Under pressure for several days, France finally signed a commitment on 12 November to stop financing fossil fuel projects abroad by the end of 2022, on the last day (barring any extensions) of the 26th session of the UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.
Later in the day, Belgium also joined the commitment. Now involving 27 countries (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Albania, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Mali, the Marshall Islands, Moldova, South Sudan, Switzerland, Zambia, the Netherlands, El Salvador, Germany, Sweden, Spain, France and Belgium), this non-binding commitment nevertheless provides for exceptions for “limited and clearly defined circumstances that are consistent with a 1.5°C warming limit and the goals of the Paris Agreement” (see EUROPE 12826/1). (original version in French by Damien Genicot)