COP26
Climate summit dragging on – conclusion should be in the afternoon
A unicorn’s head lies on the street in front of the grounds of the UN climate conference COP26 in the evening. So-called “carbon unicorns” (CO2 unicorns) are a symbol of sham measures for climate protection. Photo: Christoph Soeder / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
As feared by many delegates, the negotiations at the UN climate conference are dragging on. After overnight debates, the final hammer should only fall about 24 hours late in Glasgow.
Extension at the UN climate conference in Glasgow: A conclusion can only be expected on this Saturday afternoon at the earliest. This was announced by the advisor to the British COP Presidency, Camilla Born, on Twitter.
Hours of debate about a global stop signal for coal and more aid payments to poor countries had thwarted the conclusion of the summit. The planned end was Friday evening.
Now, after further negotiations over night, a new draft for the final declaration should not be available until around 9 a.m. (CET) in the morning. Another plenary session will not be called before 11.00 a.m. (CET) and the conclusion will then be sought in the afternoon.
Environmental associations: COP26 must not become an «air number»
Environmental associations had recently warned of dilution in the planned final document at the last minute, called for more effort from the federal government and warned that COP26 should not become an “air number”.
In the evening, amid the halting negotiations, the heads of government of Great Britain and Italy, Boris Johnson and Mario Draghi, also spoke up. After a phone call, both said that progress had to be made with the so far inadequate commitments by the states to curb their emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases. They wanted to help bring the COP26 to a positive conclusion «in these critical final hours».
All the conferences of the past years have been extended to the weekend. At the end of the mammoth meeting with around 40,000 delegates, around 200 countries have to unanimously pass the final text.
Schulze: Good progress on the table
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze had recently been cautiously optimistic. There was already good progress on the table, said the SPD politician. For the first time in the history of the UN Climate Change Conference, there is a chance to mention the coal phase-out in a final text. That is a “paradigm shift”.
The director and chief economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Ottmar Edenhofer, complained that in the draft of the final document discussed last, the formulations on the coal phase-out were watered down. He told the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday): “In order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, we need a global phase-out of fossil fuels by 2050. With the current draft, this is in danger.” At the same time, there is progress in the climate conference. “For example, I hope that after China and the United States join forces, ambitious initiatives in the group of industrialized countries will become possible after the climate conference.”