China and Russia, the world’s first and fifth largest emitters of greenhouse gases, said on Wednesday (3) that they take the climate emergency seriously, in response to criticism by US President Joe Biden at COP26, who begins the phase of complex negotiations.
“We do not agree with the US accusations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in Moscow.
He said Russia is taking action against climate change “coherent, thoughtful and serious” despite the absence of its president, Vladimir Putin, at Monday and Tuesday’s summit that brought together nearly 120 world rulers in the city. from Glasgow at the start of the two-week climate conference.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also did not travel to Scotland and was accused by Biden of “turning his back” on the “gigantic” problem of global warming that threatens to spiral out of control if strong measures are not taken immediately.
“Acts speak louder than words,” Chinese diplomacy spokesman Wang Wenbin replied in Beijing, who criticized the US president’s “empty words”.
Canceled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, COP26 in Glasgow has the difficult mission of developing the commitments adopted in the Paris Agreement of 2015, which established as a major international objective to limit global warming to +1.5ºC in comparison with the pre-industrial era.
Scientists warn, however, that with current measurements the Earth is heading towards an increase of +2.7°C, which would have chaotic consequences, including droughts, floods, rising sea levels and the emergence of millions of climate refugees .
Financing
In this context, negotiations, stagnant for several years on complex technical issues such as the functioning of the market mechanism to buy and sell emission rights, appear to be complicated.
On the agenda, in addition to the accelerated decarbonization of the economy, is the issue of financial aid, of US$100 billion a year, promised for 2020, but which has not been realized, from rich countries to disadvantaged nations most vulnerable to climate change.
Wednesday is dedicated precisely to financing and the British Minister of Economy, Rishi Sunak, promised that COP26 will gather the promised funds.
“We know they have been devastated by the double tragedy of Covid and climate change,” he told delegates at the UN-organized conference.
“For this reason, we are going to meet the goal of providing $100 billion in climate finance to developing nations,” he promised.
Both Sunak and COP26 President Alok Sharma and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday highlighted the important role that private investors must play as an essential complement to public action.
“Lack of appropriate technology”
“There is still a long way to go,” warned British Prime Minister and conference host Boris Johnson, who declared himself “prudently optimistic” when world leaders left COP26 and passed the baton to negotiators.
In an attempt to stimulate dialogue, the heads of state and government of 100 countries pledged on Tuesday to reduce by 30% by 2030, compared to 2020 levels, emissions of methane (CH4), gas with greenhouse effect 80 times more powerful than the best known CO².
Despite the leadership of the United States and the European Union, the second and third largest emitters on the planet, respectively, India (fourth emitter) did not join the initiative, nor China and Russia, the latter gas extraction giant, with a high percentage of leaks of methane in its distribution pipelines to Europe.
Xi Jinping limited himself to sending a written message to the summit, published on the conference website, without even a prevision of a video speech as the Russian president did.
“There are very, very serious climate problems and he’s not willing to do anything about it,” Biden criticized at a news conference. “The same goes for Vladimir Putin,” he added.
China is the country that invests the most in clean energy, but, like all developing countries, it faces “practical problems” in meeting “ambitious goals”, said Wang, who highlighted the “lack of appropriate technology”.
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