United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) is “on life support” with climate talks in Glasgow so far not reaching any of the U.N.’s three goals, but he added that “until the last moment, hope should be maintained.” In an exclusive interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Guterres said the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland “are in a crucial moment” and need to accomplish more than securing a weak deal that participating nations agree to support. Read: Climate talks draft agreement expresses ‘alarm and concern’ “The worst thing would be to reach an agreement at all costs by a minimum common denominator that would not respond to the huge challenges we face,” Guterres said. That’s because the overarching goal of limiting warming since pre-industrial times to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) by the end of the century “is still on reach but on life support,” Guterres said. The world has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit), leaving less than a degree before the threshold is hit. Read: US envoy calls for joint action to tackle climate crisis right now “It is the moment to reach agreement by increasing ambition in all areas: mitigation, adaptation and finance in a balanced way,” Guterres said in the 25-minute AP interview. A U.S.-China agreement announced Wednesday provided some hope of the negotiations yielding significant progress.

Two ARTivism competition winners from Bangladesh and one from Rohingya refugee community in Cox’s Bazar are among 17 prize winners in an Asia-wide climate art competition, whose artworks are on display at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. The competition in Asia region, organized by Save the Children, asked children to express their climate crisis concerns and solutions through art. Read: COP26: Time running out in Glasgow, as delegates wrangle over details Finalists in the regional competition were shortlisted from national competitions in eight Asian countries and two refugee communities. In Bangladesh, the competition was jointly arranged by Save the Children in Bangladesh and Kishor Alo.

Negotiators at the United Nations climate talks are considering a draft decision that highlights “alarm and concern” about global warming the planet already is experiencing and continues to call on the world to cut about half of its emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2030. The early version of the cover decision released Wednesday at the climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, doesn’t provide specific agreements on the three major goals that the U.N. set going into the negotiations. The draft mentions the need to cut emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2010 levels and achieve “net-zero” by mid-century. Doing so requires countries to pump only as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as can be absorbed again through natural or artificial means. Read: US envoy calls for joint action to tackle climate crisis right now It urges countries to “accelerate the phasing out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels,” but makes no explicit reference to ending the use of oil and gas. The draft also acknowledges “with regret” that rich nations have failed to live up to their pledge of providing $100 billion a year in financial help by 2020 to help poor nations dead with global warming. The draft reaffirms the goals set in Paris in 2015 of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, with a more stringent target of trying to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) preferred. Highlighting the challenge of meeting those goals, the document “expresses alarm and concern that human activities have caused around 1.1 C (2 F) of global warming to date and that impacts are already being felt in every region.” Separate draft proposals were also released on other issues being debated at the talks, including rules for international carbon markets and the frequency by which countries have to report on their efforts. The draft calls on nations that don’t have national goals that would fit with the 1.5 or 2 degree temperature rise limits to come back with stronger targets next year. Depending on the language is interpreted, the provision could apply to most countries. Analysts at the World Resources Institute counted this element of the draft as a win for vulnerable countries.“This is crucial language,’’ WRI International Climate Initiative Director David Waskow said Wednesday. “Countries really are expected and are on the hook to do something in that timeframe to adjust.’’ Read: Obama appeals to young activists to stay in climate fight In a nod to one of the big issues for poorer countries, the draft vaguely “urges” developed nations to compensate developing countries for “loss and damage,” a phrase that some rich nations don’t like. Whatever comes out of the meeting in Glasgow has to be unanimously approved by nearly 200 nations attending the negotiations. A lot of negotiating and decision-making is to come in the next three or possibly four days. The deadline for the talks is Friday, but climate talks often go past planned end dates. The cover decisions provide more than anything the parameters for the issues that need to be resolved in the last few days of the annual U.N. conference, Waskow said.

