With only one more day to go before the scheduled conclusion, the COP26 global climate talks, as expected, appear to be heading for a failure.
No progress has been made on two important aspects – funding climate action to developing countries and regulation of carbon markets – both of which are critical for emerging economies.
Furthermore, instead of easing the pressure of developing countries to adapt, there is strong opposition by the United States and the European Union. Adaptation refers to measures taken to protect against the consequences of global warming that have already become inevitable, as opposed to mitigation, which are efforts towards preventing further warming of the planet. Adaptation is important for developing countries, while ‘mitigation’ is more important for developed countries.
India’s Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupinder Yadav has said that climate finance is “not a charity” but a responsibility to fulfill a promise made by developed countries.
Harjit Singh of the Climate Action Network (CAN) said that the US is just saying ‘no’ to demands for doubling the adaptation finance.
Developed countries have taken a stand that they are already mobilizing climate finance.
Similarly, no progress has been made in negotiations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which deals with carbon markets.
While there is no consensus on the core issues, there are some positives on the periphery. For example, the US and China, the world’s two biggest emitters, have issued a joint statement. Although there is nothing new in this statement, which is more puzzling than anything, the coming together of the two countries, “rather than pointing fingers at each other”, as Singh notes, was seen as a positive. goes.
COP26 President Alok Sharma said in a press conference today that despite the cooperation and courtesy during the talks, “we are not yet on the most important issues.”
Clearly, he added: “There is still a lot to be done. And COP26 is going to close at the end of tomorrow. So time is running out.”
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