How the COP 26 deal left its president close to tears

Was COP 26 a success? Fridays for Future called the climate summit “infuriating and disappointing,” while United Nations boss António Guterres called it “building blocks for progress.” Others argue that labeling it a success or a failure is simplistic — and besides, much depends on whether you ask a small Pacific state or a high-income, industrialized nation.

The final text commits countries to “accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies …” after China and India succeeded in a last-minute effort to remove the previous wording on a coal “phase out.”

That prompted one of the most memorable moments of the two weeks, as COP 26 President Alok Sharma appeared to hold back tears, apologizing to delegates for “the way this process has unfolded.”

ICYMI: Despite India’s involvement in phasing out the “phase out,” Paul Adepoju writes for Devex Pro subscribers that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to net-zero emissions, announced early on during the summit, could serve as a blueprint for African nations hoping to do the same.

Another sore point was how high-income countries failed 138 countries in the developing world in securing a loss and damage facility to provide compensation for the effects of climate change. High-income countries argue this can be covered through existing mechanisms, but Simon Addison from the International Institute for Environment and Development says the numbers don’t add up, with needs still far outstripping available assistance.

The good news: It wasn’t all gloom.

• The United States and China issued a declaration to collaborate on climate action this decade.
• Negotiators finally reached common rules on carbon markets.
• 104 countries committed to reduce their methane emissions by 30% between 2020 and 2030.
• 110 states pledged $19 billion to tackle deforestation.

Speaking of deforestation, one debate to watch is whether those pushing nature-based solutions, such as planting trees, to climate change can convince activists from the likes of Greenpeace that this will not harm Indigenous people and will do more than distract from the epic challenge of cutting carbon emissions in the first place.

“The two sides do not really see each other’s point of view, if I’m honest,” Lucy Almond of Nature4Climate told us during our event on sustainable land use. 

And underneath it all, the heat is still on:

+ Catch up on all of our global development news coverage during COP 26.

Our man in Glasgow

Devex U.K. Correspondent Will Worley, who has been covering the summit, had this to say:

“Despite its many disappointments, COP 26 is not being viewed as a total failure by civil society groups and the countries most vulnerable to climate risks — perhaps with the exception of some who appeared to have made up their minds before the summit had even begun. There has been some progress — which is better than nothing at all — on key issues including securing more adaptation finance and ending fossil fuel subsidies. Much, much more is needed, faster, but there is hope COP 26 has laid some foundations for more substantial progress in future.”

Following the money

Some 39 countries and finance institutions struck a deal to end international public finance for fossil fuels. That was hailed by some as a key step forward for climate, and by others as a perpetuation of a double standard on the world’s lower-income countries.

Private climate finance announcements included a new climate-focused exchange-traded fund, a new coral reef fund, a new green energy alliance, and nearly 500 global financial service providers committing to align their $130 trillion in capital with the Paris Agreement. Though as my colleague Adva Saldinger writes in Devex Invested, there are questions over whether some of the new vehicles will scale and how financial companies will act on their commitments.

ICYMI: Samatha Power calls for more adaptation finance at COP 26 

Devex Pro: What does Paris alignment mean for development donors? 

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Quote unquote

Devex spoke with activists and officials throughout COP 26. Here’s what they told us:

“Implementation needs finance … it is time the [global north] returns it back to our peoples to help fix the problem they made. For that, we don’t want the commitments, we want the cash on the table, we do not want them to set the criterias … they must make this money adapt to our realities.” — Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, president, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad

“Now we are seeing climate change happen, these communities are having to deal with it already, now and having to adapt to it. ... And they actually have a lot of knowledge and experience, and we the outsiders can learn from that. So I now call them the ‘first adaptors.’” — Saleemul Huq, director, ICCCAD

“In a humble way, I answer [that] I don’t know.” — IFRC President Francesco Rocco when asked by Will whether his organization and the humanitarian sector in general are ready to respond to the challenges posed by climate change.

An optimistic note

As activist Asad Rehman tells the meeting, there is plenty of room for pessimism. But we noticed some silver linings, too, to take us out ...

Will Worley contributed reporting to this.