The 200 or so countries of COP26 adopted an agreement on Saturday, November 13, 2021 to accelerate the fight against global warming, but without guaranteeing to meet the target of containing it at 1.5 ° C or responding to requests for assistance. poor countries.
Read also COP26: in Glasgow, a week divided between organizational hiccups and announcement effects
The text was adopted after two weeks of trying negotiations, like the last-minute, less restrictive changes introduced on the issue of fossil fuels at the request of China and India.
As if to anticipate the first criticisms of the pact, before endorsing with a hammer blow the adoption, the British president of this 26th world climate conference, Alok Sharma, said in a voice moved and tears in the eyes
"deeply sorry"
for this outcome.
And the first reviews, in fact, were not long in coming.
UN boss criticizes lack of "political will"
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres himself noted the weaknesses of this "Glasgow Pact", warning that
"the climate catastrophe is still knocking on the door
", the
"political will"
having failed to overcome the
"contradictions"
between countries.
"It's time to go into 'emergency' mode
," he regretted.
Welcoming
"welcome steps forward"
, the UN boss listed the objectives
"not achieved"
, such as financial aid to the poorest countries or
"the end of fossil fuel subsidies, the exit from coal, put a price on carbon ”
.
Read also COP26: an international agreement to try to "get out of coal"
"It's soft", for Greenpeace international
“It's soft, it's weak, and the 1.5 ° C target is barely alive, but there is a signal that the Coal Age is over. And it is important ”
, disputed Jennifer Morgan, boss of Greenpeace International.
The text also contains a mention, unprecedented at this level, of fossil fuels, the main responsible for global warming and which are not even mentioned in the Paris agreement.
The wording was attenuated over the versions and until the last minute before the adoption in plenary, at the insistence of China and India in particular.
The final version calls for
“stepping up efforts towards reducing coal without (CO2) capture systems and phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”
.
But with a mention of
"special national circumstances"
.
To read also "COP26 and climate clearing"
"A bitter pill to swallow", for the representative of Liechtenstein
A
“bitter pill to swallow”,
but accepted
“for the common good”
, regretted the representative of Liechtenstein, summing up many interventions by delegates.
The explosive dossier of aid to poor countries, which at one time seemed able to derail the negotiations, has not found a resolution.
Scared by the still unfulfilled promise of the richest to increase their climate aid in the South to $ 100 billion per year from 2020 onwards, the poor countries, the least responsible for global warming but on the front line in the face of its impacts, were asking for funding. specific to the
"loss and damage"
they are already suffering.
Read alsoCOP26: the United Kingdom proposes a draft final declaration
"Blah blah blah", reacts Greta Thunberg
But developed countries, foremost the United States, which fears possible legal consequences, strongly opposed it.
And reluctantly, the poor countries gave in, accepting a continuation of the dialogue so as not to lose the progress on the fight against warming, the effects of which already threaten them directly.
While saying
"extremely disappointed"
.
"It's an insult to the millions of people whose lives are being ravaged by the climate crisis,"
commented Teresa Anderson, from the NGO ActionAid International.
The face of the global youth climate movement, Greta Thunberg, was more concise, once again calling COP26 a
"blah blah blah"
.
“The real work continues outside of these rooms.
And we'll never, ever give up, ”
she promised on Twitter.
The European Commission defends the text
Among the few voices to defend the text, the European Commission considered that the “Glasgow Pact” had
“kept the objectives of the Paris agreement alive”
.
"We have made progress in achieving the three objectives that we set ourselves at the start of COP26
", defended Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, quoted in a
press
release.
“First, secure emission reduction commitments so as not to exceed the 1.5 ° C limit for global warming. Second, meet the target of $ 100 billion per year in climate finance for developing and vulnerable countries. And finally, get an agreement on the "user manual" of the Paris agreement
, "she detailed.
Read alsoHundred billion dollars, the explosive stake of COP26
Boris Johnson and John Kerry mixed
The Prime Minister of the host country, Boris Johnson, who had traveled twice to Glasgow to try to facilitate the discussions, for his part judged that this result constituted
"a big step forward"
but that there was
"still a lot to do ”
.
"And what is important is that we have the first international agreement ever to reduce the use of coal and a plan to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees"
more than in the pre-industrial era, wants believe it.
“We have always known that Glasgow was not the finish line
,
”
commented US envoy John Kerry.
Read also COP26: on the way to a warming limited to 2 ° C in 2100?
"Glasgow bruised, but alive", for the Prime Minister of Fiji
For Prime Minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama,
"the 1.5 degree goal leaves Glasgow battered and bruised, but alive"
.
"Vinaka (thank you) to our Pacific negotiators for their heroic efforts at COP26 to ensure that a path free of coal and fossil fuels is included in the final agreement
," he tweeted, saying that
"the compromise that we have found will only matter if countries do now ”.
Colombian President Ivan Duque on Twitter called the agreement
"important progress in tackling the climate crisis but it is not enough to meet the targets."
He assured that his country
intended to
collaborate with others
"to rise to the levels of ambition that science calls for".
A "historic" moment, for the German Minister for the Environment
“We are living in a truly historic moment
,
”
greeted the outgoing German government's Environment Minister, Social Democrat Svenja Schulze.
"The phasing out of coal has now been launched around the world"
and a
"new economic model"
has emerged, added the minister who would have liked the wording on coal to be
"a little clearer"
.
