Is COP26 headed for failure, as activist Greta Thunberg has claimed? With renewed calls for action, complaints from the poorest countries, and disappointing promises, the summit seems in trouble as it enters the second week of talks.

As the promises multiply, confusion reigns in Glasgow. Some countries, like Australia, are no longer even pretending: the country announced, like China and the United States, that it does not want to get rid of coal-fired power plants, turning its back on the 40 or so countries committed to abandoning coal as soon as possible.

Young climate activists decried world leaders’ lack of ambition during demonstrations organized near the COP26 venue and in other cities.


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