After the big-ticket announcements that gave it possibly the most productive start for any climate meeting, the Glasgow conference was staring back at familiar contentious issues on Monday as ministers re-assembled to resolve the key differences that are holding back progress. Host country UK’s lead negotiator Archie Young said preparations were being made to facilitate “late-night working” throughout the week. COP (Conference of Parties, the official name of the climate meetings) President Alok Sharma said negotiators needed to “shift gears” to ensure an agreement on contentious issues by Friday evening when the meeting is supposed to come to an end, reports the Indian Express. Read: India At COP26 Says Its Solar Energy Capacity Increased 17 Times In 7 Years The first results of the ministerial consultations, in the form of draft texts on some of the issues, are expected to be out late by Monday evening. The issue most talked about is the one related to finance. The failure of the developed countries to put together US$ 100 billion in climate finance every year from 2020 onwards, in accordance with a promise made over a decade ago, has been the biggest disappointment. But that is not the only money that is not coming in. Money is required for action in a lot of different areas, including adaptation, loss and damage, halting deforestation, capacity building in developing countries, and technology transfer. There isn’t adequate money flowing in anywhere. While the requirements are estimated to be in trillions of dollars every year, developed countries, which are primarily responsible for delivering climate finance, have been unable to put together even a basic sum of US$ 100 billion every year. Lack of finance is not something new at this COP. It has persisted ever since the climate negotiations began. But the postponement of the 2020 deadline the start of the US$ 100 billion commitment by at least three years has been a big setback to the process. India, while making a statement on behalf of the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) at one of the meetings on Monday, spoke for the entire developing world when it said that the non-seriousness of the developed countries over finance was especially frustrating when several other nations had been enhancing the ambition of their climate actions. “We would not like to see the enhanced mitigation ambitions (new targets announced by several countries, including India) reach the same fate as the pre-2020 climate finance ambition. It has been over a decade since the annual US$ 100 billion pledge and the world is still waiting for its mobilization and delivery. Trust in multilaterism and credibility of the process is at stake,” said Richa Sharma, additional secretary in the Environment Ministry and India’s lead negotiator. “Post 2020 mitigation ambition and net zero pledges require significantly enhanced climate finance. The exact magnitude of the new finance goal can be determined through a structured process with clear timelines and milestones so that we have a new finance goal well before 2025. This is a simple ask from many developing country parties. Yet what we are getting is more workshops and in-session seminars to discuss the new goal,” Sharma said. Read: India moves to patent the over century-old logos of Darjeeling’s ‘Toy Train’ “BASIC would like to warn that lack of a serious approach to climate finance will jeopardise the enhanced mitigation and adaptation ambition as well as net zero pledges of parties,” she said. On Sunday, the COP presidency had said the final outcome from Glasgow, called decision text, must contain a provision expressing “deep concern” over the failure of the developed countries to meet the US$ 100 billion goal. It said another provision should acknowledge the urgent need to scale up finance flows to “levels needed to support developing countries”. Among other issues requiring attention of the ministers is the particularly difficult provisions of a new carbon market being set up under the Paris Agreement. This is one of the key things holding back the finalization of the rules and procedures that will govern the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Developed and developing countries have major differences on how to deal with accumulated unsold carbon credits with some developing countries. These carbon credits were earned in the previous market mechanism that operated under the Kyoto Protocol. But Kyoto Protocol came to an end last year, and with that ended its market mechanisms. Nations that are left with unsold carbon credits — developing countries like Brazil, India or China — want these to be transitioned to the new market mechanism being established under the Paris Agreement. Several developed countries are opposing this. There are several issues related to carbon markets that have remained unresolved for over three years now. A resolution of these would be a major step forward. Elsewhere, countries also have to agree on how frequently should they be updating their NDCs (or nationally determined contributions, an official reference to the climate action plans of every country) – in five year cycles, or ten-year cycles, or somewhere in between. As of now, some countries have submitted five-year action plans, while others have given ten-year plans. Standardisation of this cycle is considered necessary for proper assessment of what the world together is doing over a fixed time period, and whether it was adequate to meet the global goals to keep the temperature rise in check. The final decision text from Glasgow could ask for the preparation of “synthesis report” every year on the action countries are taking to assess whether enough was being done to keep the global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degree Celsius from pre-industrial times.

