November, 12 2021, 07:34am EDT
New COP26 Final Decision Text--Greenpeace Response
Commenting on the new COP26 final decision text published by the UK Presidency this morning (Friday), Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan said:
"It could be better, it should be better, and we have one day left to make it a lot, lot better. Right now the fingerprints of fossil fuel interests are still on the text and this is not the breakthrough deal that people hoped for in Glasgow.
GLASGOW
Commenting on the new COP26 final decision text published by the UK Presidency this morning (Friday), Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan said:
"It could be better, it should be better, and we have one day left to make it a lot, lot better. Right now the fingerprints of fossil fuel interests are still on the text and this is not the breakthrough deal that people hoped for in Glasgow.
"The key line on phasing out coal and fossil fuel subsidies has been critically weakened, but it's still there and needs to be strengthened again before this summit closes. That's going to be a big tussle and one we need to win. Meanwhile we've gone from 'urging' countries to strengthen their 2030 emissions targets in line with the 1.5C goal to merely 'requesting' they do so by 2022. It wasn't good enough before, it's even weaker now and that needs to change.
"But there's wording in here worth holding on to and the UK Presidency needs to fight tooth and nail to keep the most ambitious elements in the deal. We've moved from richer nations largely ignoring the pleas of developing countries for promised finance to tackle climate change, to the beginnings of a recognition that their calls should be met. Now we need developed countries to scale up their offer of support and finance.
"Negotiators in Glasgow simply have to seize the moment and agree something historic, but they need to isolate the governments who've come here to wreck progress and instead listen to the calls of youth and vulnerable nations.
"In parallel we're witnessing a deliberate and cynical effort by a few nation states to turn Article 6 into a charter for cheating, greenwash and loopholes. Today is an absolutely critical day in the fight to defend the 1.5C goal from vested interests who'll do anything to dodge their responsibility for the climate crisis. Anything less puts the essence of Paris in peril."
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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Aiming to confront "a root cause of many of America's fundamental economic problems," U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday unveiled a bill to require corporations to balance growth with fair treatment of their employees and consumers.
The Massachusetts Democrat introduced the Accountable Capitalism Act, explaining that for much of U.S. history, corporations reinvested more than half of their profits back into their companies, working in the interest of employees, customers, business partners, and shareholders.
In the 1980s, said Warren corporations began placing the latter group above all, adopting "the belief that their only legitimate and legal purpose was 'maximizing shareholder value.'"
That view was further cemented in 1997 when the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group that represents chief executives across the country, declared that the "principal objective of a business enterprise is to generate economic returns to its owners."
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The Accountable Capitalism Act would require:
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Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) also welcomed the rulings and sent "a big thank you to Lina Khan and her team at the FTC."
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