How a global climate deal almost collapsed

On The Carbon Copy podcast this week:

COP26 ended in Glasgow, Scotland last week with a final deal. It established a framework for reporting emissions and trading carbon credits, called on countries to step up their targets next year, and included the first-ever mention of fossil fuels in a COP agreement.

But that reference to a ​“phaseout” of fossil fuels almost killed the deal altogether.

In the final moments of the conference, India lobbied to water down or weaken the phrase. Behind the scenes, China and the U.S. supported the change. That led to a showdown over the language that could have ended up preventing the passage of the final agreement.

This week, we look at what the conflict says about how power is wielded in global climate talks.

Our guest is Akshat Rathi, a London-based reporter for Bloomberg News. He has a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford and a bachelor of technology in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai.

The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.

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