Bangladesh has signed the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use in the COP26, pledging to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. Mostafa Kamal, a member of the Bangladesh delegation and secretary of the ministry of environment, forests and climate change, confirmed this to UNB. Mostafa said that NDC had uploaded a letter of consent from Bangladesh on the website of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) on August 26 stating its commitment to forest protection, afforestation, and forest expansion by 2030. However, as it was not uploaded timely, it was reported that Bangladesh is not with the global initiative of ending deforestation process- which was inaccurate. Also read: COP26: Bangladesh announces 37bn-dollar budget to tackle climate change damages The secretary added that Bangladesh has reached an agreement in this regard. “As other countries have reached a consensus, Bangladesh has also expressed solidarity with this consensus. But because of the system error, the name of Bangladesh was not in the first list on the UNFCC web site. Later on Sunday, the name of Bangladesh was added and published. In this way, the names of more countries can be added and the list can be published in stages, the secretary said. He said that Bangladesh is ahead of many other countries in the world in protecting forest lands. And the consensus target is to protect existing forest lands in their respective countries by 2030 as well as create new forests. He added that not only the protection of natural forests, but also the proposal to increase green coverage in the cities to address the climate change has been proposed at the conference. Another member of Bangladesh delegation Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hossain told UNB that a master plan has been taken to increase forest cover from 16 per cent to 20 per cent and afforestation from 22 per cent to 25 per cent by 2030. At the same time, local people are being worked together to protect the forest and create new forests. "We are constantly protecting the forest," he said. On the contrary, the number of forests in different areas is increasing. Amir said that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-15) also speak of sustainable management of forests, prevention of deforestation, restoration of forests and conservation of biodiversity. For this, Bangladesh has taken various steps to conserve forests and forest resources. Article 18 (A) of the Constitution of the country states the specific constitutional obligation to provide for the protection and security of the state's environment and natural resources, biodiversity, forests, forests and wildlife. Also read: Leaders vow to protect forests, plug methane leaks at COP26 Moreover, the Social Forestry Rules formulated in 2004 and the latest 'National Forest Policy 2016' emphasize on forest conservation and expansion of forest areas, wildlife management and tackling the effects of climate change on the ecosystem. Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, another Bangladeshi delegate, said that the importance of forest protection has been highlighted in the constitution of the country. In that light, the government has specific policies. To this end, Bangladesh also expressed solidarity with the unity of all in protecting the forest. At the COP26 Conference, 134 countries, including Bangladesh, came together to protect the world's forests and protect the world's forests from adverse effects of climate change.

India on Sunday told the UN climate summit in Glasgow that its solar energy capacity stands at about 45 gigawatts after it increased 17 times in the last seven years, asserting that although the country represents 17 per cent of the global population, its historical cumulative emissions are only 4 per cent. India said this while giving a presentation on its third Biennial Update Report (BUR) during the 11th Facilitative Sharing of Views (FSV) at the ongoing COP26 climate summit here, reports NDTV. Read: India moves to patent the over century-old logos of Darjeeling’s ‘Toy Train’ The BUR was submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in February. The key highlight of the discussion on India's third BUR was the achievement of 24 per cent reduction in emission intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the period of 2005-2014, and the significant increase of its solar programme. Making a statement on behalf of India, JR Bhatt, Adviser/Scientist in the Ministry of Environment, highlighted that India represents 17 per cent of the global population but its historical cumulative emissions are only 4 per cent, while current annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are only about 5 per cent. “This is complemented by the fact that India is particularly vulnerable to climate change. However, India is nevertheless taking several mitigation actions, spanning across the entire economy and society and has progressively continued decoupling of its economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions,” said Mr Bhatt. In the last seven years, India's installed solar energy capacity has increased 17 times, he said, adding that the solar energy capacity now stands at about 45 gigawatts. All the Parties commended India's efforts on the BUR and its climate actions, including recent announcements of new measures. There were questions about India's multilateral efforts to combat climate change, including the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). India responded by saying that disaster risk is increasing in developing countries, and this is a step to enhance international cooperation which is much needed in the current times. On the question of an increase in forest cover, India responded that people's participation has played an important role in enhancing its forest cover, and that its forests provide all the four ecosystem services. India highlighted that it speaks on climate change from a position of strength and responsibility. Read:10 dead in India Covid hospital fire “India's 15 per cent of total carbon dioxide emission in 2016 was removed from the atmosphere by the LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry). “Between 2015 and 2019, the forest and tree cover increased by 13,031 square kilometer and mangrove cover increased by 235 square kilometer. Populations of Asiatic lion, elephant, rhino increased manifold in the last 5 to 6 years,” according to India's statement. “We emphasise that India is particularly vulnerable to climate change, a point which many friends overlook in their eagerness to understand our mitigation efforts.

