ANP Productions | Source: ANNP
Tuvalu responded with disappointment to the results of the COP26 climate summit. During the conference in Glasgow, pictures spread of the island nation’s foreign minister giving a speech at sea to make it clear that his country was “sinking”. This director is now unhappy with the fact that the climate deal was watered down at the last minute.
“We are disappointed that the text on coal was amended at the last minute,” Minister Simon Covey told Reuters news agency. Initially, the closing statement stated that countries wanted to “phase out” coal, but under pressure from India and China, this was changed at the last minute to “phasing out”.
This is bad for Tuvalu, which has a population of about 12,000 and feels threatened by the consequences of climate change. The highest point in the country is more than 4 meters above sea level. If it rises further, areas can become uninhabitable or disappear completely underwater. Kofi said he hoped his video message had made clear the situation his country was facing.
The minister criticizes the climate plans of some countries. For example, in his opinion, Australia should have shown more ambition to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels. “I think there are reports that even with the current commitments we are heading towards 2.4 degrees,” he said. “So we would have liked to see the major countries reduce their emissions even more.”
