COP26, day 8: Obama, offensive by the poorest countries against the richest… What to remember from this day of negotiations – Le Monde

Find every day at the end of the day the highlights of the 26^e United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) for the climate, which is being held until 12 November in Glasgow (Scotland), as well as insights from journalists from the World.

What you must remember :

The North-South gap at the heart of the negotiations

As the second week of COP26 negotiations opened on Monday, November 8, developing countries blasted insufficient commitments from the richest countries, accused of sacrificing the lives of billions of the planet’s inhabitants on the front lines of global warming. “The group of ‘least developed countries’ is concerned that the actions of some countries are not in line with the statements, there is a disconnect between public statements and what is happening in the negotiations”, denounced the president of this group of countries, Sonam Phuntsho Wangdi, during the plenary session, taking stock of the first week of negotiations.

Another explosive issue: that of the “losses and damage” suffered by poor countries as a result of global warming. On Monday, a study published by the NGO Christian Aid estimated that the countries most affected by global warming could see their GDP per capita collapse in the years to come. Of the 65 countries studied, the median drop would be 19.6% in 2050, if we follow the current trajectory of global warming, and 63.9% at the end of the century. If the objective of the Paris agreement to keep warming at + 1.5 ° C was reached, the fall would be limited to 13.1% and 33.1% respectively. Without this, for six of the ten most affected countries, located in Africa, this decline would exceed 80% at the end of the century.

In 2009, the rich countries promised the poorest to bring their aid for the fight against climate change to $ 100 billion per year from 2020. Noting their failure, they presented just before COP26 a “Delivery plan” planning to fulfill this commitment in 2023. The pill goes badly among those most at risk, especially since they are mostly insignificant contributors to global warming, and most of the funds allocated to them go to measures of reduction of emissions.

Australia will not give up coal production

Australia said on Monday thatit will continue to sell coal for ” decades “, after rejecting an agreement to phase out this polluting fossil fuel in order to limit global warming. “We have made it very clear that we will not close our coal mines or our coal plants”Australian Resources Minister Keith Pitt told ABC.

Defending Australia’s decision, Pitt said his country has the best quality coal in the world. “If we don’t win this deal, someone else will win it”, he added. “I would much prefer it to be a high quality Australian product, which creates Australian jobs and grows the Australian economy, rather than a [charbon] coming from Indonesia, Russia or elsewhere “, said Pitt, who assured that demand for coal must increase until 2030.

In total, around 40 countries have committed to going without coal in the decades to come. Like Australia, several countries that are major consumers of this fossil fuel, such as China and the United States, have not signed this commitment.

The statement of the day:

“ You have to stay angry, you have to stay frustrated, but you have to channel that anger and frustration and push harder and harder to get more, because that’s what is needed. “

Close. Obama’s message to young people fighting for climate action: ‘I want you to stay angry, I want you to stay fr… https://t.co/LEzRXkMK7X

– nowthisnews (@NowThis)

Former US President Barack obama spoke on Monday at the Conference of the Parties to the activists mobilized for ecology. He paid tribute to the youth climate protest movement and its Swedish muse, Greta Thunberg, welcoming that he “Y [ait] lots of Greta around the world ”. Mr. Obama also denounced the lack of” ambition “ states to implement the Paris climate agreement, calling on them to ” Do more “. Finally, the former US president criticized the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, representatives of “Two of the most emitting countries”.

Picture of the day:

Campaigners demonstrated for climate justice on Monday, November 8 in Lahore, Pakistan, as the second week of COP26 negotiations begins in Glasgow, Scotland.

Around the world :

Bonuses for the purchase of electric cars, a research fund for “zero carbon” technologies, money for “nuclear research” and a big plan to improve the energy efficiency of buildings – rather very bad in the country… this is what Boris Johnson is counting on to ensure that the United Kingdom achieves carbon neutrality in 2050.

Words to understand COP26:

Carbon sink

It is a natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs more carbon than it releases, which thus contributes to reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases and, therefore, global warming. The natural carbon sinks are the oceans (which absorb, thanks in particular to plankton and corals, 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions due to human activities), forests (terrestrial vegetation, in particular tropical ones, store a quarter of the emissions. ) and soils (humus, peatlands).

Global warming and human activities reduce the ability of natural carbon sinks to act and can turn them into carbon sources. The acidification of the oceans has thus reduced their capacity to absorb carbon, while Deforestation is responsible for around a quarter of CO emissions₂.

Carbon can also be captured industrially. The process of capturing and storing CO₂ (” carbon capture and storage ”In English, CCS) consists of capturing greenhouse gases emitted by polluting industries (power stations running on fossil fuels, cement factories, etc.) and burying them in deep geological formations, on land or at sea, to avoid their release into the atmosphere. CCS could sequester more than 20% of global CO emissions, according to the International Panel on Climate Change₂ by 2050.

The number :

Second

On February 19, 2021, the United States – the world’s second polluter – officially reinstated the Paris climate agreement, after leaving it at the instigation of Donald Trump. US President Joe Biden made the request to the United Nations (UN) on January 20, the day of his inauguration. Thirty days later, the world’s leading economic power once again joined the 189 other countries to have ratified this sealed treaty in 2015 in order to limit global warming.

On paper, this decision could appear symbolic: due to procedural rules, the United States will only be out of the agreement for three months. In fact, this event marks the United States’ desire to establish itself as one of the leaders in climate action and to lead other countries in their wake. This breaks the policy pursued for four years by President Donald Trump, a climate skeptic, during which his administration slowed down, or even blocked, international climate negotiations and limited the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at the national level, in particular by unraveling a hundred environmental regulations.

Solutions for the planet:

In France, the vast majority of our homes are leaking. This is all the more embarrassing as we use nearly 80% of fossil fuels to heat ourselves, which makes the building sector one of the main national challenges in the fight against global warming. The world went to meet those who are looking for solutions to improve our thousands of energy strainers.

Find all the articles in our special COP26 file here.

The world