COP26: Numerous countries commit to coal phaseout

The Swedish teen joined protesters ahead of the COP26 climate conference to rail against banks profiting off environmental destruction. Organizers say similar protests were being staged in 26 countries around the world.

Despite several steps in a positive direction, India's efforts are widely seen as a long way from the drastic measures needed to respond to the climate emergency.

Heads of state and government gathering for the climate conference in Glasgow will argue over plans to burn fewer fossil fuels, the only way to honor their pledges to protect the planet.

Climate action is complicated, and there will be lots of talk about 1.5 degree pathways, abatement strategies and carbon lock-ins at the UN climate conference in Glasgow. What does it all mean?

At the heart of the climate crisis is a profound injustice: poorer countries are the most vulnerable to climate change and the least responsible for it. According to British charity Oxfam, the poorest half of the world's population accounts for just 10 percent of global carbon emissions. One young leader from the Global South who's in Glasgow for COP26 is Kenyan activist Kevin Mtai, who joined us for Perspective. While Mtai is hopeful about the summit, he said he was disappointed by the presence of corporate sponsors, especially in contrast to the limited access given to climate activists.

More than 100 world leaders, including Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, are supporting the agreement at the climate summit. Activists say it greenlights "another decade of deforestation."

DELIVERING a speech to world leaders in Rome ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Prince Charles did not mince his words on the state of the climate crisis. The heir to the throne said the summit was “quite literally the last chance saloon”.

India's Narendra Modi has spoken in Glasgow on Monday and Japan's new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was en route. But President Xi Jinping of China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, skipped attendance.

European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen has said a global methane reduction pledge sponsored by the EU and the US will "immediately slow down climate change." Over 80 countries have signed on to the pledge.

Hendrik Wüst, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, called coal "uneconomical." The state has the largest lignite, or "brown coal," field in Europe.

In 2019, scientists working for South Africa’s government completed a study on the health impacts of pollution from the country's sprawling coal industry. So far, it has not seen the light of day. The study, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, showed more than 5,000 South Africans die annually in the country’s coal belt because the government has failed to enforce its own air quality standards.

Germany's environment minister says South Africa's coal phase-out "has the potential to become a blueprint for other regions." The US and several European countries pledged billions on clean energy development.