Final Cop26 deal could fail to limit ‘insane’ fossil fuel subsidies

THE final deal reached at Cop26 could fail to curb “insane” subsidies on fossil fuels, it is feared, after the early draft agreement was watered down.

John Kerry, the US climate envoy, said his country would phase out subsidies for oil and gas extraction and called for the pledge to be included in the final agreement to come out of the Glasgow summit.

“$2.5 trillion in the last five, six years, went into subsidies for fossil fuels – that’s a definition of insanity. We’re allowing to feed the very problem we’re here to try to cure, it doesn’t make sense,” Mr Kerry told fellow negotiators.

Negotiations were also stuck last night over the key question of whether countries would have to return next year with better plans to cut emissions, after targets brought to Cop26 fell short of limiting warming to 1.5C.

Alok Sharma, the Cop president, called yesterday for a “final injection of that can-do spirit”, as talks overshot their Friday night deadline.

The first draft of the final deal, which will decide whether the summit has been a success, included a line calling for the accelerated phase-out of coal and fossil fuel subsidies.

The draft released yesterday morning instead refers to “unabated coal power” and “inefficient subsidies”, which critics say provides wiggle room for major polluters.

Unabated coal means power plants without technology attached that can capture the emissions and store them.

“Inefficient subsidies” are intended to mean direct tax breaks for the extraction of fossil fuels, rather than state funds for household fuel poverty, such as the UK’S Warm Homes Discount.

But Richie Merzian, a former Australian climate negotiator, described the new phrasing as “weasel words which allow countries to get away with” continuing to use fossil fuels.

Any direct mention of phasing out fossil fuels and coals would be a historic victory for an agreement at the end of the annual climate summit.

Frans Timmermans, the EU’S climate chief, said: “The Cop must also send a clear signal about our commitment to halt fossil fuel subsidies and finally turn the page on coal.”

China and many developing countries say they should not have to abandon fossil fuels as fast as developed nations.

China also pushed back on calls to bring more ambitious targets next year.

Getting major polluters to come back with new plans next year for emissions cuts before 2030 is seen as the best hope for achieving the summit’s aim to keep warming to 1.5C.

Analysts say the planet is on track for 2.4C of warming on the basis of current 2030 emissions cut promises.

Boris Johnson said yesterday: “We won’t clinch it all at Cop but we can start.”

Zhao Yingmin, the Chinese negotiator, said countries should be able to decide their own timetable, and said the deal needed more commitments on funding for developing countries to move away from fossil fuels and adapt to climate change.