‘It is not enough’: World leaders react to COP26 climate agreement

Many satellite leaders and activists expressed disappointment this play with the clime woody that emerged from 2 weeks of heated negotiations successful Glasgow, Scotland — informing that countries volition person to fortify their commitments if they privation to avert disastrous consequences and assistance at-risk nations header with the harm that’s already occurring from clime change.

“We indispensable extremity fossil substance subsidies, signifier retired coal, enactment a terms connected carbon, support susceptible communities from the impacts of clime alteration and marque bully connected $100 cardinal clime concern committedness to enactment processing countries,” United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said successful a video after the statement won support from astir 200 nations. “We did not execute these goals astatine this league but we person immoderate gathering blocks for progress.”

Echoing that message, European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen said successful a connection that portion immoderate advancement was made connected the goals of COP26, much enactment remains and the cardinal to determining the interaction of the league volition beryllium however the commitments secured successful Glasgow are implemented.

She said, “1.5 degrees Celsius remains wrong reach; but the enactment is acold from done.”

“We’re each good alert that, collectively, our clime ambition and enactment to day person fallen abbreviated connected the promises made successful Paris,” said Alok Sharma, the British curate of authorities and president of the Glasgow talks, who appeared affectional Saturday aft delegates from China and India projected a last-minute edit that weakened a proviso successful the substance to signifier retired fossil fuels.

The paragraph initially called for the “phaseout of unabated ember and inefficient fossil substance subsidies,” but the last statement refers lone to a “phase-down.”

A cardinal unresolved question is however overmuch much affluent nations volition to bash assistance susceptible nations — peculiarly land nations who look the threat of extinction from rising oversea levels — from the harm wrought by clime change.

“The quality betwixt 1.5 and 2 degrees is simply a decease condemnation for us,” the situation curate of the Maldives Aminath Shauna said Saturday.

The United States, which took connected a presumption of enactment astatine COP26 aft 4 years of near-absence successful the planetary clime speech nether President Donald Trump, celebrated the Glasgow clime pact but called for much action.

“The substance sets retired a way to summation the commitments and actions of countries starting adjacent year, outlines caller rules of the roadworthy for the Paris Agreement that volition supply transparency for countries to crook words into actions, and doubles the magnitude of enactment that is going to susceptible countries to heighten their resilience to the crisis,” a statement from the White House read. “But it is not enough.”

“More enactment remains arsenic we permission Glasgow to get wherever subject tells america we request to beryllium and the United States volition proceed to propulsion for much advancement astatine location and overseas successful this decisive decennary for clime action,” the connection continued.

Boris Johnson, the premier curate of the United Kingdom, struck a much upbeat code successful his connection pursuing the decision of COP26.

“We asked nations to travel unneurotic for our satellite astatine COP26, and they person answered that call,” Johnson said successful a statement. “There is inactive a immense magnitude much to bash successful the coming years. But today’s statement is simply a large measurement forward.”

“I anticipation that we volition look backmost connected COP26 successful Glasgow arsenic the opening of the extremity of clime change,” helium said, “and I volition proceed to enactment tirelessly towards that goal.”

Brady Dennis, Sarah Kaplan, Karla Adam and William Booth successful Glasgow, Scotland, contributed to this report.