COP26: China and India must explain themselves, says Sharma
China and India will have to explain themselves to climate-vulnerable nations, COP26 President Alok Sharma has said as the summit ends.
It comes after the two nations pushed for the language on coal to change from “phase out” to “phase down” in the deal agreed in Glasgow.
But Mr Sharma insisted the “historic” deal “keeps 1.5C within reach”.
It is the first-ever climate deal that plans explicitly to reduce coal – the worst fossil fuel for greenhouse gases.
how climate pact was a “fragile win” and urged China and India to “justify” their actions to nations that are more vulnerable to the effects of global warming.
“But as I said, in relation to what happened yesterday, China and India will have to explain themselves and what they did to the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world.”
Mr Sharma said that his role was to “build consensus” on the final deal.
He added: “I wouldn’t describe what we did yesterday as a failure – it is a historic achievement.”
The world is currently 1.2C warmer than it was in the 19th Century. One of the main goals set out by COP26 was to ensure we do not go above 1.5C by 2100.
The climate summit had to go into overtime for the deal to be agreed and came to an end late on Saturday.
The final deal agreed on has been met with some criticism.
Ed Miliband, shadow business and energy secretary, said Trevor Phillips program that “keeping 1.5 degrees alive is frankly in intensive care”.
He said: “The task of the world is to halve global emissions over the coming decade, that’s by 2030, that’s what the scientists tell us is necessary to keep 1.5 degrees alive.
“And the truth about Glasgow, despite some progress, is that the world is only probably about 20% or 25% of the way to that goal.”
But Mr Miliband commended Mr Sharma on his efforts.