Reuters :
A new draft document from the United Nations climate summit was published on Friday morning, with a weakening of language around the phasing out of fossil fuels to try to reach agreement between the nearly 200 nations present in Glasgow.
The new draft included two words on fossil fuels that dilute an earlier draft, which had baldly stated that the world should pledge to stop subsidies for fossil fuels in general, and phase them out.
Now the text includes the word “unabated” before coal, and the phase-out of “inefficient” subsidies for fossil fuels.
Arab nations, many of which are big producers of oil and gas, had objected to the fossil fuel wording in the earlier draft.
The paragraph now reads: “(COP26) calls upon Parties to accelerate the development, deployment and dissemination of technologies and the adoption of policies for the transition towards low-emission energy systems, including by rapidly scaling up clean power generation and accelerating the phase-out of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels.”
BBC adds: A draft agreement at the COP26 climate summit has watered down commitments to end the use of coal and other fossil fuels, as countries race to reach a deal after two weeks of talks.
While the language around fossil fuels has been softened, the inclusion of the commitment in a final deal would be seen as a landmark moment.
A deal must be agreed by the end of the summit, which is in its final hours.
The UN meeting is seen as crucial for limiting the effects of global warming.
The draft agreement, which was published early on Friday following all-night talks, also asks for much tighter deadlines for governments to reveal their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
And it also strengthens support for poorer countries fighting climate change.
Negotiations over a final deal could stretch late into Friday, or potentially even longer.
On Friday, UN chief António Guterres said COP26 would probably not achieve its aims and the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is on “life support”.
Scientists say that limiting warming to 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels will protect us from the most dangerous impacts of climate change – it is a key part of the Paris agreement that most countries signed up to.
Meeting the goal requires global emissions to be cut by 45% by 2030 and to zero overall by 2050.
One example of the impact of global temperature rise above 2C is the death of virtually all coral reefs, scientists say.
Prof Jim Watson at University College London said the draft agreement had encouraging elements, but that overall it was “nowhere near ambitious enough”.
A previous version of the agreement called upon parties to “accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels”.
But this has been changed to call for “accelerating the phaseout of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels”.
Unabated coal is coal produced without the use of technology to capture the emitted carbon.
But the draft requests that countries submit their plans – known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change by next year’s climate summit. Previous agreements asked countries to submit these NDCs every five years.
“It could be better, it should be better, and we have one day left to make it a lot, lot better,” says Jennifer Morgan of Greenpeace International.
“The key line on phasing out coal and fossil fuel subsidies has been critically weakened, but it’s still there and needs to be strengthened again before this summit closes.
“But there’s wording in here worth holding on to and the UK presidency needs to fight tooth and nail to keep the most ambitious elements in the deal,” she says.
This latest draft of the decision has gained in strength in many areas – but as in every negotiation, there are some losses too.
One small but important change is in relation to 1.5C – the text formerly said that the world should aim to keep global temperatures under this threshold “by 2100”.
Some scientists for the IPCC [the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] saw this as allowing temperatures to go well beyond 1.5 as long as they were brought back down by the end of the century. This has been changed to simply say “limiting temperatures to 1.5C.”
The commitment of countries to come back next year with a new carbon-cutting plan is still in the draft, although the language around it has been softened.
Perhaps of greater concern though is the inclusion of the phrase “taking into account different national circumstances”.
While this is being seen as a way of allowing vulnerable states and other low-emitting countries to avoid having to update their plans, could it also be used by China to do the same thing?
Where the new document really gains strength is in relation to finance and loss and damage, two key issues for developing nations.
Money for adapting to the worst impacts of climate change will be doubled, and the baseline year will be 2021.
On loss and damage, there will be a new facility to help the Santiago Network get up and running.
This network is an embryonic section of the climate talks process that will deal with the impacts of climate change that go beyond adaptation. It will initially have funding for a secretariat. This is a first step on a road that will please the most vulnerable nations.
“On balance, this is definitely a stronger and more balanced text than a few days ago,” says Helen Mountford at the World Resources Institute.
“Elements which seem stronger include adaptation, loss and finance. Adaptation finance has specific dates, urging countries to double adaptation finance by the end of 2025 from current levels,” she says.
