– The moment of truth – VG

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Despite Sharma asking the countries not to speak at the open meeting, many countries did just that, including China, Norway, South Africa and the island states of Fjii and Tuvalu.

Tuvalu’s dealer, Seve Paeniu, stated that the summit had delivered a message of hope and ambition.

He also asked the delegates not to act on the basis of what gets them re-elected in their home countries.

– Responding to climate change is critical for the survival of our societies, for the survival of humanity, he said while holding up a picture of three of his grandchildren.

EU climate chief Frans Timmermans also spoke, after several countries had spoken. His message was clear.

– I wonder if we are stumbling just before the finish line, he said, and continued:

– Do not kill this moment by asking for changes in the text.

This is what it looked like while the delegates continued the negotiations while the COP president was waiting for them to sit down on Saturday afternoon:

In recent days, a draft of such a final declaration has been published by the UN. The last draft that came Saturday morning, is what is now being negotiated.

Minister of Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide (Labor Party) tells VG that he thinks there can be agreement on the final declaration at the climate summit in Glasgow on Saturday.

He also says that the Norwegian delegation is satisfied with the final declaration that is available.

– The short answer is that we think this is a good proposal for a final declaration. Everyone will be able to think that it could have been better, but within what is possible to achieve, this is good, he says.

The Minister of Climate says that Norway would ideally have seen that emission cuts, so-called “mitigation”, had preceded the chapter on climate adaptation in the declaration.

He nevertheless believes that the declaration has a “clear language in science” and is clear that it is urgent to limit emissions.

– I think the summit has made people around the world understand that one must limit warming to 1.5 degrees and not 2 degrees.

– We really only have the 2020s to set a new course. The seriousness that researchers have pointed out in many awards has settled in many countries here, he adds.

Ahead of the climate summit, the UN Climate Panel, IPCC, presented the first part of its sixth climate report.

The conclusion was clear: Extreme weather is becoming more frequent and more serious, and we now have even stronger evidence that this is due to human influence.

India and China disagree

India’s environment minister says the country is not happy with the draft final declaration at the Glasgow climate summit.

“Developing countries are entitled to their fair share of the global CO2 budget,” Bhupender Yadav said at a preliminary plenary session in Glasgow on Saturday.

He reminded that other parts of the world have had large emissions of greenhouse gases for many years. It is the unsustainable lifestyle and consumption in rich countries that has caused global warming, according to Yadav.

China’s negotiator, Zhao Yingmin, warned the other delegates at the meeting. He said China was ready to work with all parties to propose “constructive ideas” for a final declaration. But, he also added:

“Right now the text is not perfect, but we have no intention of reopening it,” said Yingmin.

He added that China believes that “minor changes should be made.”

The countries disagree on this:

• Phasing out of coal and subsidies

On Wednesday, a sentence was added to the draft asking the world to increase the pace of phasing out coal and all subsidies for fossil energy.

But this sentence has already been weakened twice:

Because in the new draft on Friday, the countries were asked to “increase the pace” to phase out coal power without carbon capture – “unabated coal power” – and “inefficient” subsidies for fossil energy.

While in Saturday’s draft, “increase the pace to phase out” is replaced by “increase the effort towards phasing out”.

The US climate envoy, John Kerry, said on Friday that the country supports the wording as it stands now, writes AP.

In Saturday’s draft, “ineffective” has been left standing.

According to NRK Norway, Switzerland and several poor countries and small island states have spoken out to remove the word “ineffective”.

– We would have preferred to drop that word, but at the same time this is probably what is needed for agreement. It is still a step forward, because you have not had it in previous years, says Climate Minister Barth Eide to VG on Saturday.

The new words were met on Friday with strong skepticism from several.

“These are loopholes so large that you can drive a truck through them,” said Alex Rafalowicz of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.

Men, if this sentence not removed through the final rounds of negotiations, it will be the first time that fossil energy is mentioned in a final declaration.

• Deadline for coming up with new emission targets

The latest draft calls on countries to come up with new and strengthened targets for emission reductions by the end of 2022.

These targets must be in line with the Paris Agreement’s target of cutting enough emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

The countries delivered new targets ahead of the Glasgow climate summit, but several countries did not deliver reinforced targets, and these are now being asked to deliver new, reinforced targets.

But some countries, including Saudi Arabia, do not want to do this.

Scientists agree that the world must drastically cut emissions to reach the 1.5-degree target. If this is achieved, it will “significantly reduce the risk and consequences of climate change”, the draft states.

• Financial support for poor countries

In 2009, the world’s rich countries promised that by 2020 they would annually provide $ 100 billion in climate aid to developing countries. As of now, that goal will not be reached until 2023.

Aid will help developing countries both to cut emissions and to adapt to the consequences of global warming.

Poor countries believe according to The Guardian that funding for climate adaptation must at least be doubled, and they want to open up a debate on how the target of 100 billion can be significantly increased.

In the latest draft, rich countries are also asked to double the existing financial assistance by 2025 earmarked for climate adaptation, compared to how much they gave in assistance in 2019.

In addition, there is controversy over whether rich countries should compensate poor countries for climate disasters, so-called “losses and damage”. Poor countries believe that rich countries have a moral obligation to do just that.

Several countries want a separate fund for loss and damage, while several rich countries are skeptical about this, including the United States. Island states have called the disagreement over the loss and damage of “the elephant in the room.”

The Norwegian delegation has led the negotiations on a new global market for climate quotas, together with the delegation from Singapore.

Chapter 6 of the Paris Agreement describes how the quota market is to function. For five years, attempts have been made to find a solution for how to ensure that climate quotas lead to real emissions cuts, and to avoid loopholes.

In recent years, negotiations have stalled.

One of the main challenges is how to avoid double counting.

If a nation pays for a measure that provides emissions cuts in another country, then this emissions cut can not be counted in both countries’ climate accounts.

Brazil is one of several countries that want to have room for trade in climate quotas, but which does not count against a country’s promises of climate cuts.

VG is informed by sources that it was Japan that first proposed such a solution, in meetings with Norway and Singapore. Since then, the United States and Brazil have worked to further develop the solution.

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