China weakens COP pledges

China has secured a last-minute watering down language on efforts to phase out coal power at the UN Climate Change Conference COP26. Together with India, the Chinese delegation insisted on not signing the climate pact in Glasgow until the commitments to phase out coal power and fossil fuel subsidies were watered down, the Financial Times reports. According to the report, negotiations on the issue were tense until the very end. However, the last-minute deal now struck at COP26 includes, for the first time, official commitments to reduce fossil fuel consumption.