COP26: “rich countries are preparing their escape hatch”

In response to the second draft text issued this morning in Glasgow, Rachel Kennerley, international climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

“As the minutes tick down, accepting responsibility and how to ramp up climate finance should be the theme of negotiations. But instead, it looks like rich countries are preparing their escape hatch. This new draft released this morning speaks about removing inefficient fossil fuels subsidies, as if efficient ones are acceptable.

"Back in 2009 the G8 were talking about this, and the UK clearly failed at delivering it. This summit has recycled announcements to much fanfare that weren’t done the first time so there is still a worrying gap between existing commitments and the deeper cuts needed to get to the key COP goal of 1.5 °C.

“We need to leave oil and gas where it is, accelerate emissions reductions, and increase financial support from richer countries responsible for climate chaos. It’s that simple and leaders should now be incredibly focused on showing how they will do this, the time to talk has gone, we need to see plans now."

ENDS