Cop26 Talks agree to strengthen emission targets by end of 2022

The Cop26 climate talks have agreed to get countries to strengthen their emissions-cutting targets for 2030 by the end of next year in a bid to limit dangerous warming.

Ministers and negotiators at the UN summit in Glasgow have also sent a signal on the shift away from the world’s dirtiest fuel, with a deal calling for efforts to escalate the “phase down” of unabated coal, as well as the phasing out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.

The deal was watered down at the last minute â€" following a push by India and China â€" from escalating the “phase out” of unabated coal, to “phase down”, prompting angry responses from European and vulnerable countries.

But it is the first explicit mentions of fossil fuels in a UN climate agreement.

The deal aims to keep limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels “alive” or within reach, in the face of a huge gap between the action countries are taking and what is needed to meet the goal.

In the wake of the agreement being gavelled through â€" more than 24 hours after the official finishing time of the conference, there were warnings that the 1.5 degree goal was “on life support”. â€" Additional reporting from PA

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