whatyareckon

To fully appreciate what the COP26 conference achieved, let us start by listing the notable accomplishments described in the Pact and in the press releases. This is intended as comic relief from your average work day.

• COP26 agreed to accelerate unabated efforts towards reducing coal power. At India’s insistence, there was no agreement on the timing of the phase-down, and the reference to “unabated” means that the countries prepared to pay a fortune to capture and store GHG emissions from coal combustion can go on burning it indefinitely.

• COP26 agreed to move towards ending inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. As the majority of fossil fuel subsidies involve the imposition of price controls by the major OPEC producers on the prices of refined oil products charged to their citizens, it will be interesting to see how fast gasoline prices rise in Saudi Arabia.