The COP26 Deal Was Another Betrayal of Climate Justice
Western governments have tried to blame China and India for the COP26 flop. But it was the rich capitalist states of Europe and North America that refused to accept the just demands of the world’s poorest nations, leaving us still on course for disaster.
US president Joe Biden speaks at the Action on Forests and Land Use session during the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. (Erin Schaff / AFP via Getty Images)
When the final gavel went down on COP26, the British government minister Alok Sharma had tears in his eyes. “I apologize for the way this process has unfolded and I am deeply sorry,” he said.
Sharma was right to apologize, even if he gave the wrong reasons for it. The Glasgow Climate Change Conference has already been described as the “most exclusive” climate summit in history. Before the conference had even started, campaigners predicted that it would be the “whitest and most privileged ever,” with thousands of people from the Global South unable to attend.
Sadly, their prediction came true. Thousands of people were stranded without proof of vaccination. Thousands more were priced out of the city. In the end, more fossil fuel lobbyists attended the summit than delegates from any single country, and the final result was an obvious reflection of that.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.