U.S. Rails at ‘Insanity’ of Fossil Fuel Subsidies: COP26 Update

(Bloomberg) -- Climate talks are set to stretch into the weekend as delegates tussle over how to curb rising temperatures -- and who will pick up the bill. 

New draft texts released around dawn on Friday were a bit weaker than the previous versions. The language calling on countries to have another go at their climate plans by next year has been watered down, and now includes words that amount to a get-out clause.

A closely watched line on fossil fuels and coal survived, though it’s been tweaked after some resistance from countries including China. The proposal now is to phase out “unabated coal.” That allows for some wiggle room and falls short of the goal to “consign coal to history.”

Haggling over global carbon trading continues after new obstacles were hit overnight. Clinching a deal on the rules will be an important yardstick for success.

Key developments:

• Latest draft calls for a phase-out of “unabated” coal...
• ...and vulnerable nations say it’s not enough
• Efforts to create a global carbon market hit new hurdles
• China is likely to choose energy security over ending coal
• The endgame: what to look out for if you’re just tuning in

Read More: COP Aims to End Coal, But the World Is Still Addicted

(All timestamps Glasgow, Scotland)

New Draft Language on 1.5C Is Ambitious (2:55 p.m.)

The deletion of a single word in the latest draft of the climate deal being negotiated at the COP26 climate conference signals a surprisingly ambitious move to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, Akshat Rathi writes. 

Kerry Calls Fossil Fuel Subsidies ‘Insanity’ (2:18 p.m.)

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said spending trillions of dollars on fossil fuel subsidies over the years is the “definition of insanity” while countries are struggling to pay for the green transition. 

G-20 countries provided nearly $600 billion in subsidies and other support for fossil fuels last year alone, based on provisional estimates by Bloomberg NEF.

Kerry welcomed the latest draft text which added lines that only “unabated” coal use and “inefficient” subsidies be phased out, instead of all of them. “That language must stay,” he said. “We’re not talking about all, we’re talking about eliminating. We’re talking about the capacity for capture, if you can do it.”

But poorer countries, and those most vulnerable to climate change such as the Marshall Islands, criticized the weakening of the language on fossil fuels in the draft text.

Also read: BNEF Takes on COP26: Days 11-13

Saudis Says Latest Text Risks Rewriting Paris (1:52 p.m.)

Saudi Arabia’s lead negotiator warned that the latest text risks rewriting the Paris agreement and is still too skewed in favor of wealthy nations.

However, he also said the draft was workable and “can be considered.” Keeping alive the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature goal was a “no brainer,” he added. 

Vulnerable Nations Say Draft Not Enough (11:30 a.m.)

Fifty countries most vulnerable to climate change said the new draft still doesn’t go far enough to compel nations to come back with tougher pledges to cut emissions.

“We are not happy with the annual ambition raising being relegated to a round-table of ministers and only focused on mitigation, and being open-ended rather than until, for example, 2025,” a spokesman for the group said.

He also said there remained a “serious trust issue” over how rich countries will pay poor ones to adapt to climate change. However, the group welcomed plans for a new loss and damage finance facility.

Draft Still Missing Vital Elements: Oxfam (11:02 a.m.)

The latest draft is still missing key elements, particularly the absence of any mention of the plan to finance loss and damage for countries most at risk of climate change, said Tracy Carty, head of Oxfam’s COP26 delegation said. 

“We need an unambiguous deal in Glasgow that commits governments to coming back next year, and every year after that, with improved targets that will keep the goal of 1.5 degrees alive,” she said. “This is the final countdown.”

Phasing Out ‘Unabated’ Coal Use (10:53 a.m.) 

As negotiators haggle over COP26 texts, a key word on coal use was inserted overnight, after resistance from countries including China. Now the text calls for a phase-out of “unabated” coal.

That term is generally means burning the fossil fuel without using any emission-reduction technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

The problem is there are still relatively few projects that focus on abating emissions, though major coal producer Australia has promised to invest some A$500 million in new ones. Critics say the technology is still too expensive and shouldn’t be used as a license to burn more fossil fuels.

Chinese officials have been promoting carbon capture in Glasgow. Sun Zhen, a member of the country’s negotiation team, said this week that “instead of focusing on reducing the use of coal, we should focus on how to reduce the emissions of coal” using technology.

