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Two weeks of COP26 UN climate talks in Glasgow continued past deadline on Friday after the conference president called on countries to make a final effort to secure commitments that would rein in the rising temperatures that threaten the planet.
“The world is watching us,” COP26 President Alok Sharma told delegates charged with keeping the Paris agreement temperature goals alive even as climate-driven disasters hit countries the world over.
Sharma said he expected negotiations on a deal to continue into Saturday afternoon as the November 12 deadline passed without a final agreement.
The summit began with a bang as world leaders descended on Glasgow armed with a string of headline announcements, from a commitment to slash methane emissions to a plan to save the rainforests.
But late on Friday there remained tough talking to be done on issues such as the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies, carbon markets, and financial help for poor countries to tackle climate change.
A draft of the final deal, released earlier in the day, requires countries to set tougher climate pledges next year – in an attempt to bridge the gap between their current targets and the much deeper cuts scientists say are needed this decade to avert catastrophic climate change.
“We have come a long way over the past two weeks and now we need that final injection of that ‘can-do’ spirit, which is present at this COP, so we get this shared endeavour over the line,” said Sharma.
The meeting’s overarching aim is to keep within reach the 2015 Paris Agreement’s aspirational target to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, the limit scientists say would avert its worst effects.
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Source : france24