One phrase, really just a number, dominates climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland: The magic and elusive 1.5. That stands for the international goal of trying to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. It’s a somewhat confusing number in some ways that wasn’t a major part of negotiations just seven years ago and was a political suggestion that later proved to be incredibly important scientifically. Stopping warming at 1.5 or so can avoid or at least lessen some of the most catastrophic future climate change harms and for some people is a life-or-death matter, scientists have found in many reports. The 1.5 figure now it is the “overarching objective” of the Glasgow climate talks, called COP26, conference President Alok Sharma said on the first day of the conference. Then on Saturday he said the conference, which takes a break on Sunday, was still trying “to keep 1.5 alive.” For protesters and activists, the phrase is “1.5 to stay alive.” Read: Glasgow climate negotiators seek to resolve 4 key challenges And 1.5 is closer than it sounds. That’s because it may sound like another 1.5 degrees from now but because it is since pre-industrial times, it’s actually only 0.4 degrees (0.7 degrees Fahrenheit) from now. The world has warmed 1.1 degrees (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. The issue isn’t about the one year when the world first averages 1.5 more than pre-industrial times. Scientists usually mean a multi-year average of over 1.5 because temperatures — while rising over the long term like on an escalator — do have small jags up and down above the long-term trend, much like taking a step up or down on the escalator. But it’s coming fast. Scientists calculate carbon pollution the burning of fossil fuels can produce before 1.5 degrees is baked in. A report a few days ago from Global Carbon Project found that there’s 420 billion tons of carbon dioxide left in that budget and this year humanity spewed 36.4 billion tons. That’s about 11 years worth left at current levels — which are rising not falling — the report found. To get there, scientists and the United Nations say the world needs to cut its current emissions by about half as of 2030. That’s one of the three goals the U.N. has set for success in Glasgow. “It’s physically possible (to limit warming to 1.5 degrees), but I think it is close to politically impossible in the real world barring miracles,” Columbia University climate scientist Adam Sobel said. “Of course we should not give up advocating for it.” A dozen other climate scientists told The Associated Press essentially the same thing — that if dramatic emission reductions start immediately the world can keep within 1.5 degrees. But they don’t see signs of that happening. That 1.5 figure may be the big number now but that’s not how it started. At the insistence of small island nations who said it was a matter of survival, 1.5 was put in near the end of negotiations into the historic 2015 Paris climate agreement. It is mentioned only once in the deal’s text. And that part lists the primary goal to limit warming to “2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.” The 2-degree goal was the existing goal from 2009’s failed Copenhagen conference. The goal was initially interpreted as 2 degrees or substantially lower if possible. But in a way both the “1.5 and 2 degree C thresholds are somewhat arbitrary,” Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson said in an email. “Every tenth of a degree matters!” The 2 degrees was chosen because it “is the warmest temperature that you can infer that the planet has ever seen in the last million years or so,” University of East Anglia climate scientist Corinne LeQuere, who helped write the carbon budget study, said at the Glasgow climate talks. Read: Greta Thunberg calls UN climate talks a failure When the Paris agreement threw in the 1.5 figure, the United Nations tasked its Nobel Prize-winning group of scientists — the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC — to study on what difference there would be an Earth between 1.5 degrees of warming and 2 degrees of warming. The 2018 IPCC report found that compared to 2 degrees, stopping warming at 1.5 would mean: — Fewer deaths and illnesses from heat, smog and infectious diseases. — Half as many people would suffer from lack of water. — Some coral reefs may survive. — There’s less chance for summers without sea ice in the Arctic. — The West Antarctic ice sheet might not kick into irreversible melting. — Seas would rise nearly 4 inches (0.1 meters) less. — Half as many animals with back bones and plants would lose the majority of their habitats. — There would be substantially fewer heat waves, downpours and droughts. “For some people this is a life-or-death situation without a doubt,” report lead author Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald said at the time. That finding that there’s a massive difference to Earth with far less damage at 1.5 is the biggest climate science finding in the last six years, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Director Johan Rockstrom said in an interview at the Glasgow conference. “It gets worse