Wrangling Starts Over Single Words (10:32 a.m.)

COP negotiators are famous for squabbling over tiny details of every text and this summit is no different. 

The new draft that dropped this morning “requests” countries come back with new carbon-cutting pledges next year. That replaces the word “urges” in a previous draft.

Now people are trying to work out which word is stronger. Usually in UN-speak, “urges” is. But an official style guide by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change suggests the reverse is true.

COP26 President U.K. has consulted UN lawyers in New York and been told that “requests” is a stronger demand. It’s one more thing that countries will need to get to the bottom of before they go home.

Carbon-Market Talks Still Stumbling (10:23 a.m.)

Negotiators remain apart on the key sticking points in COP26 talks about global carbon markets, according to a new document published on Friday. One of the most contentious issues is establishing rules on how to prevent double-counting of emission-reduction credits under the new offset program. An option backed by the U.S., Brazil and Japan is under fire from environmental lobbies, which say it would amounts to little more than hot air and greenwashing.

Australia Kids No One at COP26 With New Net-Zero Modeling: BNEF (9:50 a.m.)

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison has yielded to pressure and released the modeling that informed the country’s plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, as announced Oct. 26. This new report won’t do anything to appease critics at the Glasgow talks of the overall emission plan, nor the government’s failure to upgrade its 2030 climate plan, according to BloombergNEF.

Also read: Australia’s Net-Zero Plan Will Only Cut Emissions by a Third

As COP Debates, Coal Dominates (9:29 a.m.)

While COP negotiators talk coal, here’s a reminder of just how much of the black stuff the world still burns. It continues to dominate the world’s total electricity generation mix by a large margin. There are still more new coal plants being built than old ones switching off, and the International Energy Agency projects emissions from the power sector will reach a record in 2022 as coal-power use surges. Governments and utilities across the globe are willing to pay record sums for it just to keep the lights on. 

Methane Pushed in New Draft (8:36 a.m.)

The new draft puts a stronger focus on the need to cut methane emissions in order to keep alive the chance of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degree Celsius. It mentions the potent greenhouse gas in paragraph 37 and invites parties “to consider further actions to reduce 2030 non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions, including methane.”

Paragraph 22 previously stated the importance of halving greenhouse gases to cap warming at 1.5 degree Celsius. The new text also adds there’s a need for “deep reductions in non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases.”

This follows more than 100 countries signing up to the Global Methane Pledge that aims to collectively cut global emissions of the super-warming gas by 30% by 2030.

Latest Draft of Text Published (8:14 a.m.)

A new draft of the a climate pact being debated at COP26 talks in Glasgow on Friday maintains most of the key elements climate-watchers were looking for -- though with some tweaks.

The latest draft, which was negotiated overnight now “requests” countries to come back with better climate-action plans for 2030 by next year, instead of being “urged” to. It also allows for “different national circumstances,” which is seen as a kind of get-out clause.

The text slightly weakens language on asking for a phase-out of fossil fuels subsidies and coal. It now calls for the phase-out of “unabated” coal power and of “inefficient” subsidies for fossil fuels. That line has faced pushback, and many climate-watchers were expecting it to be axed by now. 

In positive news for developing countries, there’s a call for rich nations to double the amount of money -- by 2025 -- they spend helping poor countries adapt to climate change.

Germany Prepared If Talks Run Past Friday (6:30 a.m.)

Germany is already preparing in case the conference misses the deadline of 6 p.m. local time Friday for a final agreement, according to the head of the nation’s delegation, Jochen Flasbarth.

“I’m planning on leaving here tomorrow, but we have already taken precautions in case it goes longer,” Flasbarth, a deputy environment minister, said early Friday in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.

“Above all, we have to agree on the final legal rules, otherwise the next few years will be very difficult in terms of implementing the Paris Accord,” he said. Outstanding issues that still need to be resolved include the exit from coal power, he added. An agreement between the U.S. and China to cooperate on climate this decade is the main achievement from the summit so far, Flasbarth said.

What’s Left to Achieve on the Summit’s Final Day 

It’s the last scheduled day of COP26, though it’s likely talks will extend into the weekend. Here’s a look at what’s left to achieve in Glasgow:

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