As COP26 will work overtime on Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged rich countries to increase aid to the least developed countries so that they can reduce emissions and prepare for the effects of climate change.
The climate no longer has “cash”. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on rich countries to “put money on the table” on Friday, November 12, in order to reach an agreement on the capital COP26, which is fighting global warming, while fierce negotiations on assisting poor countries and other countries continue . fossil fuel.
Early in the morning, the United Kingdom, the chair of this climate conference, issued a new draft final declaration, but the plenary meeting in the afternoon emphasized that there are still significant differences among the more than 200 signatories of the Paris Agreement in 2016.
The failure of the COP is considered vital to the future of mankind. This will further jeopardize the goal of the Paris Agreement, which is to limit global warming to “far below” +2°C compared with the pre-industrial era. +1.5°C if possible.
According to the United Nations, despite the announcement of new commitments for the 2030 deadline before and after the start of the COP, the world is still moving towards a “catastrophic” warming of +2.7°C.
One of the most controversial issues: the financial envelope used to help the poorest countries — the least responsible for climate change, but at the forefront of its impact — to reduce emissions and prepare for storms, heat waves, and droughts.
“Funds must be provided to help developing countries make the necessary changes. (…) This is what must happen in the next few hours,” Boris Johnson insisted to the BBC on Friday afternoon. Before the meeting, he had made “cash” one of his priorities.
“We will not be able to have everything at COP, but we can start,” he added, not as optimistic as before the start of this meeting, in order to achieve his declared goal of “keep 1.5°C alive”.
Insufficient commitment
In 2009, the countries of the North pledged to increase their climate assistance to the South to US$100 billion per year starting in 2020. However, the promise has not been fulfilled, which has aggravated the resentment of developing countries and increased their burden during the health crisis.
The draft declaration calls on rich countries to fulfill or even exceed their broken promises. By 2025, the aid dedicated to adapting to the effects of climate change will double, and emission reduction funds will account for 75% of the total.
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But these commitments are not enough, developing countries insist. “Our confidence has been shattered”, the representative of Kenya emphasized in particular.
The poorest people account for a negligible share of global emissions, and they insist that financing must take into account the “losses and damages” they have suffered at an ever-increasing rate.
But at this point, the draft declaration only proposes to speed up the implementation of planned measures, and does not have a quantified goal over time.
“We are very disappointed” that the proposal on the specific mechanism was not retained, and the representative of Guinea was initiated on behalf of the G77+ China Group (more than 100 developing and emerging countries).
“We want to see our proposal in the text,” he insisted, especially “because it was proposed by the entire developing world,” including emerging powers.
The “crazy” of fossil fuel subsidies
Adding up all the envelopes, it is estimated that the financing needs of the underdeveloped groups are now between 750 billion and 1.3 trillion US dollars per year. The scope confirmed by the draft IPCC report obtained by Agence France-Presse.
Another pressing issue at the core of the negotiations, which are scheduled to officially end at 6 pm GMT, is fossil fuels, which are the main culprit in global warming.
Although the Paris Agreement does not mention fossil fuels, the latest draft declaration stipulates the withdrawal of their funds-softened compared to the first version.
The European Union and the United States specifically support the mention. The US envoy John Kerry even criticized the huge subsidies for these “crazy definitions” of energy.
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More generally, in order to limit global warming, the provisional text of the British presidency calls on member states to increase their emission reduction commitments more frequently than the Paris Agreement stipulates, starting in 2022. Even if there is an adjustment, the “possibility” has increased the special national conditions.”
However, although the 2015 climate agreement requires signatories to increase their ambitions every five years-the next review is scheduled for 2025-some countries oppose what they consider to be a “rewrite” of the agreement.
“We cannot stop the warming in Glasgow, we must accept it, but we can maintain the prospect of limiting the earth’s temperature rise to +1.5°C until the end of this century. ,” commented Boris Johnson.
Although every tenth of a degree doubles extreme events, “this is much better than (…) +2 °C or higher”.
Agence France-Presse