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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed the “game-changing” agreement made at COP26 but says that countries need to “stand by” the decisions they made in the 11th hour of the talks.
The climate talks ended with an agreement late on Saturday, after 15 days of deliberations, although, a late disagreement over the wording on fossil fuels saw pledges on coal watered down.
Critics have said Glasgow’s aim of keeping global temperatures from rising to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels is in “intensive care”, after India and China requested a commitment to “phase out” coal was changed to “phase down” at the last-minute.
Live reaction to PM’s COP26 news conference
In a news conference on Sunday evening, Mr Johnson said his “delight” at the progress made was “tinged with disappointment” thanks to the change on coal commitments.
He was joined by COP26 president Alok Sharma who said there was a “really tense hour” at the end of the talks where he believed the “deal was in jeopardy”.
Mr Sharma has insisted that the summit has “kept 1.5C within reach” but that China and India will have to “justify” their decision to have the agreement altered at the 11th hour.
The former business secretary got emotional in the final few hours of the conference, holding back tears as he apologised for the way the conference had unfolded, following an angry outpouring from Europe and vulnerable nations over the wording change.
Mr Sharma told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday: “Yes, of course I would have liked to ensure we maintain the ‘phase out’ rather than changing the wording to ‘phase down’, but on the way to phasing out, you’ve got to phase down.
“But, ultimately, of course, what we need to ensure is that we continue to work on this deal, on these commitments, and on the issue of coal, China and India are going to have to justify to some of the most climate vulnerable countries what happened.”
Asked whether his emotional reaction to the change in language on coal was…
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Source : skynews
