Ambition, fossil fuels, financial aid to poor countries ... The 200 or so signatory countries of the Paris agreement are handing over the work on Saturday, November 13 to try to finally wrest from the COP26 an agreement intended to curb global warming. of the planet.
After a summit welcoming more than 120 heads of state, announcements of all kinds on forests or methane, and two weeks of close negotiations on many explosive subjects, the Glasgow climate conference, unsurprisingly, plays an extension .
At least one more day to try to
"keep alive"
the most ambitious goal of the Paris agreement to limit warming to 1.5 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era.
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Friday evening, after the theoretical end of the conference, the British presidency gave an appointment at 8 a.m., after another night of consultation, for a third version of the text of the final declaration, now hoping that the hammer could fall in the Saturday day.
The second version of the text published Friday morning was far from unanimous, attracting criticism from all sides.
At the heart of the tensions, the financial envelope to help the poorest countries - the least responsible for climate change but on the front line in the face of its impacts - to reduce their emissions and prepare to face storms, heat waves and increasing droughts .
"Loss and damage"
"We must put money on the table to help developing countries make the necessary changes (...) This is what must happen in the coming hours"
, insisted Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the BBC Friday afternoon.
In 2009, the countries of the North had promised to increase their climate aid in the South to 100 billion per year from 2020.
But the promise is still not kept, sharpening the resentment of developing countries in a context of health crisis that adds to their burden.
They believe that the latest version of the text does not meet their demands.
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Beyond the symbolic issue of 100 billion and
“broken trust”
, developing countries have put on the table a proposal to create a specific mechanism to take into account
“loss and damage”
, that is to say - say the damage already caused by the devastating impacts of increasing storms, droughts and heat waves. In vain for the moment, because of the opposition of the rich countries, according to several observers.
"The United States and the EU block this proposal (...) The rich countries block the finance for the losses and the damages at each stage for some time,"
denounced Gabriela Bucher, of the NGO Oxfam.
All you are asked is to keep your promises, to admit your responsibilities for causing this crisis.
Nothing more, nothing less "
The representative of Panama on Friday during the plenary
The South also accuses the developed countries of wanting to force them to do more to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions when they are not responsible for climate change.
“All you are asked is to keep your promises, to admit your responsibilities for causing this crisis.
Nothing more, nothing less ”
, commented the representative of Panama on Friday during the plenary.
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In an attempt to limit global warming, the provisional text of the British Presidency calls on member states to raise their emission reduction commitments more regularly than provided for in the Paris agreement, starting in 2022. Even if the possibility of adjustments for
“special national circumstances”
has been added compared to the first version, provoking criticism from NGOs on the real ambition of countries to limit global warming. Despite the new commitments for the 2030 deadline announced just before and since the start of the COP, the world is still heading towards a
“catastrophic”
warming
of 2.7 ° C, according to the UN. While a warming of around 1.1 ° C is already causing an increase in disasters today.
Another sensitive issue at the heart of the negotiations, fossil fuels, the main cause of global warming.
While the Paris agreement did not mention them, the latest draft declaration provides for the inclusion - softened compared to the first version - of the exit from their funding.
Without satisfying anyone.
