JUDY WOODRUFF: Diplomats and negotiators from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach
a global accord on reducing emissions to ease the impact of climate change.
Today was scheduled to be the last day of the so-called COP 26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland,
but word came this afternoon that deep disputes over financial aid, fossil fuels,
and future commitments, meant the talks would spill over into Saturday.
Top officials said it was important to keep negotiations going.
Frans Timmermans represents the European Union.
FRANS TIMMERMANS, Lead Negotiator, European Commission: The whole of
humanity is in danger. And the ones who are in immediate danger are the ones living on
small island states in the Pacific and the ones in the Caribbean who are suffering
every year, with the weather becoming more and more erratic.
So, I think there's a lot of people who are already suffering now. But
the whole of humanity will be suffering dearly if we don't change our behavior.
JUDY WOODRUFF: William Brangham is covering the latest on these talks and files this
report from Glasgow on how this day has gone and the issues that divide countries.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As the scheduled last day of this summit began, Glasgow's weather matched
the mood outside. As attendees filed in, a few lone protesters stood watch.
Tom Deacon came to encourage greater action, but he isn't hopeful.
TOM DEACON, Climate Protester: I'm 40 years old, and this has been going on
since I was 8 years old, this process that is behind us. We're here at COP 26.
This is why I have got a banner that says, "How many COPs to arrest climate change?"
One should be the answer. Like, we should not be here at COP 26. And still it's failing.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Inside the cavernous halls, negotiators worked all morning,
wrangling over the precise wording for the conference's final joint statement.
A draft version of that document, released early today, includes language urging countries to
phase out the use of coal and questions the need for billions of dollars in subsidies to
fossil fuel companies. It was less clear about how much aid would be provided to
the developing nations that are suffering the present-day impacts of climate change.
Saleemul Huq is a Bangladeshi scientist and researcher
who's been to every one of these conferences.
SALEEMUL HUQ, Director, International Center For Climate Change and Development: In the last
hours of the COP is where the final political horse-trading takes place
amongst the ministers who are here in Glasgow.
And some issues will go to heads of government. You know,
Mr. Kerry will call Mr. Biden, and Mr. Biden will call President Xi,
and they will sort a few things out that have to go up to that level. Always happens that way.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Many of the activists crowded inside today
wanted negotiators thinking about the future, but acknowledging the present.
Miriam Talwisa is an activist from Uganda.
MIRIAM TALWISA, Climate Activist: The solutions coming through out of here should be
reflective of two realities, the that effects and damages and the losses
from the change in climate are here today, and the future is unknown.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Benjamin Ryan Yawakie is an indigenous activist from Minnesota.
BENJAMIN RYAN YAWAKIE, Climate Activist: There's so much at stake with respect to the situations
that are happening in Minnesota with the drought that we had this summer. It was a
historic drought. We had the heat dome, the closing of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
And so all these things are coming to a head, and it's coming to our communities.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: At noon, a planned walkout began. Hundreds of civil society groups,
NGOs, and activists from all over the world marched out of the conference hall en masse,
all holding onto a long red ribbon.
Outside, they joined a large demonstration that had formed on the perimeter of the conference.
The speakers, protesters, and signs all demanded action. At one point, the protest
was joined by the so-called Red Brigade, a group of climate-minded street-performers.
As the day wore on inside, some ministers and
negotiators acknowledged their work was far from finished.
SIMON STIELL, Grenada Minister For climate Resilience and the Environment: The text is
the bare minimum we need to walk away with. And we need to hold the line. We owe
our children, our grandchildren.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, said the world was watching.
NICOLA STURGEON, Scottish First Minister: If it doesn't get across the line, it's only
going to be because of a lack of political will, political determination, and political leadership.
And future generation -- well,
this generation of young people are watching. Let's not let them down.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The day ended as it began,
a small crowd of protesters outside, negotiators continuing their work inside.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And William joins me now.
So, hello again, William.
And it looks as if these negotiations are going past the deadline.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's right, Judy.
On some level, this is to be expected. This happens at a lot of these U.N. conferences.
There are just so many details to get through. You mentioned some of them.
The first and foremost is this what's called the emissions gap. And that is the chasm -- and it
is a chasm -- between what nations pledged to cut with their emissions and what is needed to
cut with emissions to get down to stopping the planet from warming an additional 1.5 degrees.
That has been the whole goal. One minister today said that the target of 1.5 degrees is
hanging on by its fingernails. Another issue, of course, is the issue of subsidies. And this is
somewhere around half-a-billion dollars that governments all around the world give every year
to oil and gas companies to subsidize their work and to keep gas prices low.
John Kerry today referred to those subsidies as the definition of insanity.
But the language in the draft report that was issued this morning
is a little fuzzy on what we ought to be doing about those subsidies.
And then, of course, as we have been talking all week long, there is this issue of aid
to the developing world. Wealthier nations promised $100 billion, but they have failed
to deliver on that. According to their own recording -- reporting, they have failed by,
say, $20 billion. Oxfam estimates that that's almost $80 billion that they're short.
So, lots of issues to work out.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, William, we're seeing that a consensus position on fossil fuels
now seems to be softening. And we understand there's been difficulty in even
getting this language in these agreements in the past.
Why?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: No, you're exactly right, Judy. It is striking that we are at the
26th climate conference, and there still is this intense debate about
minuscule language changes with regards to fossil fuels.
We know they are the principal driver of climate change.
One of the factors -- and there are many -- is that the oil and gas industry is very
influential. I mean, one group known as Global Witness did an analysis,
and they showed that the oil and gas industry has more representatives here than in any -- than
compared to any other country. So their interests are being looked after and lobbied on behalf of.
It's also important to remember that this process all goes under
consensus. There are 200 nations here. And they each have to agree to this. And so some nations
that don't want to see progress made, they can hold the process up. And they have been.
We will see what happens. The next draft data -- the
next draft document comes out tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Into the weekend.
William Brangham, reporting for us from Glasgow, thank you.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You're welcome, Judy.