London [UK]: The chairman of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) bloc, Sonam Wangdi, on Wednesday said that progress at the UN Conference on Climate Change or COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, has been “disappointing,” and even “frightening” so far, as he claimed that they are getting very little money from the USD 100 billion per year climate fund. “So far, the progress here is disappointing and, in a way, also frightening,” Wangdi, who is also the secretary of the National Environment Commission for the government of Bhutan, said at a press conference. The official pointed out that the 46 countries comprising the LCD group have contributed the least to climate change, but one in ten of the one billion people living in them is affected by it. “So, our lives depend on decisions that are made here in Glasgow, decisions that are made during COP26,” he stressed. Wangdi complained, however, that despite Glasgow’s meeting being the 26th climate summit, carbon emissions are still increasing and the $100 billion per year commitment to help poor countries tackle climate change made a decade ago has not been delivered. “We are still not clear about what is happening with the USD 100 billion, but what we know is that we are getting very little,” he said. Asked about pledges to pour more money to reduce carbon emissions, halt deforestation and limit global warming to 1,5 degrees made by world leaders in the high-level segment of the COP26, the LDC chairman said “pledges are one thing, but we would like to see the evidence.” He said that such evidence should come in the form of new and objective Nationally Determined Contributions to reduce greenhouse emissions and long-term strategies showing the path towards carbon neutrality.
