One of the sticking points at COP26 is the issue of financial help for poorer nations to help cope with climate change.
Getty Images Copyright: Getty Images Hurricane Irma devastated the small island of Barbuda in 2017 Image caption: Hurricane Irma devastated the small island of Barbuda in 2017 Our environment analyst Roger Harrabin will be bringing us his analysis next. It's usually in the form of loans, not grants - another controversial point as poor countries don't want to increase their debt. It asks developed countries to double the money for poorer countries to adapt to climate change - "with the aim ofĪchieving a balance between mitigation and adaptation"Ĭlimate finance goes towards a huge range of things from weather warning systems to huge renewable energy projects. It mentions the recent pledges to increase climate finance - to reach the promised goal of $100bn annually - another sticking point as richer countries have so far failed to deliver the money on time It promises high-level meetings about climate finance next year, as well as in 20 That's the money from developed countries to help developing countries deal with the impacts of climate change - a huge sticking points in these negotiations. We've just seen several drafts deals on climate finance. He had set high expectations for this conference, and while the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is still in sight, the proposals set out today are far from a big bang moment. How host UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will sell this agreement is another question. The line about phasing out unabated coal is still there with another small tweak, which the drafters of this document say is unprecedented.Īlso still in the agreement is the line about countries coming to next year's COP in Egypt with enhanced pledges for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.īut what has probably really unlocked this negotiations is an agreement to start a new process talking about finance and the transfer of money from richer countries to poorer countries, which could be seen as a way to compensate for losses caused by climate change. Overnight, the mood music from negotiators had been quite gloomy and it sounded like lots of objections were being raised behind closed doors.īut actually, the most contentious issues have broadly remained in place. I'm quite surprised that this morning's new draft has remained relatively unchanged from yesterday's proposals. It seems the COP26 presidency has been nobbled behind closed “The language on loss and damage has gone backwards from Prof Saleemul Huq, director of the InternationalĬenter for Climate Change and Development, was not happy. Many campaigners will not be happy with that, and there’s There should be a dialogue next year between parties to establish the The new draft says that instead of establishing a fund That idea is anathema to the rich, who fear being on the The nub of the concept is the link to the centuries ofĬarbon dioxide emissions from richer countries that have contributed to theĭeveloping countries say this means the developed world should pay This issue is about the impacts of climate change thatĭeveloping countries can’t adapt to, like long term sea level rises or a sudden Lack of a funding facility for what's known as "loss and damage". However, what may turn out to be an important issue is the The major takeaways from this latest draft are that,īarring a few tweaks, the key passages about ambition and fossil fuels remain Getty Images Copyright: Getty Images Some richer nations such as the US fear climate compensation could leave them on the financial hook forever Image caption: Some richer nations such as the US fear climate compensation could leave them on the financial hook forever