We bleed and we cry High hopes replaced by despair at climate summit

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Glasgow: Negotiators have fought back tears while begging the world’s biggest polluters to do more in the fight against climate change, as a dispute between rich and poor countries forces the Glasgow summit to be extended into the weekend.

The COP26 talks, which have already run for nearly a fortnight, will edge into Saturday local time while delegations thrash out the terms of a new blueprint to keep afloat the “life and death” goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.

Greenpeace activists float a sign over a globe at the COP26 summit venue. Credit:Getty

Disagreement focuses on three key areas: emissions reduction pledges, compensation and financial aid for vulnerable developing nations, and the design of a voluntary international carbon market.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, India and Brazil were privately blamed for frustrating progress on phasing out coal, while a collection of nearly 140 developing nations known as the G77 dug its heels in over demands for wealthy nations to hand over billions of dollars to address loss and damage already caused by climate change. The bloc has the support of China, the world’s largest emitter and a key player in the Glasgow talks.

Fighting back tears, Tuvalu Finance Minister Seve Paeniu said his high hopes of progress at the start of the United Nations gathering had been replaced by despair over what the summit’s final document would and wouldn’t include.

“Our land is fast disappearing. Tuvalu is literally sinking. We must take action now,” he said.

Tuvalu Finance Minister Seve Paeniu holds back tears while speaking.Credit:Getty

“In the first two days of the world leaders’ summit, we heard passion, commitment and pledges. That was encouraging. However, since that time and through the corridors of this marvellous facility, we are not seeing that level of optimism being translated.”

Kenyan Environment Minister Keriako Tobiko used another emotional intervention to insist countries come back to the table in 2022 with plans to achieve deeper emissions cuts by 2030.

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Forcing nations such as Australia to take more action this decade is seen as essential to avoiding temperature rises of above 1.5 degrees.

“For Kenya and Africa, 1.5 degrees is actually 3 degrees-plus. In Kenya and Africa, we bleed and we cry,” Tobiko said. “We bleed when it rains, we cry when it doesn’t rain.

Kenyan Environment Minister Keriako Tobiko.Credit:Global Centre on Adaptation

“For us, 1.5 degrees is not a statistic, it is a matter of life and death.”

The push to make Australia and other countries that failed to update their 2030 targets at Glasgow instead update their climate plans within the next 12 months is a central part of the proposed declaration.

A draft released earlier this week said countries would be “urged” to update their pledges in 2022 but the latest iteration changed that word to “requested” - something lawyers argued was stronger.

While the document will ratchet up political pressure on Australia, the Morrison government would not be subject to any penalties if it did not act.

The previous draft also called for the accelerated phase-out of “coal and subsidies for fossil fuels”, but the latest version only calls for the elimination of “unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels”.

Gavan McFadzean, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s climate manager, said of the watered-down text: “I’m not saying I’m not concerned about the shift in the language, I am. But it’s still a pretty big deal in this place to have coal still in that text. Some people might be surprised it has lasted this long, to be blunt.”

Experienced observers still fear references to fossil fuels and subsidies will be further weakened or even removed once the final declaration is completed.

Negotiators argued the term “inefficient” had to be inserted because some developing countries offer legitimate financial support for people to access basic energy needs. But they also conceded the change would give major emitters cover to continue propping up highly polluting industries.

John Kerry, the US climate envoy, revealed the US would not support any further softening of the summit’s position on fossil fuels over the next 24 hours.

US climate envoy John Kerry is working to broker a deal.Credit:AP

“That language [on] unabated coal must stay,” he said. “We’re not talking about all coal. We’re not talking about eliminating [coal]. But how can we possibly in 2021, knowing what the evidence is, be wishy-washy on that subject?”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had made “consigning coal to history” a personal priority as COP26 host.

Kerry also signalled the US would back the push for countries such as Australia to come back in 2022 with stronger 2030 targets.

“The evidence comes at us faster and faster,” he said. “The science grows every single year, so of course we need to think about what we can do better and when.”

Earlier, the European Union’s Frans Timmermans triggered loud applause after he held up an iPhone to show a picture of his one-year-old grandson, Kees.

“Kees will be 31 when we are in 2050 and it’s quite a thought to understand that if we succeed, he will be living in a world that’s liveable. He’ll be living in an economy that is clean, with air that is clean, at peace with his environment.

“If we fail, and I mean fail now within the next couple of years, he will fight with other human beings for water and food. That’s the stark reality we face.

“I might not reach 2050 - I probably won’t. But he will be there as a young man. And I want him to live a peaceful and prosperous life, like I want for everybody’s children and grandchildren in this room.

“This is personal. This is not about politics.”

COP26 President Alok Sharma urged Glasgow delegates to recognise their “collective moment in history” as the talks draw to a close.

“This is our chance to forge a cleaner, healthier, more prosperous world,” he said. “And this is our time to deliver on the high ambition set by our leaders at the start of this summit. We must rise to the occasion.”

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