Climate Ministers Hold In-person Talks Ahead Of COP26 Summit

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Climate ministers hold in-person talks ahead of COP26 summit

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jul, 2021 ) :The first face-to-face climate talks among governments in over 18 months showed real engagement and possible areas of compromise ahead of a pivotal November summit, officials said Monday.

But the two-day ministerial meeting in London also laid bare differences, especially over the future of coal, that must be bridged before the COP26 summit in Glasgow, they said.

Britain's COP26 president, Alok Sharma, said the climate and environment ministers from more than 50 countries saw first-hand the changes afoot with torrential rain and flash floods hitting London as they met.

"It was a hugely refreshing experience, to be sitting across the table from one another," he told a news conference alongside the UN's climate chief, Patricia Espinosa.

"There was a sense of common endeavour and a shared desire to address the climate crisis before us," Sharma said.

The London talks came as nearly 200 nations started online negotiations Monday to validate a UN science report that will anchor further meetings charged with preventing climate catastrophe ahead of Glasgow.

Espinosa hailed the "extremely positive" discussions in London and the "extraordinary" turnout from more than 50 governments including key players China, India and the United States.

"The dialogue has started, (but) there is a lot of homework to be done in the next 90-something days," she said, arguing that "landing zones" for compromise are becoming clearer in the runup to Glasgow.

Sharma stressed it was "very disappointing" that G20 countries last week had failed to agree to phase out coal.

And more work is needed to meet a target of raising $100 billion a year to help poorer countries combat climate change, he said, announcing that Canada and Germany would steer a new dialogue to that end.

Singapore and Norway will push further discussions on establishing carbon markets, Sharma said, while Rwanda and Switzerland will oversee talks on common timeframes for nations' "nationally determined contributions" to curb emissions.

Without more intense efforts including on coal, it will be "extremely difficult" to reach a target of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the UK minister said.

"Ultimately there is not going to be anywhere to hide at COP26," he added. "We will make every single day count."