British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday called for “a strong impetus” for an agreement at COP26, assuring that there would be “no excuse” for failing as a first draft of decisions received a welcome on Wednesday mixed.
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“The negotiations are getting tough” and we need “a strong impetus to get us across the finish line,” said Mr. Johnson, returned for a few hours in Glasgow, where this climate conference is being held, considered crucial to fight against a warming that promises to be catastrophic.
“There are no excuses” because “we know what needs to be done, we just need the courage to do it”, continued the Prime Minister. And to challenge leaders around the world: “Are you going to help us seize this opportunity or are you going to prevent us from it?” “
He warned against the “anger” of the populations in the event of failure, and cited funding issues as the main pitfall awaiting the negotiations.
After 10 days of discussions, the British presidency of the COP had released in the morning a first draft which provoked mixed reactions, in particular from poor countries, which insist that the richest keep their promise of aid.
The text, which will be amended by the end of the COP, scheduled for Friday but which may be delayed, calls on countries to “revise and strengthen” from 2022 the national contributions (NDC) which set their short-term commitments.
The 2015 Paris Agreement sets their review every five years, but many countries called for them to be reviewed more frequently.
It is, according to the text, to make these commitments “compatible with the warming objectives of the Paris Agreement”, that is to say “well below” of + 2 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era, if possible + 1.5 ° C.
From the start, London has made it a priority for COP26 to “keep 1.5 ° C alive”.
Catastrophic warming
Because the latest UN estimates are alarming: despite the new commitments for 2030 made by some states, the world is still on the path to a “catastrophic” warming of + 2.7 ° C by the end of the year. century.
The project therefore calls for “rapid, strong and sustained reductions in global emissions” and also encourages countries to “accelerate the phase-out of coal and fossil fuel financing”.
Such an explicit mention of fossil fuels, responsible for most of the emissions, is unprecedented, and does not appear in the Paris agreement in particular. But it promises to be bitterly disputed until the conclusion of the final text, in particular by the producing countries.
On the burning issue of financing, the text “notes with regret” the failure of developed countries to keep their promise to mobilize from 2020 some 100 billion per year in climate aid to poor countries.
Often the least polluting, they are also the most exposed to the ravages of climate change, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Tuvalu Archipelago recalled, telling COP delegates “we are sinking” in a video filmed standing up to mid-thigh in the ocean.
The text does not put forward any concrete solution on financing, but calls on donors to double the funds allocated to measures “adaptation” to the effects of climate change.
Adaptation currently only accounts for about a quarter of this aid, compared to 75% for emission reductions. Poor countries claim at least parity between the two components.
Regarding the other very controversial issue of “loss and damage” already suffered by the most exposed countries, the text “recognizes” the problem and “reiterates the urgency of increasing support and action”. But there again without concrete modalities.
Far from the objectives
Poor countries expressed concern at a first meeting to collect comments from delegations.
The countries of the G77 + China group (over 100 developing and emerging countries) said they were “extremely concerned about the lack of progress”, the Africa group insisted on increasing funds for adaptation and the least countries. less developed underlined that “the ambition on the threshold of 1.5 ° C must be reinforced”.
The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) called for progress to “meet the needs of the most vulnerable”, while the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), which represents more than a billion people from 54 countries, lamented a text which “does not meet the main demands of vulnerable countries”.
On the science side, Joeri Rogelj, member of the UN group of experts on the climate welcomed “progress”, but noted that the commitments were for the time being “far from the objectives of the Paris agreement”.