As a new analysis revealed Monday that fossil fuel industry lobbyists have a larger presence at the COP26 than any country, global campaigners criticized the first draft of the final decision text for the United Nations climate summit for failing to even mention phasing out coal, gas, and oil.Greenpeace International, in a statement, highlighted that “this glaring omission” comes despite expert warnings about the need to keep fossil fuels in the ground that have mounted in the leadup to the ongoing summit in Glasgow, Scotland.“What’s very concerning here in Glasgow is that the first draft of the climate pact text is already exceptionally weak. Usually, the text starts with some ambition, which then gets watered down,” said Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan.Parties to the 2015 Paris climate agreement aim to keep global temperature rise this century “well below” 2°C, with a target of limiting it to 1.5°C. “To keep 1.5 alive,” Morgan said, “fossil fuels phase-out” must be added to the decision text, and “countries must come back next year to close the gap.”The London-based Environmental Justice Foundation blasted the draft text as “a love letter” to the fossil fuel industry, with CEO and founder Steve Trent warning in a statement that “without a fossil fuel phase-out, 1.5°C is well and truly dead, taking with it countless lives, whole cultures, and entire nations.”

Source: First draft of COP26 decision text slammed as ‘love letter’ to fossil fuel industry – NationofChange