It's Energy Day at COP26. Follow our live updates and find out how climate negotiators are working on phasing out fossil fuels.
It's Energy Day at COP26 and negotiators are switching their focus to how the world can ditch fossil fuels.
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It has kicked off with a major announcement: late on Wednesday, over 20 countries committed for the first time to phase out and not build or invest in new coal power.
The deal comes after Finance Day delivered pledges for trillions of cash, not just from governments but from the world's biggest financial players.
This liveblog will be updated throughout the day
Here is what you need to know as Day 4 wraps up at the UN climate conference:
The coal deal was hailed as a "milestone" by the UK's summit organisers. But the biggest polluters, notably China, have so far failed to sign up.
Civil society groups say the coal pledges are "good but not enough."
Poland reversed its commitment to exit coal by 2030 hours after signing it.
Carbon pollution has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new study.
The UN launched a new report warning urgent financing is needed for climate change adaptation.
Indonesia has backpedalled on its commitment to end deforestation by 2030 after signing up to a landmark deal along with over 100 other countries.
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Poland reverses pledge to exit coal by 2030
“With the ink of her signature not even dry on today’s 2030’s coal phase-out commitment at COP26, Polish minister Anna Moskwa has underscored that her government cannot be trusted to sign a postcard, let alone a responsible climate pledge,” said Kathrin Gutmann, Europe Beyond Coal campaign director.
The country has chosen to "publicly isolate itself, insisting on a timeline where it has to go to extraordinary lengths to keep coal alive to 2049, given the dire economics of coal in Europe," Gutmann added.
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Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar said the pledge to end deforestation was "false and misleading", stressing that the statement on the deal was released before the end of talks.
“She should be at the vanguard of ensuring all Indonesian citizens can enjoy their right to an intact and healthy environment as mandated in the Indonesian Constitution."
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The International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organisation, launched a new report forecasting that global warming could be limited to 1.8C if -- and that's a big if -- all COP26 pledges to date were fulliflled.
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Indonesia backpedals on pledge to end deforestation by 2030
Two senior government officials denied that Indonesia had made a formal commitment to completely end deforestation by 2030.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar said the pledge to end deforestation was "false and misleading", stressing that the statement on the deal was released before the end of talks.
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Poland, Ukraine among countries setting earlier deadlines for ending coal use
Poland is the second-biggest user of coal in Europe after Germany. It had previously planned to end coal use by 2049 but under new COP26 pledges, Warsaw will bring this deadline forward by at least a decade.
Ukraine, the third-biggest coal consumer in Europe, is also bringing forward its coal deadline, from 2050 to 2035.
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"The joint statement unites some of the largest historic providers of public finance for fossil fuels — Canada, the United States, the UK and the European Investment Bank (EIB). However, other large financiers have yet to join them," said 350.org.
"Laggards include Japan ($10.9 bn/yr), Korea ($10.6 bn/yr), and China ($7.6 bn/yr), which are the largest providers of international public fossil fuel finance in the G20 and together account for 46% of G20 and MDB finance for fossil fuels. Italy ($2.8 bn/yr) and Spain ($1.9 bn/yr), some of the biggest EU fossil fuel financiers, are also missing."
The umbrella of climate groups also said private investments had to be regulated and that all fossil fuels -- not just coal -- had to be ditched.
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Global carbon emissions return to near pre-pandemic levels, says study
euronewsCarbon emissions all over the world are going back to 2019 levels after dropping by 5.4% during the pandemic.40 countries commit to phasing out coal
Separately, the statement also said that Chile and Singapore have joined a UK-led alliance on phasing out coal that includes over 150 countries and businesses such as HSBC and NatWest bank