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In the face of the undeniable climate crisis, strong action is needed from world leaders, like pledging to reduce carbon emission. Such steps are not popular or can impact the economy. So, some nations are refusing to pledge more cuts, but there are some that are apparently trying the easy way out of shifting the goalposts.
If scientific reports about the harmful effects of fossil fuels like coal and gasoline can be watered down to show that there’s no pressing need to immediately cut down their use, then that action can be delayed. Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia are among nation lobbying with the UN to do just that, according to a cache of documents leaked by the investigative journalism wing of Greenpeace.
>>‘Unearthed’, the Greenpeace arm, shared the documents with BBC:
https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/10/21/leaked-climate-lobbying-ipcc-glasgow/
https://twitter.com/UE/status/1451061077379330049
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58982445
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/21/australia-opposed-climate-report-finding-that-coal-fired-power-stations-should-close-leak-suggests
The leak comes ten days before the world leaders sit together in Glasgow, Scotland, for what could be the most crucial meet on climate action for a while: https://www.9news.com.au/national/cop26-glasgow-2021-net-zero-paris-agreement-and-carbon-emissions-targets-explainer/8d7ab763-e5e8-485d-833f-302f627d0040 The 26th session of the Conference of Parties, ‘COP26’, is billed to be our best chance to save the planet, but if behind-the-scenes parleys exposed by ‘Unearthed’ are any indication, there is little hope of strong commitments to make ambitious cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) like carbon dioxide.
Revelations:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the UN is preparing a report on what needs to be done to reduce GHG emissions. The report will form the basis of pledges from various nations. The leaks are in the form of submissions from various nations:
* Fossil fuel producers like Australia, Saudi Arabia and the OPEC are telling the IPCC to remove or weaken a key conclusion that the world needs to rapidly phase out fossil fuels.
* Australia is questioning the scientifically accepted conclusion that phasing out coal-based power stations was among the most important steps to reduce emissions.
* Brazil and Argentina, two of the world’s biggest producers of beef and animal feed, are seeking to delete from the report the scientific advice that say the planet will benefit if plant-based diets are promoted and meat/dairy consumption is reduced.