It may have been the first time that the countries of the world have spoken of reducing coal consumption. But no firm commitment to end the "dirty" fuels has come as a disappointment to many. Following objections from China and India, the final text was changed from "phase out" of coal to "phase down".

Even British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host of the United Nations summit on climate in Glasgow, has said that no commitment over the phase-out of coal was "tinged with disappointment."

The UN's climate change chief Patricia Espinosa described the mention of fossil fuels as a "huge step forward" but added there was a need to "balance out the social consequences" for people of cutting coal power - particularly in developing countries.

Others like Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan called the plan "meek." "It's meek, it's weak and the 1.5 C goal is only just alive, but a signal has been sent that the era of coal is ending. And that matters," she said. (https://www.newsweek.com/cop26-deal-fails-impress-environmentalists-after-coal-compromise-blah-blah-blah-1649025)

Young climate activist Greta Thunberg took to Twitter to share her criticisms. "Now as #COP26 is coming to an end, beware of a tsunami of greenwashing and media spin to somehow frame the outcome as 'good', 'progress', 'hopeful' or 'a step in the right direction,' she said. (https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1459558168007262222)

But there were optimists too. For instance, conference President Alok Sharma said that "you phase down before you phase out", emphasising that it was for the first time that any international climate agreement mentioned coal. (https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/14/uk-says-cop26-climate-pact-historic-but-tinged-with-disappointment)

Read more:

'COP26 hasn't solved the problem':
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03431-4