“Time is running out”, warns the President of COP26 |

London: Thanasis Gavos

The President of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26, which ends on Friday in Glasgow, Alok Sharma warned that “time is running out” for a sufficient agreement.

As he noted in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, “we still have a monumental challenge ahead of us.”

Among the outstanding issues was the need to increase funding to developing countries, highlighting the $ 100 billion-a-year target set by developed governments and the effort to reach an agreement on emissions pricing.

Asked if COP26 had failed, Mr Sarma said: “What we want when we leave COP26 is to be able to say with confidence that we have kept the goal of keeping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius achievable.”

Referring to the US-China Joint Declaration on Partnership for Pollution Reduction over the current critical decade, the COP26 President said he was showing a spirit of cooperation that he hoped to see in the final negotiations at the conference.

Earlier, the EU Delegation to the Climate Conference noted that there was still a long way to go before the 1.5 degree Celsius target.

Commissioner Frans Timmermans said, however, that the vast majority of countries support this goal. “We have to make sure that we translate this support into tangible measures that will lead us to the goal,” Timmermans said, adding: “But time is running out fast.”

The Vice-President of the Commission added that the EU and the Member States are very active in trying to bridge various issues. “I do not think there is anything the EU should be ashamed of,” he said.