What You Need to Know
- China, India raise objections to most ambitious elements.
- Brazil wants more climate finance, but sees a carbon market deal.
- Here are the big fights that remain in the final hours.
On the Ground
By Emma Ross-Thomas
For just a moment, it looked like a deal might be in reach. There were intense huddles, some backslapping, some hugs between the Brits and Americans. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, reading glasses perched above his mask, pored over texts with his counterpart Xie Zhenhua; and China said it didn’t want to reopen the text.
Then, came the but.
China and India, the world’s first- and third-largest emitters attacked the text for all the things activists this week have been clinging to with cautious optimism. Their top objections: a call to phase out coal and fossil-fuel subsidies, and the language on what’s needed to curb temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius. India also pushed back on a move to urge countries to bolster their climate plans as soon as next year. If those provisions are gutted, a weaker text will emerge.
Island nations
most vulnerable to climate change had been gearing up for a fight over what they considered a disappointing result on how much money rich countries will funnel to poor ones to help equip them to deal with
climate disasters. That’s the main shortfall from this round of talks so far —
historic failures to bolster climate finance haven’t really been addressed, though there’s a pathway to do more in the future.
But those nations’ opposition melted away on Saturday afternoon, as one small vulnerable island state after another declared this deal was as good as it was going to get. It echoed the general sentiment in the room: countries were unhappy but willing to come to an agreement.
“Can we go back to our home islands, to our communities, with nothing?" said Tina Stege, climate envoy from the Marshall Islands. “I am not willing to leave here with nothing.”
After more than two hours of speeches, a spirit of compromise seemed to be emerging. So talks continue, probably through the night.
Quote of the Day
Negotiators had a chance to raise objections publicly before they have to decide whether to sign the final agreement. At that point, every word (and punctuation) matters.
"It's a comma but it's a very important comma."
Diego Pacheco
Head of Bolivia's delegation
COP26 Scorecard
One Key Number
98 Months left to halve global emissions to keep the world on track to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. Shauna Aminath, environment minister for the Maldives, cited the deadline while criticizing rich nations for failing to commit to more climate finance.