Negotiators have until Friday to reach an agreement on tougher action to avert catastrophic climate change. But all nations have to agree. On Wednesday, summit organizers issued an initial draft of an agreement that called on countries, by the end of 2022, to “revisit and strengthen” their plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and to “accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels.” If it stays in the final version, the language on coal and government fossil fuel subsidies would be a first for a U.N. climate agreement. But environmental groups said the rest of the document was too vague on crucial details. Money is one of the big differences looming over the final negotiations, which will be focused on reaching a consensus among all the nearly 200 nations represented. There’s also disagreement over the call to end fossil fuel subsidies, rules on carbon markets, and whether countries should return every year with new climate targets instead of every five years. China also committed for the first time to reduce methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and said it would “phase down” coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, starting in 2026. But both pledges came without precise timetables. Among the list of hurdles that still face negotiators there are compensation for climate damage to poorer nations and regulation of the global market for carbon offsets.
By Brad Plumer. New York Times. November 11, 2021.
Read article here:
