After pressure exerted by India and China, the wording of the final deal was watered down to a pledge to “phase down” rather than “phase out" coal. Alok Sharma, the president of Cop26, was on the brink of tears as he explained what had happened, and the last-minute alteration brought sharp words of rebuke from the US and other nations.
While China reportedly pushed hard for a softening of the language over coal in final negotiations, it was India's environment minister, Bhupender Yadav, who read out a new version of the pact that used the watered-down commitment to a “phase down" of coal. Many speculated it had fallen to India because that was more palatable than an intervention by China.
This story is from the November 19, 2021 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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This story is from the November 19, 2021 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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