and worse as you exceed beyond 1.5,” Rockstrom said. “We have more scientific evidence than ever that we need to really aim for landing at 1.5, which is the safe climate planetary boundary.” “Once we pass 1.5 we enter a scientific danger zone in terms of heightened risk,” Rockstrom said. In a new IPCC report in August, the world hit 1.5 in the 2030s in each of the four main carbon emissions scenarios they looked out. Even when scientists and politicians talk about 1.5 they usually talk about “overshoot” in which for a decade or so the temperature hits or passes 1.5, but then goes back down usually with some kind of technology that sucks carbon out of the air, Stanford’s Jackson and others said. As hard as it is, negotiators can’t give up on 1.5, said Canadian Member of Parliament Elizabeth May, who is at her 16th climate negotiations. “If we don’t hang on to 1.5 while it is technically feasible, we are almost criminal,” May said.

The 26th UN Conference Of the Parties (COP26) on climate change, now in its second week and final week of negotiations, has failed so far to reach a decision on 'loss and damage',  and it is now clear that there will be no decision made on this important issue at this year's conference.   Speaking to members of the Bangladesh delegation and environmental experts at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, UNB was able to learn that they are already looking forward to the next such conference, which would be COP27, for a decision on this issue. Loss and damage from climate change refers to the complete and irrecoverable loss of some things and the repairable damage of other things due to the impacts of human-induced climate change. Mirza Shawkat Ali, a member of the Bangladesh government delegation, told UNB that the 'breakthrough recognition' of loss and damage in the Paris Agreement was the result of years of effort on the part of countries that are most affected by climate change, including Bangladesh. Although the developed countries are not very willing to discuss the matter voluntarily, Bangladesh has a strong role to play in this regard as it is the current chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum. Read: COP26: Bangladesh delegation senses ‘positive vibe’ as Week 1 ends Shawkat Ali said discussions on preparing guidelines for loss and damage, fundings and considering 'Loss and damage' under COP and CMA - the group of countries who have signed and ratified the Paris Agreement -are going on at this time.  Keeping loss and damage as a separate agenda in each COP going forward is also being discussed. The Paris Agreement reaffirmed the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage as the main vehicle under the UNFCCC process to avert, minimize and address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts, including extreme weather events and slow onset events. Shawkat Ali added that discussions on Article 6, which relates to carbon markets, were going on at the technical level on Sunday. Adaptation is being discussed in various forums. However, talks on the $100-billion finance that industrialised countries pledged in 2009, but never followed through on, have ended. How to start long term finance will be finalised, Shawkat Ali said. Regarding the climate conference, Dr Atiqur Rahman, another member of the Bangladesh delegation and a world-renowned scientist and expert on climate change, said that the rate of reducing carbon emissions by developing countries is generally lower than in developed countries, who are mostly responsible for huge carbon emissions historically that developing countries are suffering from most. He said that due to climate change, cyclones, floods, cyclones, steep slopes, river and mountain erosion have increased in Bangladesh. Keeping the temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels can prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change. He said that salinity is increasing rapidly in the south region of Bangladesh. Salinity has been detected in Gopalganj too. Studies have shown that 1-2 types of crops have been damaged because of salinity. Besides, sea level has also risen. He added that displacement and migration has become a major problem in Bangladesh due to climate change. In this regard, migration and displacement issues are being discussed at the table of various platforms / negotiations. Read: COP26: Bangladesh announces 37bn-dollar budget to tackle climate change damages Meanwhile, Ziaul Haque, a member of the Bangladeshi delegation and co-ordinator of the LDC group, told UNB that although many issues were positive, discussions on loss and damage were long overdue. He said the developed world was supposed to give $100 billion to developing countries including Bangladesh by 2020, according to the promise made in 2009. However, in order to give 100 billion by 2021 is being discussed at the tactical level. In the meantime, about 80 billion are ready to be disbursed mentioned in the discussion. These 100 billion dollars will be disbursed till 2025. He said the countries that emit more carbon did not object to this in principle. However, the world leaders of many countries do not agree to pay for the damage caused by climate change. After so many days of discussion, this time it has been added to the agenda. Various conditions are also being attached for the money that is being promised. Saher Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Forest Climate Change, told UNB that the talks were going positively. Hopefully this time there will be progress. Once again, there was talk of securing the bill of 100 billion in funding for the affected countries. But now time is running out for all the talk to give shape to an agreement, in the form of a text that almost 200 countries need to agree on.

