Climate justice - and cash - shadow UN talks

Tens of thousands of people marched in Glasgow Saturday demanding more action from governments

Developing nations accused richer countries of bargaining with the lives of billions of people on the climate crisis frontline Monday, blasting insufficient commitments as COP26 talks enter their final week with trust in short supply.

Countries remain starkly divided on key issues at the UN meeting, including how rapidly the world curbs carbon emissions and how to ramp up support for countries already battered by storms, floods and drought intensified by global heating.

Countries are in Glasgow to work out how to implement the Paris Agreement's goals of limiting temperature rises to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius.

These include pushing for more ambitious national carbon reduction plans, providing a long-promised $100 billion annually to developing nations and rules governing carbon markets.

He urged "strong commitments" from delegates at the UN talks, calling for faster emissions cuts. 

- 'All countries playing hardball' -

He said the Paris Agreement of 2015 had made important progress, but stressed that the deal was just the beginning. 

Earlier, COP26 President Alok Sharma said the first week of technical negotiations had "already concluded some important issues that will drive accelerated climate action". 

"We have a lot of work to do across all issues that remain," said Britain's chief negotiator Archie Young.   

"All countries are playing hardball," Stephen Leonard, climate law and policy specialist and veteran COP observer told AFP. 

- Some progress -

Its first week saw around 100 nations commit to slash their emissions of methane -- a powerful greenhouse gas -- by at least 30 percent by 2030. 

Experts said these announcements, along with countries' latest emissions-cutting pledges, could have a real impact on future temperature rises.

To limit warming to 1.5C, they must fall 45 percent this decade. 

Dozens of nations have signed up to a COP26 initiative to end their use of coal -- the most polluting fossil fuel -- within decades, including major users South Korea and Vietnam.

Major exporter Australia, which also declined to join the initiative, said Monday it would continue to sell coal for "decades into the future".

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