Looks like things aren’t going smoothly leading up to COP26

From The Herald

THE COP26 climate change conference due to take place in Glasgow in November may not go ahead because of a lack of progress in lead-up talks, its former chief has said.

Claire O’Neill said there was now a “question mark” over whether the two-week event at the SEC would take place as planned or be delayed.

She also urged the leaders of the G7 countries meeting in Cornwalll this week to set the right tone, given the urgency of the climate crisis, to help ensure the Cop took place.

Ms O’Neil, a former energy minister formerly known by her married name as Claire Perry, was nominated as Cop26 president in September 2019.

However Boris Johnson sacked her a few months later in order to install a serving minister in the role, giving it to then business secretary Alok Sharma. 

Speaking to BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Ms O’Neill the 198 parties to the Cop were currently in virtual negotiations, but were failing to advance as required. 

She said: “The reason for Cop to happen is a series of negotiations which have to happen in 198 directions, and they are not as focused as people would expect on this enormous climate emergency and the need for really rapid action.

It’s coming down to the wire.

“I’m hearing from very reliable sources that at the end of this virtual negotiation period, the parties, the 198 parties, will decide whether they’ve made enough progress to go ahead in Glasgow. And of course there is then a question about in-person or virtual [attendance], because some countries find the idea of virtual negotiations to be very difficult.

And of course the obligatory: WE MUST DO THIS!

She also said it would be a “terrible mistake” if the negotiators chose to delay the Cop to hold face-to-face meetings rather than do some parts virtually. 

Read the full article here.

via Watts Up With That?

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June 9, 2021