A person wearing a mask of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson protests near the COP26 conference hall in Glasgow, England, on the 12th. Glasgow = Reuters
The 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), which is being held in Glasgow, England, has been extended by one day due to difficulties in negotiations. It is an arduous solution that comes as the urgency to find a way to tackle climate change, a global crisis, grows, but the tug-of-war has been fierce until the closing date has been passed as the differences between stakeholders have not been resolved.
According to Bloomberg News on the 12th (local time), Alokh Sharma, chairman of COP26, said, “The revised version will be released at 8 am on the 13th.” After that, an official general meeting will be held in the afternoon, the agreement will be adopted, and the two-week schedule will be concluded. The meeting, held on the 31st of last month, was scheduled to close today. However, it was postponed by a day as it failed to close the differences of opinion on coal and fossil fuel subsidy cuts and financial support for advanced countries included in the agreement.
As the deadline approached, Sharma spurred last-minute negotiations, arguing that “it is the last time we need to put the ‘can do’ spirit into it.” Environmental groups also continued to protest outside the event hall, urging them to come up with more concrete measures. Nevertheless, it is not easy to gather sharply divided opinions, and in the end, the card ‘extended one day’ was drawn out.
COP26 participating countries are coordinating the wording with the second version of the agreement issued on the morning of the 12th. It calls for each country to set its national greenhouse gas reduction target (NDC) again next year, urges the phasing out of coal use without carbon reduction devices and inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels, and urges developed countries to achieve climate damage by 2025. Contents such as doubling the fund were included.
It is known that there is still a need to reach an agreement on important issues such as the suspension of coal subsidies, international carbon market guidelines, and support for climate change response funds in poor countries. Right now, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said he could not give up the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius or less, using radical language such as calling fossil fuel subsidies “crazy.” China, on the other hand, said it was willing to support the COP26 agreement, but said it was disappointed by the lack of details on how developed countries would live up to their $100 billion a year climate fund promise.
Developing countries are not going to back down. They demand that developed countries provide more funds to support losses and damages caused by sea level rise and extreme weather. The Kenyan representative said that 1.5 degrees is “a matter of life and death”. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is also chairing the UK, has urged “more cash on the table” for an agreement to be reached.
The COP26 agreement must be passed unanimously. The main goal of this negotiation is to ‘keep the 1.5 degree target’. To this end, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% compared to 2010 by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The latest version of the draft also acknowledged this point. However, according to the UN announcement, if the plans presented by each country so far are carried out as they are, the amount of greenhouse gas reduction by 2030 will be only 14% and the global temperature will rise by 2.4 degrees.
Heo Kyung-ju reporter fairyhkj@hankookilbo.com
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