Climate: the COP26 gives birth to a mixed agreement, in particular on coal – archyde

She had been called “Historic moment” for our destiny, of “Decisive summit”, even of “Last chance meeting”. If the 26th United Nations climate conference (COP26) failed to be the turning point for humanity that civil society called for and scientists, it has nevertheless sparked a first shift towards more efforts in the fight against climate change.

This high mass, which brought together around 30,000 people in Glasgow (Scotland), ended on Saturday, November 13 with more than a day late. All the more eagerly awaited since it had been postponed for a year due to the health crisis, it has succeeded in extracting advances to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to tackle fossil fuels, the main cause of warming. It also managed to complete the rules for implementing the Paris Agreement, which had been pending for six years.

On the other hand, the conference, marked by serious mistrust between countries of the North and the South, did not sufficiently meet the financial needs of vulnerable countries, on the front line of climate change for which they are not responsible, due to ‘a blockade of the rich countries.

“Keep alive” the objective of not exceeding 1.5 ° C

At a plenary meeting on Saturday, most countries, while judging the final decisions “Imperfect” and expressing “Disappointments”, estimated that this “Glasgow climate pact” makes it possible to respond to the COP’s mandate: “to keep alive” the objective of not exceeding 1.5 ° C of warming compared to the pre-industrial era, the most recent limit. more ambitious set by the Paris climate agreement of 2015. These decisions contain “Concrete steps for the future and very clear steps to get us back on track leading to the objectives of the Paris Agreement”, judged Alok Sharma, the president of the COP26, underlining the difficulty of finding a consensus between 196 countries.

Civil society, for its part, has recognized progress, but still a long way from responding to the climate emergency. “A COP from northern countries, which reflects the priorities of rich countries and has not shown real solidarity”, regrets Aurore Mathieu, responsible for international policies at the Climate Action Network, deploring her “Lack of inclusiveness” while the summit turned out to be extremely difficult to access for representatives of the countries of the South, due to exorbitant prices and problems with vaccines and visas.

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