Climate Change, COP 26: A new environmental agreement is reached in Glasgow amid concerns
An agreement has been reached at the COP 26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, to prevent dangerous climate change.
The Glasgow Climate Packet is the first climate agreement to explicitly plan to reduce the use of coal, the worst fossil fuel for greenhouse gases.
The agreement also calls for immediate further cuts in carbon emissions and promises more financial aid to help developing countries adapt to climate change, but it also promises a one-point five degree Celsius increase in temperature. Not enough to limit grades.
The commitment to phase out coal in the first draft negotiations was dramatically damaged when India opposed it.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has said that he hopes the world will look at the COP 26 agreement in Glasgow as "the beginning of the end of climate change" and will continue to work tirelessly to achieve this goal. Will be seen as a promise to keep.
He added: "There is still much to be done in the years to come, but today's agreement is a big step forward and the important thing is that we have already signed the first international agreement to phase out coal." Agreed to develop a roadmap to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
"We are really closer to avoiding climate chaos and closer to clean air, safer water and a healthier planet than ever before," said John Kerry, the US envoy for meteorology.
But UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appeared less enthusiastic. "Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread," he said. We are still knocking on the door of climate change. "
As part of the agreement, the countries have agreed to meet to meet the promise of further cuts in carbon to achieve the 1.5 centigrade target. If the current promises are fulfilled, global warming will be limited to only 2.4 degrees Celsius.
Scientists say that if the global temperature rises by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, it could have severe effects on the earth, like millions of other people facing extreme heat۔
Said Swimonat Environment Minister Simonita Somaroga, ''We are deeply disappointed that the language in which we agreed on the subsidy for coal and fossil fuels has gone deeper as a result of a non-transparent process''.
He added, ''This will not help us get closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but it will make it more difficult to get there''.
However, some observers will see the final agreement as a success and point out that this is the first time such coal has been explicitly mentioned in UN documents.
It should be noted that coal causes about 40% of carbon emissions every year and therefore it is of central importance in keeping the temperature up to 1.5C.
To achieve this goal, Paris agreed in 2015 to reduce global emissions by 45% by 2030, and to reduce it to almost zero by the middle of the century.
Jennifer Morgan, international executive director of the environmental group Greenpeace, said: "They have changed one word, but they cannot change the signal from the COP that the coal age is coming to an end."
''It is in the interest of all countries, including those who still burn coal, to move towards clean renewable energy''.
''Lars Koch, policy director at ActionAid, said it was "disappointing" that only coal was mentioned''.
He said, ''It offers open concessions to rich that have been producing oil and gas for more than a century and spreading pollution''.
Sarah Shaw of Friends of the Earth International said the result was "no less than a scandal."
''It is pointless to say only 1.5 degrees if there is nothing in the agreement to provide for it'', he added. COP 26 will be remembered as a betrayal of developing countries.
Finance was a contentious issue during the conference. The 2009 100 billion a year pledged by developed countries to developing economies in 2009 was supposed to be fulfilled by 2020, but it did not materialize.
It was designed to help developing countries adapt to climate change and move toward clean energy.
In an effort to appease the delegates, COP 26 President Alok Sharma said that about ً 500 billion would be spent by 2025.
But delegates from poorer countries continued to demand throughout the meeting that funds be provided through the principle of loss and compensation. That is, rich countries should compensate poor countries for mitigating the effects of climate change.
This was one of the biggest disappointments for many delegations at the conference. Despite the dissatisfaction, many countries supported the agreement for the sake of gain, on the grounds that negotiations on damages and compensation would continue.
Delegations pushing for more progress on the issue included delegations from African countries such as Guinea and Kenya, as well as Latin American states, the small island region, and countries such as Bhutan in Asia.