environment activist greta-thunberg” target=”_blank”>Greta Thunberg< that concluded this weekend, summarizing it as “Blah, blah, blah.”
Her characterization of the meetings as a lot of useless talk mirrored that of other critics – including some who viewed the proceedings from a much different perspective than the 18-year-old Swede.
In the U.S., for example, Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about possible economy as negotiators discuss transitions away from fossil fuels.
On Saturday, Biden administration special climate envoy John Kerry described the deal reached by nearly 200 countries as “good,” despite language changes requested by India regarding coal power.
Thunberg, meanwhile, warned of “greenwashing” in the days ahead “and media spin to somehow frame the outcome as ‘good’, ‘progress’, ‘hopeful’ or ‘a step in the right direction’.”
Thunberg tweeted that the “real work continues outside these halls. And we will never give up, ever.”
Alok Sharma, the COP26 president, said the summit achieved the goal of agreeing to cut emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius, which activists say was not enough.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks at a the "Fridays For Future" climate rally during COP26 on Nov. 5, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.
(Getty Images)
Thunberg said Saturday the Earth will warm by “2,4°C if all govts met the 2030 targets, 2,7°C with current policies. These NDCs are based on flawed and underreported numbers. And this is IF leaders meet their promises, which judging by their track record is not very likely… This is what some seem to celebrate today. #COP26.”
Sharma pointed out in an interview that the word “coal” was in the text for the first time in a global climate conference, according to the Guardian. “Of course I would have preferred the words ‘phase out’ rather than ‘phase down.’ You heard that disappointment on the floor,” he said.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said leaders had made “serious breakthroughs” at the conference even as climate activists shared their disappointment with the final agreements.
On Thursday, Kerry sounded optimistic about the conference and said the “United States looks forward to working with” Egypt and the United Arab Emirates who are who the next two annual conferences “to carry forward the progress of Glasgow and drive further climate action.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted “The #COP26 outcome is a compromise, reflecting the interests, contradictions and state of political will in the world today. It’s an important step, but it’s not enough. “Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread”, he added. “We are still knocking on the door of climate catastrophe.”
“I know you might be disappointed,” he tweeted specifically to “young people, indigenous communities, women leaders, all those leading on #ClimateAction.” “But we’re in the fight of our lives & this fight must be won.”
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate accused the conference leaders of not wanting to “pay for the costs they are inflicting on poorer nations” because a Loss and damage fund to help poor countries with the climate crisis wasn’t established.
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“In the final hours, the US, EU and UK stripped the concept of a ‘fund’ out of the COP decision text – watering it down to instead to holding a ‘workshop,’” she tweeted.
