British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday called on rich countries to “put the money on the table” to wrest a deal at COP26, the capital to fight global warming, as bitter negotiations continued on the aid to poor countries and fossil fuels.
Early in the morning, the UK’s presidency of this climate conference released a new draft final declaration, but the afternoon plenary session highlighted the still significant differences among the roughly 200 signatory countries of the Paris agreement in 2016.
A failure at this COP, deemed crucial for the future of humanity, would further endanger the objective of the Paris agreement to limit global warming to “well below” of +2 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era, if possible at +1.5 ° C.
The world is still heading towards a “catastrophic” warming of + 2.7 ° C, according to the UN, despite the new commitments for the 2030 deadline announced just before and since the start of the COP.
One of the most disputed points: the financial envelope to help the poorest countries – the least responsible for climate change but on the front line in the face of its impacts – to reduce their emissions and prepare to face storms, heat waves and droughts which multiply.
“Money has to be put on the table to help developing countries make the necessary changes. […] This is what must happen in the hours to come, ”Boris Johnson insisted on the BBC on Friday afternoon. Even before the conference, he had made “cash” one of his priorities.
Three challenges of COP26
“We will not be able to have everything at the COP, but we can start,” he added, seeming less optimistic than before the start of this conference to achieve its proclaimed goal of “keeping 1.5 ° C alive. “.
“Broken trust”
In 2009, the countries of the North had promised to increase their climate aid in the South to 100 billion per year from 2020. But the promise is still not kept, sharpening the resentment of developing countries amid a health crisis that adds to their burden.
The draft declaration calls on rich countries to fulfill their broken promises, and even go beyond. The text also urges them to double by 2025 the aid specifically devoted to adaptation to the effects of climate change, while it is the financing of emission reductions which captures 75% of the total.
But these commitments are not enough, insist the developing countries. “Our confidence has been shattered”, notably underlined the representative of Kenya.
The poorest, who account for an insignificant share of global emissions, also insist that financing take into account the “loss and damage” they are already suffering at an increasing rate from climate change.
But on this point, the draft declaration just proposes to speed up the implementation of measures already planned, without quantified targets over time.
“We are extremely disappointed” that the proposal for a specific mechanism was not retained, launched the Guinean representative on behalf of the G77 + China group (more than 100 developing and emerging countries).
“We want to see our proposal in the text,” he insisted, especially “since it was made by the entire developing world”, including large emerging countries.
All envelopes combined, estimates of the financing needs of groups of less developed countries now range from $ 750 billion to $ 1.3 trillion per year. A range confirmed by a draft IPCC report obtained by AFP.
“The very definition of madness”
Another burning issue at the heart of the negotiations, which were to officially end at 6:00 p.m. GMT (1:00 p.m. in Quebec), but which unsurprisingly fall into the extensions: fossil fuels, the main cause of global warming.
While the Paris agreement did not mention fossil fuels, the latest draft declaration provides for the inclusion – softened compared to the first version – of the exit from their funding.
A mention supported in particular by the European Union and the United States. The US envoy to the COP, John Kerry, even lambasted the massive subsidies to these energies, “the very definition of madness.”
More generally, in an attempt to limit global warming, the provisional text of the British Presidency calls on member states to raise their emission reduction commitments more regularly than provided for in the Paris agreement, starting in 2022. Even whether the possibility of adjustments for “special national circumstances” has been added.
But while the 2015 climate pact calls for signatories to raise their ambitions every five years – with the next review slated for 2025 – some countries are opposed to what they see as a “rewrite” of the agreement.
“We are not going to be able to stop the warming in Glasgow, we have to accept it, but we can keep alive the prospect of limiting the increase in the temperature of the planet to +1.5 ° C by the end. of the century, ”commented Boris Johnson.
While every tenth of a degree multiplies the extreme events, “it is much better than […] +2 ° C or more ”.