COP26 climate summit ends with a deal that keeps 1.5C 'alive'

Nearly 200 countries agreed a new climate deal in Glasgow on Saturday after two weeks of intense negotiations, a pact that negotiators said kept alive the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius but fell short of what scientists say is needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

The Glasgow Climate Pact, struck at the COP26 summit, called on countries to strengthen their emissions-cutting targets the following year rather than every five years, and for the first time an international climate agreement explicitly mentioned reducing the use of coal and fossil fuel subsidies.

But the final text was weakened in the closing minutes when India and China pushed for language calling for coal to be "phased down" rather than "phased out", a change that drew audible dismay in the hall. The summit president, Alok Sharma, appeared close to tears as he apologised for how the process had unfolded.

The agreement also made progress on rules for carbon markets and on pressing wealthy nations to deliver long-promised finance to help poorer countries cope with a warming world, though developing nations said the sums remained inadequate.

Scientists and campaigners offered a mixed verdict: the summit had kept the 1.5C target within reach, but only just, and only if the pledges made in Glasgow were turned into real action. The hard work, they warned, would be in the years that followed.