank Jordans -
The Associated Press
GLASGOW, Scotland - A total of nearly 200 countries on Saturday agreed to a controversial climate change deal that seeks to maintain a key global warming reduction target, but also included, at the last minute, toned down language on the use of coal.
Several countries, including small island states, said they were very disappointed by
India's proposed change to "gradually reduce" the use of energy from coal rather than "phase out."
Coal is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Nation after nation complained earlier, on the final day of two weeks of the UN climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, about how the deal was not fast enough or far-reaching enough, but said that what was achieved was better than nothing.
Specifically, it was a gradual progress, which can also be considered a success.
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John Kerry, the United States' special envoy for climate, gestures at the end of a plenary session at the UN Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.Alastair Grant / AP
Negotiators from Switzerland and Mexico said the change in the language used regarding coal was against the rules because it was proposed too late.
Anyway, they said they had no choice but to accept it.
Swiss Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said the change will
make it difficult to achieve the international goal of limiting global warming
from pre-industrial times to the present day to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
"Our weak planet hangs by a thread," United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
"We are still on the verge of a climate catastrophe," he added.
Many other states and climate activists singled out India for making demands that weakened the final agreement reached.
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"India's last minute change in language to say it will phase out rather than phase out carbon is quite surprising," said Australian climate scientist Bill Hare, who tracks the carbon emissions pledges of the world's countries to the so-called Climate Action Tracker, scientifically based. "India has been a state that blocks actions against climate change for a long time, but I have never seen them do so in such an open way," he said.
Others looked at the agreement reached from
a more positive perspective
.
In addition to revising the language on carbon, the Glasgow Climate Accord includes enough economic incentives almost to respond to the needs of the poorest nations and solve a long-standing problem of facilitating carbon measurements.
The agreement also indicates that large carbon-emitting states will have to come back and offer firmer commitments to carbon reductions by the end of 2022.
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"It's a good deal for the world," US climate envoy John Kerry told The Associated Press.
"
It has some problems, but overall it is a good agreement,
" he said.
Yasmine Fouad, Egypt's Minister of the Environment, attends a session of the UN Climate Summit COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland.
Negotiators have been working around the clock to reach an agreement to avoid a climate catastrophe.
Alberto Pezzali / AP
Before the change introduced by India, negotiators said that the agreement maintained, although barely, the general objective of limiting global warming by the end of the century to 1.5 degrees.
The planet has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to the pre-industrial stage.
Before the talks in Glasgow, the United Nations had set three criteria for the success of the meeting, and none of them have been met.
The UN parameters included a commitment to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, $ 100 billion in financial aid from the richest nations to the poorest, and ensuring that half of that money goes to helping the world. developing countries to respond to the worst consequences of climate change.
"We did not achieve those goals at this conference," Guterres said Saturday night.
"But we do have some foundations on which we can progress," he added.
Negotiators used the word "progress" more than 20 times on Saturday, but they used the word "success" very little
and in those cases more in the sense that they reached a conclusion, but not on the details of the agreement.
The president of the meeting, Alok Sharma, said that the agreement promotes "progress on issues such as coal, cars, the use of cash and trees" and that it is "something significant" for people and the planet.
Environmental activists were not very enthusiastic in their assessments of the meeting, before India proposed a last minute change.
“It is moderate, it is weak, and the goal of not exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius is barely alive, but it is a sign that the age of coal is ending.
And that's what matters, ”said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International, a veteran of the UN climate talks known as Conferences of the Parties.
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Former Irish President Mary Robinson, speaking on behalf of a group of retired leaders called The Elders, said
the pact represents "some progress, but is nowhere close to averting a climate disaster
.
"
"People will see this as a shameful historical breach of duty," he added.
India's Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav opposed a provision on the gradual "phase-out" of coal, saying that developing countries had the "right to the responsible use of fossil fuels."
Yadav said that global warming was due to "unsustainable lifestyles and wasteful consumption patterns" in rich countries.
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After Yadav first raised the unpleasant possibility of changing the language used when discussing coal in the deal, European Union Vice President Frans Timmermans and a 27-nation EU climate envoy begged negotiators in frustration. to join forces for future generations.
"
For God's sake, don't screw up this moment,
" Timmermans pleaded.
"Please
accept this text so that we bring hope to the hearts of our children and grandchildren,
" he added.
Helen Mountford, vice chair of the think tank at the World Resources Institute, said India's demand may not matter as much as feared because economic activity arising from cheaper, renewable fuel is making coal increasingly popular. more obsolete.
"The coal is dead. The coal is being phased out," Mountford said.
"It's a shame that they dilute that," he said.
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Kerry and several other negotiators noted that the good compromises reached left everyone a little dissatisfied.
“Not everyone in life ... can make decisions about life and death.
Not everyone can make decisions that really affect an entire planet.
Today we are privileged to do exactly that, ”he said.
Before the change in the language on coal, small island nations that are vulnerable to the catastrophic effects of climate change and that had pushed for bolder action in Glasgow said they were satisfied with the spirit of compromise, but not with the outcome of the conversations
"The Maldives accepts the staggered progress made in Glasgow," said Aminath Shauna, the island nation's minister for environment, climate change and technology.
"I would like to point out that this progress is not commensurate with the urgency and scale of the problem at hand," he added.
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Shauna pointed out that to stay within the warming limit that nations agreed to six years ago in Paris, the world must cut carbon dioxide emissions by essentially half in 98 months.
The developing world needs the rich world to step forward, he said.
"
The difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees is a death sentence for us
," Shauna said.
“
We did not cause the climate crisis.
No matter what we do, we cannot reverse it,
"he said.
Talks next year are scheduled to take place in the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikh, on the Red Sea.
Dubai will host the meeting in 2023.
___
Aniruddha Ghosal, Karl Ritter, and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.