As this year’s U.N. climate talks go into their second week, negotiations on key topics are inching forward. Boosted by a few high-profile announcements at the start of the meeting, delegates are upbeat about the prospects for tangible progress in the fight against global warming. Laurent Fabius, the former French foreign minister who helped forge the Paris climate accord, said the general atmosphere had improved since the talks began Oct. 31 and “most negotiators want an agreement.” But negotiators were still struggling late Saturday to put together a series of draft decisions for government ministers to finalize during the second week of the talks. “People are having to take tough decisions, as they should,” Archie Young, the U.K.’s lead negotiator, said Saturday. Also read: Greta Thunberg calls UN climate talks a failure Here’s the state of play in four main areas halfway through the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow: TOP RESULT FROM THE CONFERENCE Each Conference of the Parties, or COP, ends with a general statement. It’s as much a political declaration as a statement of intent about where countries agree the effort to combat climate change is heading. A flurry of announcements at the start of the COP26 talks in Glasgow on issues including ending deforestation, cutting methane emissions, providing more money for green investments and phasing out the use of coal could be reflected in this final declaration. Even though only some countries signed on to each of those deals, others would be encouraged to add their signatures at a later date. Affirming the goal of keeping global warming at or below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, compared to pre-industrial times, is also seen as important. With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise, host Britain has said it wants the Glasgow talks to “keep 1.5 C alive.” One way to achieve that would be to encourage rich polluters in particular to update their emissions-cutting targets every one or two years, rather than every five years as now required by the Paris accord. Also read: COP26: Bangladesh announces 37bn-dollar budget to tackle climate change damages MONEY MATTERS TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE Rich countries pledged to mobilize $100 billion each year by 2020 to help poor nations cope with climate change. That target was likely missed, much to the frustration of developing nations. Restoring goodwill and trust between rich and poor countries on this issue requires a clear commitment on raising financial support starting from 2025. Addressing the thorny question of who is to pay for the losses and damages that nations face as a result of global warming they aren’t responsible for is likewise important, but agreement there could be elusive, observers say. “It’s about finance, finance, finance, finance,” said Fabius. CARBON TRADING: A TRICKY NUT TO CRACK Many negotiators and observers at climate conferences roll their eyes when they hear the words “Article 6.” The section dealing with rules for carbon markets has become one of the trickiest parts of the Paris climate accord to finalize. Six years after that deal was sealed, countries appear to be making headway though and there’s even talk of a breakthrough on the issue that so frustrated negotiators in Madrid two years ago. Observers say Brazil and India may be willing to drop demands to count their old — but others say worthless — carbon credits amassed under previous agreements. The price for this might be that rich nations grant poor countries a share of proceeds from carbon market transactions to adapt to climate change. This has been a red line for the United States and the European Union until now. A deal on Article 6 is seen as crucial because many countries and companies aim to cut their emissions to “net zero” by 2050. This requires balancing out any remaining pollution with an equal amount of carbon they can reliably say is captured elsewhere, such as through forests or by technological means. TRANSPARENCY AND RIGOR IN NATIONAL EMISSIONS-CUTTING TARGETS The Paris Agreement lets governments set their own emissions-cutting targets, and many of them are in the distant future. Verifying that countries are doing what they committed to, and that their goals are backed up by realistic measures, is tricky. China in particular has bristled at the idea of having to provide data in formats set by other nations. Brazil and Russia, meanwhile, have resisted demands to lay out in greater detail the short-term measures they’re taking to meet their long-term goals.

