COP26: UN climate agency releases draft of COP26 cover decision

• The document will be negotiated by 200 nations to get a final agreement before the summit ends.

• The seven-page draft focuses on funding, effects of climate change, and adaptation. 

The United Nations climate agency released the first draft of the policy document on Wednesday that will be presented at the conclusion of the COP26 conference.

Negotiators from over 200 nations will work on the draft to get a final agreement before the summit concludes on Friday, Reuters stated. 

The accord, known as a "cover decision," is being eagerly monitored to see what it would commit nations to do to bridge the gap between their present climate commitments and the more aggressive action experts say is required to avoid catastrophic levels of warming.

Read more: COP26: Has global warming threat reduced one week into Glasgow meet?

The seven-page draft also focuses on funding, which has garnered a lot of attention because poorer countries accuse developed countries of not funding enough to combat climate change. 

The deal, which was issued by the UK Cop26 presidency, will need to be discussed and approved by the nations participating in the negotiations.

Scientists have asked to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius which can be done by a 45 percent reduction in global emissions by 2030 and net-zero by mid-century.

Read more: COP26: Obama hits out on China and Russia for ‘lack of urgency’

Moreover, for the first-time draft appeals governments to phase out coal and fossil fuel subsidies. 

The proposed decision encourages nations to "revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their nationally determined contributions as necessary to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2022."

Loss and damage, a critical concern for the developing world, is addressed in the draft.  It urges developed nations to urgently scale-up financial assistance to underdeveloped countries in order to meet the climate damage. 

Read more: Obama cites Greta Thunberg in COP26 speech, acknowledges frustration

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to return to the summit on Wednesday from London, where he will meet with national and civil society negotiators as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

With inputs from BBC

Picture Credits: Germanwatch