CoP26 Diary (Nov 8): Fossil fuel lobby larger than delegation of any country, term missing from draft statement

The 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has entered its second week. Here’s a snapshot of what went on at the event November 8, 2021: 

• A non-paper by the United Kingdom CoP Presidency was published as a draft of what could be the final statement from Glasgow. It received initial criticism for not including the term ‘fossil fuels’. Reports also suggested that the Saudi Arabian delegation blocked efforts to write in greater climate ambition in the document.
• At the informal stocktaking plenary on Monday morning, Alok Sharma presented a report on the work done over the past week. It included the following: 

1. Chairs of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and Subsidiary Body for Implementation presented the items completed and those pending. The latter was forwarded to the CoP26 Presidency to discuss this week.
2. Article 6 appears to be a major pending item forwarded to the second week. Others include the enhanced transparency framework, common time frames and adaptation.
3. Sharma invited pairs of ministers to lead ‘informal consultations’ on pending issues:
1. Article 6 — Norway, Singapore
2. Common timeframes — Rwanda, Switzerland
3. Enhanced transparency framework — New Zealand, Antigua & Barbuda
4. Adaptation — Maldives, Spain
5. Mitigation — Grenada, Denmark
6. Loss and damage — Luxembourg, Jamaica
7. Finance — Egypt, Sweden
8. Linkages — Costa Rica, UK

• The various negotiating blocs gave their responses to the statements, with Guinea stating on behalf of G77 and China, that “a CoP without a complete outcome on finance can never be successful”. 
• Bhutan spoke on behalf of the Least Developed Countries group, emphasising that the trust broken by non-delivery of the $100 billion finance goal must be rebuilt.
• Bolivia spoke on behalf of Like-Minded Developing Countries, highlighting that the “principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibility are non-negotiable for us”. 
• Former United States President Barack Obama addressed CoP 26 at an event, emphasising that the world is still “collectively and individually” falling short on fighting climate change. He also singled out Russia and China for the absence of their leaders at CoP 26 and unambitious nationally determined contributions. 
• A report by the Global Witness, a climate justice activism group, found that “at least 503 fossil fuel lobbyists, affiliated with some of the world’s biggest polluting oil and gas giants, have been granted access to CoP26, flooding the Glasgow conference with corporate influence”. If the fossil fuel lobby were a country delegation at CoP, it would be the largest with 503 delegates – two dozen more than the largest country delegation, the report noted. 
• At a high level ministerial dialogue on climate finance, India highlighted that “developing countries’ ambition is contingent upon the provision of adequate means of implementation”. (Earth Negotiations Bulletin)
• November 8 was Loss and Damage Day at CoP26. But beyond 1 million pounds offered by Scotland, no new finance was announced (Jocelyn Timperley). 
• As many as 13 more countries signed the High Ambition Coalitions’ CoP26 statement. 
• There continues to be strong resistance from developed countries on financial support for loss and damage. (Third World Network)

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