Climate promises from nations at COP26 ring “hollow” while they continue to invest in oil, gas and coal, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Thursday, as the summit struggles to make headway in its goal to halt devastating warming.
Representatives from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Glasgow for painstaking talks aimed at keeping the world within the Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature rise to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius.
But with emissions still rising and current promises putting the world on a path to heat far beyond that target, negotiators were wrangling over a range of issues – from slashing greenhouse gases to financial help for countries already facing supercharged storms, floods and droughts.
“The announcements here in Glasgow are encouraging – but they are far from enough,” Guterres told the COP26 climate summit, urging negotiators to “pick up the pace”.
“Promises ring hollow when the fossil fuels industry still receives trillions in subsidies.”
British minister Alok Sharma, the host president of COP26, warned that time was running short to clinch a deal before the meeting’s scheduled end on Friday.
“We still have a monumental challenge ahead of us,” he said, appealing to delegates to show more ambition.
“Quite a lot has been achieved. But we are still some way away from finalising those very critical issues that are still outstanding.”
He welcomed a joint China-US pact to accelerate climate action this decade, which experts said should allay fears that tensions visible early in the summit might derail the talks.
The surprise declaration, unveiled by envoys John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua, said the world’s two largest emitters “recognise the seriousness and urgency of the climate crisis” and the need to slash methane issues, although it was light on other detailed action.