Likely no promises on the last official day of the climate summit

As the temperature climbs literally and figuratively in the overcrowded Glasgow convention center where the international climate conference is taking place, negotiators around the world are still trying to extract what’s inside for their country. The summit officially ends today. But the past shows that most climate conferences go on until the weekend.

A new text proposal is expected in the coming hours, in which “climate finance” will likely be more central. This means that more attention will be given to helping poor countries that are most vulnerable to floods, extreme droughts and sea level rise due to global warming.

Tens of thousands of people again pass through strict security in the Scottish Conference Center today. Once inside, they come together and ministers and other negotiators continue to try to refine different parts of the texts until viable compromises are reached.

Obstacles

According to those concerned, there are still some significant hurdles, which have to do with the already mentioned money from rich countries to poor countries, the rules that countries must follow when implementing the Paris Agreement on the climate and the agreement on the number of degrees of the Earth can still be allowed to reach. ‘heat. Yesterday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the summit would “most likely” fail to deliver on the commitments needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Countries can agree that they will make these commitments before the end of next year. The question of this one money is often even more important for poor countries. So far, they have been dissatisfied with what was on paper, and the question is how they react to the latest proposed text. On the third point, that of the rules, there already seems to be movement.

After six years of negotiations, the goal is to finally determine which rules countries must adhere to. “There is more willingness to compromise,” notes Jos Cozijnsen, an expert in the field of emissions trading and a frequent visitor to climate conferences. He says it’s because the United States is now back on board.

End oil and gas extraction

It is positive on the appointment that China and the United States did this week. “In fact, you are only now continuing to work on the Paris agreement because America is participating again. We had a power vacuum for four years because the United States was missing. China and the United States are the biggest emitters. really important. “

In addition to these elements, the summit resulted in more partial agreements than previous climate conferences. About Deforestation, methane to fossil government support for example. Yesterday it was also announced that a few more countries are joining the so-called Beyond the Oil and Gas Alliance, an initiative by Denmark and Costa Rica to end the new, and in the future all, oil and gas extraction.

The Netherlands does not agree with this. And Great Britain, president of the climate summit, is not participating either. France, Greenland, Ireland and Sweden do it, as do Wales and Quebec. The Dutch government says natural gas will still be needed in the energy supply for now.