Cop26, all the effects of the move by China, India and South Africa
In the final text of COP26, under pressure from China and India, the term "phase out" (exit) from coal for energy production has been replaced with the term "phase down". Facts and insights
The delegates of the approximately 200 countries present at the COP26 in Glasgow reached an agreement on the climate by accepting a final compromise: in the text , under pressure from China and India, the term "phase out" was replaced by coal for energy production with the term "phase down".
The agreement leaves the hope of containing global warming at + 1.5 ° C at the end of the century hanging by a thread. To get closer to the target, all countries have decided to return to the negotiating table next year, at a conference in Egypt, and review their national plans, with the aim of increasing commitments for emissions cuts, he wrote. the Guardian .
the Indian delegate checks mate at the end of the session with a last minute amendment to the final plenary: "We ask that the term phase down be used instead of phase out". “Decrease” in the use of coal instead of “renunciation”.
“India, with China, Bolivia, South Africa and the silent Saudis as fifth columns, won it thanks to the final blackmail. The British, Americans and Europeans bite the bullet ", commented Repubblica: " Of course, COP26 has also meant a lot of progress, signed by about 200 countries: hundreds of billions of dollars promised to poor countries against climate change; the strategic China-USA agreement; the agreements on deforestation, methane gas reduction and a stop to investments in fossil fuels abroad, in view of the Cop27 of Sharm el Sheik in Egypt ".
The Asian giant is the second largest consumer in the world (after China) of the most polluting of fossil fuels. More than 70% of India's electricity is produced by coal-fired power plants and the Coal India mining company alone employs 270,000 people.
"A" fossil "economy that is difficult to dismantle in a short time and that places New Delhi in third place among the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases", commented Luca Fraioli of the newspaper directed by Maurizio Molinari.
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Let's see all the details in summary and what emerged from Cop26, in a file from the Agi agency :
At the end of two weeks of frantic negotiations, the nearly 200 nations present in Glasgow signed the agreement to fight climate change, the so-called Glasgow Climate Pact.
A compromise agreement, made up of light and shadow, and which according to many does not represent what science says is necessary to contain dangerous increases in temperature.
The goal of the UN climate summit was to trace a path to keep the planet's global warming limited to 1.5 C, considered the maximum limit to avoid catastrophes.
The text states that limiting global warming to 1.5C will require large cuts in emissions, including net zero by 2050; and commits countries to strengthen their emissions reduction targets for 2030 by the end of 2022.
But scientists calculate that when all countries' formal commitments are added up, the world will be on track to reach 2.4C of warming by the end of the century.
It should be noted that the Paris Agreement which requires the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming does not contain the words' coal ',' oil ', natural gas' or' fossil fuels'; which may seem strange, given that global warming is predominantly caused by the combustion of hydrocarbons, but it helps to explain why the first mention of the term 'fossil fuels', which is mentioned in this new agreement, has been described as "Historic" and "unprecedented".
The agreement on the commitment to reduce coal and put an end to subsidies to fossil fuels was watered down at the last minute, due to the responsibility of India, China, South Africa and Saudi Arabia: the text in fact commits the 197 signatories of the Agreement to Paris to "gradually reduce coal plants without mitigation (those that do not have a CO2 capture technology to compensate for the gases they emit into the atmosphere) and subsidies to inefficient fossil fuels" (a first draft instead invited the parties to "accelerate the phasing out "of coal and fossil fuel subsidies).
The deal also asks rich nations to "at least double" the amount of money they give to developing ones to adapt to climate change by 2025; and also commits countries to boost the negotiation agenda on how to pay for the losses and damages that climate change inflicts on developing countries (the latter said they were disappointed at the failure to create a formal mechanism for the delivery of funds to nations affected by the violence of climate change).
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Extract from an article by Luca Fraioli of the newspaper Repubblica on the results achieved by Cop26:
In the document approved yesterday at COP26 by the nearly 200 delegations present there are other measures which, although insufficient, go in the right direction. Starting with finance, with the famous 100 billion dollars a year for six years (from 2020 to 2025) that industrialized countries had promised to developing countries precisely to help them, among other things, in the ecological transition. So far the promises have not been kept (perhaps in 2023 the first tranche of 100 billion out of the total 600 will be completed). And yet in the night between Friday and Saturday, further guarantees were given, also thanks to the intervention of the European Union, to African countries, to those of Southeast Asia and to small Pacific countries. A front of 120 nations arrived in Glasgow ready to do battle to collect the money needed precisely for mitigation (the reduction of emissions) and adaptation (the preventive safety of populations and infrastructures threatened by climate change). After two weeks of skirmishes, the agreement was accepted: the promises have not yet turned into "transfers" but they seem more solid. And speaking of emissions, another positive result is the commitment, taken by everyone but above all by the richest and most polluting countries, to review their NDCs as early as next year (the cuts in CO2 emissions that each nation has decided and communicated to the UN). To keep the dream of 1.5 degrees alive, those who can afford to do so must act immediately, reducing their emissions or economically helping those who can't do it alone.
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Extract from an article in Corriere della Sera on Cop26:
What does the compromise on coal mean?
It was an unexpected final twist for some, but those familiar with the negotiations expected something similar. Until the very end, the Chinese seemed to be the ones to be persuaded to have the text approved but in the end they let India come out and put its foot down. Although watered down, however, in the Glasgow Pact for the first time there is a global commitment to "intensify efforts towards the reduction (and no longer elimination as in the draft, ed) of coal without capture systems (CO2) and the an end to subsidies for inefficient fossil fuels ”.
What is the best result of this COP?
"It is the sign of acceleration with respect to emissions cuts in the short term: in 2022 countries must return to the table with more ambitious plans for 2030 – explains the Italian analyst Luca Bergamaschi, co-founder of the ECCO think tank -. The Pact is a good compromise text, a consensus of this magnitude was not taken for granted ». The director of Oxfam International, Gabriela Bucher, also agrees: «The work starts now. Big broadcasters, especially rich countries, need to heed the call and align their goals to give us the best chance of keeping 1.5 ° on hand. Despite years of talks, emissions continue to increase ».
3And the worst result?
COP26 has shown a new level of political recognition of the need for greater support to vulnerable countries to tackle devastating climate impacts. But he left the key task of putting money on the table at the next COP in Egypt – explains Alex Scott, analyst of the European think tank E3G -. There has been some progress with the decision on doubling adaptation funding by 2025 and funding a network to help countries come up with plans to address loss and damage. But the developed countries have not accepted to propose a financing instrument to adequately deal with devastating losses and damages ».
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/cop26-tutti-gli-effetti-della-mossa-di-cina-india-e-sudafrica/ on Sun, 14 Nov 2021 08:39:40 +0000.