COP26 closes with 'compromise' deal on climate, but it's not enough, says UN chief

After extending the COP26 climate negotiations an extra day, nearly 200 countries meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, adopted on Saturday an outcome document that, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, "reflects the interests, the contradictions, and the state of political will in the world today".

"It is an important step but is not enough. We must accelerate climate action to keep alive the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees", said Antonio Guterres in a video statement released at the close of the two-week meeting.

The UN chief added that it is time to go "into emergency mode", ending fossil fuel subsidies, phasing out coal, putting a price on carbon, protecting vulnerable communities, and delivering the $100 billion climate finance commitment.

"We did not achieve these goals at this conference. But we have some building blocks for progress," he said.

Guterres also had a message to young people, indigenous communities, women leaders, and all those leading the charge on climate action.

"I know you are disappointed. But the path of progress is not always a straight line. Sometimes there are detours. Sometimes there are ditches. But I know we can get there. We are in the fight of our lives, and this fight must be won. Never give up. Never retreat. Keep pushing forward," he said.

The outcome document, known as the Glasgow Climate Pact, calls on 197 countries to report their progress towards more climate ambition next year, at COP27, set to take place in Egypt.

The outcome also firms up the global agreement to accelerate action on climate this decade.

However, COP26 President Alok Sharma struggled to hold back tears following the announcement of a last-minute change to the pact, by China and India, softening language circulated in an earlier draft about "the phase-out of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels". As adopted on Saturday, that language was revised to "phase down" coal use.

Sharma apologized for "the way the process has unfolded" and added that he understood some delegations would be "deeply disappointed" that the stronger language had not made it into the final agreement.

By other terms of the wide-ranging set of decisions, resolutions and statements that make up the outcome of COP26, governments were,among other things, asked to provide tighter deadlines for updating their plans to reduce emissions.

On the thorny question of financing from developed countries in support of climate action in developing countries, the text emphasizes the need to mobilize climate finance "from all sources to reach the level needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, including significantly increasing support for developing country Parties, beyond $100 billion per year".

(ANI)

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