The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow succeeded in getting 197 countries to agree new rules on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, but last-minute objections from India and China stymied a commitment to end coal use and fossil fuel subsidies.
Conference president Alok Sharma fought back tears in the final minutes as he apologised to other ministers for watering down a clause on fossil fuels to appease India and China.
However, the summit marked the first time that coal or fossil fuels had been directly referenced in a COP agreement.
Countries also agreed on rules that will govern the 2015 Paris climate accord, which aims to limit global temperature rise to well below 2C since preindustrial times, and ideally to 1.5C, and to increase funding to help countries to adapt to climate change.
Temperatures have already risen 1.1C in that period, and many nations have suffered the consequences.
In the final hours of the summit, a plan to approve the COP26 text was thrown off track when India and China objected to the phrase about the “phase out” of unabated coal power, referring to power plants that do not capture carbon dioxide emissions, as well as all fossil fuel subsidies.
After a huddle between the US, EU and China, a compromise was reached on a pledge to phase “down” rather than phase “out” coal.