Coal-Dependent Countries Protests Don’t Stop UN Climate Deal

Coal-dependent
Image credit: EPA

The United Nations climate negotiations finished on Saturday with a pact that, for the first time, singled out fossil fuels as the primary cause of global warming, despite last-minute protests from coal-dependent countries, Reuters reports.

While the accord received praise for keeping the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius alive, many of the roughly 200 country delegations felt they had gotten more.

The two-week summit in Scotland achieved a big victory in addressing the regulations around carbon markets, but it did nothing to allay vulnerable countries’ fears about long-promised climate money from wealthy countries.

After the meetings had continued extra – and overnight – into Saturday, the British COP26 president, Alok Sharma, was obviously distraught before hammering down his gavel to signify there were no vetoes to the accord.

Last-minute drama erupted when India, supported by China and other coal-dependent developing countries, rejected a section asking for coal-fired electricity to be “phased out.” The provision was swiftly altered to require countries to “scale down” their coal consumption after a meeting involving envoys from China, India, the United States, and the European Union.

Bhupender Yadav, India’s environment and climate minister, said the change reflected “national conditions of growing economies.”

Both affluent European countries and tiny island nations, as well as others still emerging, were disappointed by the single-word shift.

Mexico and others, on the other hand, declared they would stick to the new deal.

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