Glasgow: Nearly 200 nations agreed to adopt Glasgow Climate Agreement After more than two weeks of intense negotiations on Saturday, Britain hosted the talks, saying the deal would live up to international hopes of averting the worst effects of global warming.
Here are the biggest achievements of the deal:
fulfill the ambition
The agreement acknowledges that commitments made by countries to cut emissions of planet-heating greenhouse gases are not sufficient to prevent planetary warming by more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures.
To try to solve this, it calls on governments to strengthen those targets by the end of next year instead of every five years, as previously required.
Failure to set and meet tough emissions-reduction targets will have huge consequences. To go beyond a 1.5C rise, scientists say, would lead to extreme sea level rise and devastation, including catastrophic droughts, monstrous storms and wildfires, far more catastrophic than what the world is already facing.
“I think today we can say with confidence that we have kept 1.5 (°C) within reach,” said Alok Sharma, President of the COP26 Summit. “But its pulse is weak, and we will only survive if we keep our promises.”
targeting fossil fuels
For the first time, the treaty includes language that tells countries to reduce their reliance on coal and withdraw fossil fuel subsidies, moves that would target energy sources that scientists say are the primary drivers of man-made climate change. .
The wording was controversial, however.
Just before the adoption of the Glasgow deal, India requested that the deal call on countries to “phasing out” coal instead of “phasing out”. That minor word change caused much anger in the Plenary Hall, but the delegation agreed to the request to save the deal.
Meanwhile, the wording of the deal on “disable subsidies” retained the phrase “phasing out”.
Questions remain as to how to define “uninterrupted” and “disabled”.
Payment to poor and vulnerable nations
The deal made some progress on the demands of poor and vulnerable countries, which pay the rich countries responsible for most of the emissions.
The deal, for example, urges “developed country parties to at least double their collective provision of climate finance for adaptation to developing country parties from 2019 levels by 2025.”
It also mentioned so-called “loss and damage” for the first time in the cover section of the agreement. Loss and damage refers to the costs that some countries are already facing from climate change, and have needed to be paid for over the years to help these countries deal with it.
Under the agreement, however, developed countries have essentially agreed to continue discussions on the subject. We’ll see where it leads.
Rules for the global carbon market
Negotiators also locked down rules setting a deal for carbon markets, potentially unlocking trillions of dollars to protect forests, build renewable energy facilities and other projects to tackle climate change. .
Companies as well as countries with vast forest cover had pushed for a firmer deal on government-led carbon markets in Glasgow to legalize fast-growing global voluntary offset markets.
Under the agreement, certain measures will be implemented to ensure that credits are not double-counted under national emissions targets, but that bilateral trade between countries will not be taxed to help climate adaptation – Which was a main demand for less developed countries.
Negotiators also reached an agreement that sets a cut-off date, with credits issued before 2013 not being carried forward. The aim is to ensure that too many old credits do not enter the market and encourage buying rather than cutting new emissions.
side deal
There were also several notable side deals. United States and The European Union Led a global methane cutting initiative, with nearly 100 countries pledging to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels.
The United States and China, the world’s two biggest carbon emitters, also announced a joint declaration to cooperate on climate change measures, a deal that has convinced observers BeijingIntended to accelerate its efforts to combat global warming after a long quiet period.
Companies and investors also made several voluntary pledges that would phase out gasoline-powered cars, decarbonize air travel, protect forests and ensure more sustainable investment.
Here are the biggest achievements of the deal:
fulfill the ambition
The agreement acknowledges that commitments made by countries to cut emissions of planet-heating greenhouse gases are not sufficient to prevent planetary warming by more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures.
To try to solve this, it calls on governments to strengthen those targets by the end of next year instead of every five years, as previously required.
Failure to set and meet tough emissions-reduction targets will have huge consequences. To go beyond a 1.5C rise, scientists say, would lead to extreme sea level rise and devastation, including catastrophic droughts, monstrous storms and wildfires, far more catastrophic than what the world is already facing.
“I think today we can say with confidence that we have kept 1.5 (°C) within reach,” said Alok Sharma, President of the COP26 Summit. “But its pulse is weak, and we will only survive if we keep our promises.”
targeting fossil fuels
For the first time, the treaty includes language that tells countries to reduce their reliance on coal and withdraw fossil fuel subsidies, moves that would target energy sources that scientists say are the primary drivers of man-made climate change. .
The wording was controversial, however.
Just before the adoption of the Glasgow deal, India requested that the deal call on countries to “phasing out” coal instead of “phasing out”. That minor word change caused much anger in the Plenary Hall, but the delegation agreed to the request to save the deal.
Meanwhile, the wording of the deal on “disable subsidies” retained the phrase “phasing out”.
Questions remain as to how to define “uninterrupted” and “disabled”.
Payment to poor and vulnerable nations
The deal made some progress on the demands of poor and vulnerable countries, which pay the rich countries responsible for most of the emissions.
The deal, for example, urges “developed country parties to at least double their collective provision of climate finance for adaptation to developing country parties from 2019 levels by 2025.”
It also mentioned so-called “loss and damage” for the first time in the cover section of the agreement. Loss and damage refers to the costs that some countries are already facing from climate change, and have needed to be paid for over the years to help these countries deal with it.
Under the agreement, however, developed countries have essentially agreed to continue discussions on the subject. We’ll see where it leads.
Rules for the global carbon market
Negotiators also locked down rules setting a deal for carbon markets, potentially unlocking trillions of dollars to protect forests, build renewable energy facilities and other projects to tackle climate change. .
Companies as well as countries with vast forest cover had pushed for a firmer deal on government-led carbon markets in Glasgow to legalize fast-growing global voluntary offset markets.
Under the agreement, certain measures will be implemented to ensure that credits are not double-counted under national emissions targets, but that bilateral trade between countries will not be taxed to help climate adaptation – Which was a main demand for less developed countries.
Negotiators also reached an agreement that sets a cut-off date, with credits issued before 2013 not being carried forward. The aim is to ensure that too many old credits do not enter the market and encourage buying rather than cutting new emissions.
side deal
There were also several notable side deals. United States and The European Union Led a global methane cutting initiative, with nearly 100 countries pledging to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels.
The United States and China, the world’s two biggest carbon emitters, also announced a joint declaration to cooperate on climate change measures, a deal that has convinced observers BeijingIntended to accelerate its efforts to combat global warming after a long quiet period.
Companies and investors also made several voluntary pledges that would phase out gasoline-powered cars, decarbonize air travel, protect forests and ensure more sustainable investment.
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