“We can still expand fossil fuel infrastructure, we can increase the global emissions. It’s very, very vague.”

Greta Thunberg has slammed the eventual agreement struck at COP26 saying it only succeeds in “watering down the blah blah blah.”

According to the 18-year-old climate activist who came to Glasgow for the summit, the deal is “very vague” with many loopholes.

The officially agreed Glasgow Climate Pact has been under fire for including a commitment to “phase down” rather than “phase out” the use of coal.

This came at the eleventh hour after India and China opposed a commitment to “phase out” coal while negotiating the final agreement.

Moreover, while Saturday’s deal includes a pledge to “keep 1.5C alive”, summit leaders have admitted the proposed actions in the pact will only limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.8C above pre-industrial levels.

However, ministers and negotiators at the UN summit agreed that countries need to strengthen their emissions-cutting targets for 2030 by the end of next year in a bid to limit global warming climbing above 1.5C.

‘Very, very vague’

Commenting on the terms agreed in the pact, Thunberg said that the “small progress” could just prove to be a “losing” fight since “the climate crisis is all about time.”

“I have to say unfortunately it turned out just the way I and many others had expected,” she told BBC Scotland News.

“They even succeeded at watering down the blah, blah, blah which is quite an achievement. There is still no guarantee that we will reach the Paris Agreement.

“You can still interpret it [the Glasgow pact] in many different ways – we can still expand fossil fuel infrastructure, we can increase the global emissions. It’s very, very vague.”

‘We have been failed‘

Thunberg wasn’t the only one to slam the COP26 outcome.

Chris Packman tweeted: “Angry, scared and betrayed. We have been failed and scorned by the stupid, the greedy and the evil. Life is now in mortal danger. But it’s not over, it’s just down to us to do what needs to be done and we need to go to it now . So let’s . . .”

António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations said: “The COP26 outcome is a compromise, reflecting the interests, contradictions & state of political will in the world today.

“It’s an important step, but it’s not enough.

“It’s time to go into emergency mode.

“The climate battle is the fight of our lives & that fight must be won.”

COP26 president Alok Sharma was also visibly emotional and admitted that he was “deeply sorry” for the way the COP26 conference had unfolded.

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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