Cop26: the emotion of its president Alok Sharma, disappointed by the Glasgow Pact – The HuffPost

Phil Noble via Reuters

COP26 – The 200 countries of Cop26 adopted this Saturday, November 13 an agreement to speed up the fight against global warming, but without guaranteeing to keep the warming targets to contain it at 1.5 ° C or to respond to requests for assistance from poor countries.

Before hammering away the adoption of the agreement, the British president of this 26th world climate conference, Alok Sharma, said in a voice moved and with tears in his eyes “deeply sorry ”For this outcome, as can be seen in the pictures below. He had earlier estimated that the agreement “inaugurates a decade of growing ambition” in the climate.

“A touched Alok Sharma said he was ‘deeply sorry’ for the way the Cop26 conference went. Holding back tears, the Cop president said: ‘I understand the deep disappointment but it is also vital that we protect this agreement’.

“What a dramatic closure for Cop26 – India has made its way on coal, small island states disappointed, Cop chief Alok Sharma apologizes …”

Witnessing the difficulty in reaching this agreement, the president of the # COP26 said in a moved voice and with tears in his eyes “deeply sorry” for last minute changes introduced on the fossil fuel issue at the request of China and India #AFPpic.twitter.com/nV1jNkUvxD

– Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) November 13, 2021

The Glasgow Pact was adopted after two weeks of trying negotiations, like the last-minute, less restrictive changes introduced on the issue of fossil fuels at the request of China and India.

On the critical point of limiting temperatures, while the planet is according to the UN on a “catastrophic” trajectory of 2.7 ° C warming compared to the pre-industrial era, the text calls on the Member States to increase their reduction commitments more regularly than planned in theparis agreement, starting in 2022.

But with the possibility of adjustments for “particular national circumstances”, a point which has aroused criticism from NGOs on the real ambitions of the text.

Moreover, the compromise found does not ensure compliance with the objectives of the 2016 Paris Agreement, limiting warming to “well below” 2 ° C and if possible to 1.5 ° C. But it offers prospects for the British presidency to post success on its goal of seeing Glasgow “keep 1.5 alive”.

See also on The HuffPost: Thomas Pesquet’s SOS on global warming from the ISS