Halfway through the crucial COP26, developing countries on Monday blasted the commitments they felt were insufficient from the richest nations, accused of sacrificing the lives of billions of the planet’s inhabitants on the front line of global warming.
During the plenary session taking stock of the first week of negotiations, groups representing developing and emerging countries did not mince their words, despite new pledges, in particular funding, made in recent days.
“The group of least developed countries is concerned that the actions of some countries are not in line with the declarations, there is a disconnect between public declarations and what is happening in the negotiations,” denounced his president, Sonam Phuntsho Wangdi.
He was particularly concerned about how the goal of limiting global warming to +1.5 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era – the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement that has become de facto the ceiling not to be exceeded to avoid the worst impacts – would be reflected in the final decision of this COP26.
“Any compromise” on this point “would mean negotiating with the lives of billions of people in the most vulnerable countries like ours,” he insisted.
Before this COP, the commitments to reduce CO emissions2 states by 2030 were leading to a “catastrophic” warming of 2.7 ° C, at best 2.2 ° C by adding carbon neutrality targets for the middle of the century, according to the UN-Environment benchmark report.
The first week saw significant announcements, from stepping up emission reduction targets for India, Brazil or Argentina, to committing 100 countries to reduce methane emissions to promises. coal output.
UN Environment has yet to update its temperature rise forecast, but according to various preliminary analyzes from other experts, if and only if all new promises were actually fulfilled, we could limit the warming a bit. below + 2 ° C.
But, while each tenth of a degree more brings its share of new catastrophes, the ceiling of +1.5 ° C would still be exceeded. And the request of the most vulnerable nations to submit more ambitious commitments each year should go unheeded, observers said.
“Bad faith”
“There are two truths here,” notes Helen Mountford of the World Resources Institute think tank. “We have made a lot of progress in some areas, which we would never have imagined two years ago, but, at the same time, it is not enough. “
“There is bad faith on the part of developed countries, which always ask vulnerable countries to do more”, but without having put the famous “100 billion” promised on the table, insists in an interview with AFP Ahmadou Sebory Touré, who chairs Group 77 and China, which brings together 134 developing and emerging countries.
There is bad faith on the part of developed countries, which always ask vulnerable countries to do more
In 2009, developed countries promised to increase their assistance to developing countries to $ 100 billion per year to reduce their emissions and adapt to the impacts. But more than 20 billion were still missing in 2019, and the North now hopes to achieve it in 2023.