Xie Zhenhua (left), China's special climate envoy, speaks with John Kerry, the US' special climate envoy, before a meeting at the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow on Saturday. (BEN STANSALL / AFP)
Negotiators agreed on a climate deal at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP 26, in Glasgow on Saturday, after last-minute concessions on coal pushed the agreement over the line.
The adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact included some historic progress, including the completion of Article 6 of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which concerns the development of carbon markets.
Zhao Yingmin, China's vice-minister of ecology and environment, said the pact "will help kick-start a new journey of global efforts to tackle climate change".
The new global deal, especially the finalization of the rulebook of the Paris Agreement, bears great significance for defending multilateralism and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Zhao Yingmin, China’s vice-minister of ecology and environment
"The new global deal, especially the finalization of the rulebook of the Paris Agreement, bears great significance for defending multilateralism and the implementation of the Paris Agreement," Zhao said.
The conference, which started on Nov 1 and ended a day late on Saturday, delivered some notable deals on deforestation, fossil fuel subsidies, coal and methane reduction, as well as engagement with the private and financial sector. China and the United States also surprised COP 26 with a welcome joint declaration on climate change announced on Wednesday.
Wang Yi, a senior scientific adviser in China's delegation, said this declaration helped bring about a broader consensus.
"China and the US played a very important role to push the final outcome. A consensus between these big countries promoted the final multilateral cooperation," Wang told China Daily on Saturday. "Some countries expressed disappointment, of course, but I think in the future we should continue to build upon this result."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosted this year's conference, said there is still "a huge amount more to do in the coming years".
"But today's agreement is a big step forward and, critically, we have the first ever international agreement to phase down coal and a road map to limit global warming to 1.5 C," he said, referring to the target laid out in the Paris deal to keep average global temperatures to within 2 and 1.5 C this century.
After performing weeks of mediation, COP 26 President Alok Sharma was visibly emotional when he announced the Glasgow pact. A key line in the text, pertaining to coal, was watered down for the second time this week in order to get the deal done.
"I think we can credibly say that 1.5 C is alive. But its pulse is weak," Sharma said. "I apologize for the way this process has unfolded. I also understand the deep disappointment but I also think… that it is vital that we protect this package."
Sharma said that a "gulf remained" between what countries have promised on emissions reductions and what is needed to meet Paris goals, though he said he remained hopeful that future conferences could make meaningful progress.
Before the agreement was finalized, representatives from several countries including China said that the text was not perfect but they had no intention to reopen it.
An initial draft had called for nations to "phase out coal" projects this decade, and this language was changed to "phase down", after stiff opposition from Indian negotiators, who said that it was unjust for rich nations to require the phasing out of fossil fuels in developing nations that are in the midst of industrialization and urbanization.
Bhupender Yadav, India's environment minister, asked on Saturday: "How can anyone expect that developing countries can make promises about phasing out coal and fossil fuel subsidies when developing countries have still to deal with their development agenda and poverty eradication?"
Wang said the coal phase down "reflects not only China's but also the world's concerns and interests "and Zhao supported this perspective.
"The current global warming has been caused mainly by the industrialization in the past 200 years, mainly involving the developed countries," Zhao said. "This historical responsibility has been clarified by the Paris Agreement, hence the 'common but differentiated responsibilities'. Developed countries, therefore, must take the lead to cut emissions instead of requiring the developing countries to stop consuming coal; it is unfair."
Zhao said rich countries "must implement their pledges of funding and technology support for the developing countries".
"Only in this way can all countries jointly push forward the process of coping with climate change," he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the approved texts represent a compromise, and reaffirmed his support for earlier drafts.
"They take important steps, but unfortunately the collective political will was not enough to overcome some deep contradictions. We must end fossil fuels subsidies. Phase out coal," he said.
Guterres said that COP 27"starts now" and attempted to reassure onlookers that leadership would continue to address the climate crisis.
The Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh will host COP27 in 2022.
"The path of progress is not always a straight line. Sometimes there are detours. Sometimes there are ditches," he said.
