This is an extract from 16 Words: An Atlas of the Climate Crisis, in which Maria Laraba, one of the contributors to the book, explains what happened at COP26 in Glasgow:
“Vale VIICERIO CALCIOTTI
President of Italy and COP Chairman
Representing the WEF at COP26
Arriving at the CBD Convention Center in Glasgow
At 8:20 pm at the end of the second day of the COP 26 Climate Conference in the Convention Center in Glasgow
Pilloried the IPCC, Global Climate Action Summit failure and overall performance
Admitted that the OECD were the leaders but distanced themselves from the Committee’s report
Denied again the very existence of a 2 degree C. Target
Announced that he supported the 2560 MT coal fleet built over the next 20 years
Stated that the CBI was the most serious partner of the COP and committed to reducing national GHG emissions
Ignored calls to raise the temperature limit to 3C. said that “mitigation” would be done by all nations using their power and, apparently, the Amazon’s carbon storage
The goal of a 2 degree C. limit had already been missed, said Calciotti, and it would be “very difficult to get the level of emissions cuts that we have agreed to, for a long period of time.” Many in the crowd reacted angrily, chanting in Italian