A.J. Camacho

Wednesday morning, the first draft of the Glasgow cover decision was released, drawing mixed emotions from an anxious conference and global public. For this reason and more, I'm knackered after this day in the Dear Green Place.

Cover decision first draft released

Got a moment, first minister? Nae bother…

The first draft of the Cop26 Glasgow cover decision was released in the morning. It included a historic mention of fossil fuels in a Cop agreement, urging that all countries eliminate subsidies for them and retire all coal power. It also stresses the importance of the developed world financing adaptation to the climate crisis in the developing world.

Cop26 president Alok Sharma said in a press conference the draft was “high ambition and – importantly – balanced”. This sentiment, however, is disputed by many. John Barry, professor of green political economy at Queen’s, told me it was “long on rhetoric, short on deliverables,” convictions that were echoed by press members in the Blue Zone.

Prof Barry added that he considered this draft to validate his low expectations, saying “This Cop has been a failure” and “1.5 is dead, according to this”.

When I asked Sharma what rhetoric we could expect from such general ambitions, he pointed to the provisions in the cover draft for more frequent meetings of the international community on issues surrounding climate change.

Meeting the US House of Representatives delegation

Just after my arrival at the centre this morning, a conference with US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic members of the House – such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – were announced. I took my seat and, when the delegation entered, I was more than a little star-struck to see AOC sitting directly in front of me.

The conference predominantly stressed domestic efforts to combat climate change, including additional green provisions – such as expanded tax credits for electric vehicle purchases – in a spending bill expected to pass the House next week (though its fate in the Senate is uncertain).

I asked the delegates what their message was for people who were sceptical about climate change or the severity of its dangers. “The most eloquent argument about climate change is the vicious storms that many of these people have suffered,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded. Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon added an example from my home state: “Central Tennessee saw it vividly in terms of unprecedented storms, people dying,” referring to August floods that killed 20 in the state. “Central Tennessee was, I think, exhibit A,” Blumenauer said.

After the press conference, Speaker Pelosi called me over from the stage, wondering how I managed to get to Glasgow from Tennessee, and I explained I was in Belfast for the autumn as a Queen’s student anyways. Several members of congress and the press offered me their personal encouragement and heartening words on the role of young people in this issue. Pelosi told me, “I have great confidence that young people… understand this better than some members of Congress.”

Last-minute surprise

I was winding down and collecting photos and videos in the media centre that evening when I saw that a press conference with the Marshall Islands had been bumped for one with China – and it was starting in ten minutes. I rushed to the room and waited patiently. To my surprise, envoy Xie Zhenhua announced that they had reached an agreement with the US on climate change. Several journalists didn’t wait for details, leaving the room in a hurry to contact their organisations.

Followed by a press conference with John Kerry, the joint statement has “little” or “no” substance, as many correspondents noted. Rather, it creates a working group between the two largest emitters which should facilitate “concrete commitments and action”. China also pledged, as part of the statement, to finalise a methane control plan by 2022.

Though it lacks specificity, some have argued the principle of the move could breathe new life into a Cop whose prospects were dimming after an underwhelming cover decision draft. Former US vice president and Nobel Laureate Al Gore called the joint statement “significant progress” and “a signal to all parties at #Cop26 that the global community is ready to take significant steps to reduce emissions in this decade in order to limit warming to 1.5C”.

Whether this “signal” will change behaviours in the negotiating rooms Thursday – expected to be the final day of negotiations – has yet to be seen.

Stay tuned for more Cop26 coverage from The Scoop

A.J. Camacho is a reporter for The Scoop and is attending Cop26

My Cop26 diary: Dashed dreams, affluent acquaintances, and a subtle surprise