Reason 22 Allied Countries Oppose COP26 Draft on Climate Mitigation

The two-week event of COP26 is at its end and things do not look any better than they were going in. A final draft to the Glasgow climate summit was published a couple of days ago. A day later, 22 countries including India and China have shown a strong object to an entire section in the COP26 draft on climate change mitigation. The group calls itself ‘Like Minded Developing countries’ (LMDCs) and includes Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Iran, Indonesia and Malaysia among others.

Bolivia’s chief negotiator Diego Pacheco said that his country and 21 other nations, including India and China, request to change the entire section on enhancing mitigation actions. The group has accused the developed nations of trying to shift the blame on the rest of the world and imposing new rules to divert from their contribution to man-made climate change.

The section on climate mitigation contains all of the agreements on reducing emissions, including a recognition that humanity should thrive to limit global warming rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which scientists say is important to avert the most devastating impacts of climate change.

Image: CNN

Pacheco argued that developing countries should not be held to the same standards as developed nations, which have historically contributed massively to the climate crisis. He also indicated that the rich countries are trying to transfer responsibility to the global south.

He said;

History matters and history is very important to understand and to put in the context in the discussion on ambition. It would be impossible for many countries in the group to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century (2050).

He labelled the draft the “new carbon colonialism” and said the 2050 net-zero target is being “forced” on the developing nations. Pacheco made it abundantly clear that such a transition would be impossible for the poor nations unless rich countries start to pay their fair share.

India has also repeatedly called for richer and developed nations to take increased responsibility mitigation and help poor countries in the same. However, climate finance remains a controversial issue.

A recent analysis of the COP26 pledges has revealed that the world is heading toward a 2.4 degrees Celsius of warming, which is one degree more than the target the planet needs to maintain in order to avert the catastrophic impacts of the phenomenon.

Via: News 18