As the climate summit ends, COP26 President Alok Sharma stressed that India and China would have to explain climate-vulnerable nations. After the two countries pushed for the language on coal to change from phase-out to phase down in the deal, Mr. Sharma stressed both the countries. The historic deal, according to Mr. Sharma, keeps 1.5C within reach. It is the 1st ever climate deal that plans to reduce coal. The submit was supposed to end on Friday but had to extend for a day. In late Saturday, a deal was agreed upon following the late intervention from India to water down the language on coal. Mr. Sharma said the deal struck in the climate summit was a fragile win.
Mr. Sharma said what they did on Saturday; he will not call it a failure but a historic achievement. China’s teams up with India to water down the language came as a blow to those who wanted a much more ambitious outcome at the conference. The most developed nations in the world in the 1st place got the world into this problem. Now experts are urging that these countries should stop using coal.
The developed countries in the world have to provide finance and technological support for developing countries to help them move to cleaner energy. Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin, who headed China’s team in Glasgow, said he hopes that developed countries will work hard to keep up with their commitments and support developing countries instead of merely urging other parties to raise their ambitions.
One of the main goals set in COP26 was to ensure that the warming should not go above 1.5C by 2100. The countries will meet next year to pledge further major carbon cuts to reach the 1.5C goal. If the current pledges are fulfilled will only limit global warming to about 2.4C. Scientists have already warned that if the global temperature rises above 1.5 degrees C, the severe effects of climate change can be seen.
The outcome of COP26 –
- By the end of next year, the countries were asked to republish their climate action plans.
- The countries will have to develop more ambitious reduction plans to achieve emissions reduction targets for 2030.
- Developed countries were urged to increase the money they give to those already suffering the effects of climate change beyond the current $100bn annual targets.
- For the 1st time, the language has been included.
Conclusion –
The final deal agreed on has been met with some criticism. The world’s task is to halve global emissions by 2030. Despite some progress in climate meets, the world is only about 20% or 25% of the way to that goal. As per the UN’s climate change chief, the mention of fossil fuels and coal is a huge step ahead. She also said that a balance is needed on the social consequences for so many people worldwide, especially in developing countries.
According to a report by the Climate Action Tracker at the current rate of warming, the world is heading for 2.4C of warming by 2100. Scientists believe that if no action is taken then global warming could exceed 4C in the future. This could lead to extreme heatwaves, rainfall and floods, and droughts.
