After the third consecutive day of round the clock negotiations, the COP26 Presidency this morning issued a raft of draft technical documents and the crucial draft cover text for the final agreement.
But there is still widespread speculation that Saudi Arabia and a number of other major fossil fuel producers could yet call for all references to fossil fuels to be removed.
There is a school of thought that the text represents a major step forward for loss and damage negotiations, which have historically been sidelined in the UN negotiations due to concerns amongst industrialised nations that formalising discussions of loss and damage could be interpreted as an avenue for making some countries accept liability for climate damages.
Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa similarly condemned the proposed text, arguing that “vulnerable countries can’t afford to leave with this current version of the text on loss and damage”.
In addition, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Zhao Yingmin, gave an interview with Chinese state media overnight that further ramped up calls on industrialised nations to deliver an increase in climate finance.