World's first partnership for interconnected solar grid, known as the Green Grids Initiative - One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG) launched on Tuesday at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. The International Solar Alliance (ISA), India Presidency of the ISA, and the UK COP Presidency unveiled plans for the first international network of global interconnected solar power grids, GGI-OSOWOG, at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, an ISA statement said, reports the Economic Times. The announcement was accompanied by the One Sun declaration. "Realizing the vision of One Sun One World One Grid through interconnected green grids can be transformational, enabling all of us to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement to prevent dangerous climate change, to accelerate the clean energy transition, and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.These efforts can stimulate green investments and create millions of good jobs. By sharing the sun's energy, we can help to build a more peaceful and prosperous world," the declaration stated. The declaration has been endorsed by 80 ISA member countries. The project, being spearheaded by India and the UK in partnership with the ISA and the World Bank Group, aims to harness solar energy wherever the sun is shining, ensuring that generated electricity flows to areas that need it most. READ: Bangladesh’s single largest rooftop solar power plant inaugurated in Korean EPZ The GGI-OSOWOG will bring together a global coalition of national governments, international financial and technical organisations, legislators, power system operators and knowledge leaders to accelerate the construction of the new infrastructure needed for a world powered by clean energy. In doing so, the project aims to reduce reliance on non-renewable energy such as coal by enabling them to purchase affordable solar power from other countries. The ISA aims to help mobilize USD 1 trillion of funding by 2030 to assist developing countries in expanding their solar power grids, both in transmission and generation, to meet their energy needs. The initiative is widely seen as a big and bold move in ISA's ongoing efforts to realise a global solar transition roadmap and will go some way towards realising its vision for a solar energy future. Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "The One Sun One World One Grid and Green Grids Initiative is an idea whose time has come. If the world has to move to a clean and green future, these interconnected transnational grids are going to be critical solutions." READ: Solar power plant in Manikganj starts commercial operation The event also featured an address by the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "The UK is working hand-in-hand with our friends in India to transform the future of the power sector and ensure clean and reliable electricity is accessible everywhere by the end of this decade. It's fantastic that over 80 countries have backed our newly launched Green Grids Initiative, whose collaboration will not only see greater growth, jobs and investment in our global green future, but also make sure no one is left without access to energy," Johnson said. ISA Director General, Dr. Ajay Mathur said: "This network has the potential to be a modern engineering marvel, and a catalyst for greatly expanding renewable electricity generation, and effectively mitigating climate change in the next decade. "At a global level, almost 2600 GW of interconnection capacity may be possible up to 2050, delivering estimated power savings of 226 billion euros per year. The One Sun Declaration is multilateralism in action, with leaders of the world coming together to drive sustainable impactful change for a cleaner planet and a greener economy." "Through the power of solar and other renewables, and our collective efforts, we believe we can build and support a transition away from fossil fuels to a cost-effective solar future and open up affordable, renewable electricity supplies to markets that have been historically underserved." The project will drive global interconnectivity across the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, while leveraging African power pools. The global grid concept was first announced by Modi in October 2018 during the first assembly of the ISA. In May 2021, the UK pledged technical, financial and research support for the OSOWOG project. The International Solar Alliance (ISA), was launched at COP21 in Paris and has recently expanded its membership scope to include all UN member states. There are 90 signatories and 193 prospective members.