Glasgow: After a week of negotiations, numerous of the stickiest issues in climate talks remain unresolved and teams of cabinet ministers from different countries are being sent to move things along.
Briefing COP26 in Glasgow, on the first week’s progress, COP president Alok Sharma had to correct himself, noting that “some” issues had been settled, rather than “many”. Numerous developing countries were pessimistic. They called progress “disappointing,” saying announcements were high in quantity but worried that they were low in quantity.
No deals have been made yet on the three main goals of the UN — pledges to cut emissions in half by 2030 to keep the Paris climate deal’s 1.5 degree Celsius temperature rise goal alive; the need for USD 100 billion annually in financial help from rich countries to poor ones; and the idea that half of that money go on adapting to global warming’s worst effects.
Several other issues, including trading carbon and transparency, also remain unsolved during the climate summit of nations.
On the issue of more frequent updates of countries’ emission-cutting goals — something poorer nations seek — negotiators listed nine different time options for future negotiators to choose from. Sharma named teams of two ministers for each issue to oversee negotiations on each topic, a technique used in the past.
No deal yet on…
- Cutting emissions to half by 2030 as per Paris climate deal
- $100 billion help from rich countries to poor ones
- Fund utilisation for adapting to global warming’s worst effects.