China and India must explain themselves, says COP26 President

Daily US Times: India and China will have to explain themselves to climate vulnerable nations, COP26 President Alok Sharma said.

It comes after the two countries pushed for the language on coal to change from “phase out” to “phase down” in the deal agreed at the climate summit.

But the COP26 President insisted the “historic” deal “keeps 1.5C within reach”.

It is the first ever climate deal that plans explicitly to reduce coal – the worst fossil fuel for greenhouse gases.

Mr Sharma said the deal struck in the Glasgow Climate Pact was a “fragile win”.

He urged China and India to “justify” their actions to nations that are more vulnerable to the effects of global warming.

Mr Sharma told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show that his role was to “build consensus” on the final deal. He denied that the Glasgow Pact had ended in failure.

The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow had to go into overtime for the deal to be agreed and came to an end on Saturday.

The Glasgow Climate Pact is the first ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce coal, the worst fossil fuel for greenhouse gases.

The deal also presses for more urgent emission cuts and promises more money for developing countries – to help them adapt to climate impacts.

But the pledges don’t go far enough to limit temperature rise to 1.5C.

A commitment to phase out coal that was included in earlier negotiation drafts led to a dramatic finish after India and China led opposition to it.

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