The Latest: Independent analysis still sees warming too high

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) - The Latest on the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow:

GLASGOW, Scotland - Efforts leading up to and in climate talks have trimmed a couple tenths of a degree off future warming, but still not near enough to reach any of the international goals, according to an analysis by an authoritative independent group of scientists.

Climate Action Tracker, which for years has monitored nations' emission cutting pledges, said based on those submitted targets the world is now on track to warm 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times by the end of this century. That's a far cry from the 2015 Paris climate deal overarching limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees) or even its fall-back limit of 2 degrees Celsius.

The world has already warmed 1.1 to 1.2 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.

Given what's been pledged 'œwe are likely to be in that area 2.4 degrees, which is still catastrophic climate change and far, far away from the goals of the Paris Agreement,'ť said climate scientist Niklas Hohne of the New Climate Institute and the Climate Action Tracker. And his group's estimate is more optimistic than a United Nations Environment Program update Tuesday that has future warming still at 2.5 to 2.7 degrees.

Hohne's group also looked at how much warming there would be if other, less firm national promises were put into effect. If all the submitted national targets and other promises that have a bit of the force of law are included, future warming drops down to 2.1 degrees.

And in the 'œoptimistic scenario'ť if all the net-zero pledges for mid-century are taken into account - and they have little substance in them - warming would be 1.8 degrees, Hohne said. That's the same figure as the International Energy Agency came up with for that optimistic scenario and a tenth of a degree warmer than an independent Australian climate scientist calculated.

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GLASGOW, Scotland - Countries must come together urgently to find political consensus on issues like the promise of money from rich countries for poor countries to combat climate change or to adapt to climate shocks, says Alok Sharma, who is chairing the two-week climate talks in Glasgow.

'œWe have only a few days left,'ť he said.

Sharma said that the commitments made by countries in the first week of the talks narrowed the gap but weren't enough. He said that countries now have to shift immediately to making good on those promises.

He said that with the commitments the world is bending the curve to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius. 'œBut of course, that isn't good enough,'ť he said, reiterating that the target for these talks was to try to ensure that warming is less than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Archie Young, the U.K.'s lead negotiator, said that there have been three main areas where there have been disagreements during the negotiations: a mechanism for helping countries with the losses they suffer from climate change, how the progress on countries' own climate targets would be tracked and the support that poor countries need to become more transparent.

But Sharma maintained that there remained an 'œopportunity to succeed,'ť adding that the transition to a zero-carbon economy isn't just possible technologically. 'œIt is economically attractive, and it's accelerating everywhere. And if we successfully manage this, we deliver immense benefits for the world.'ť

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GLASGOW, Scotland - A United Nations analysis of the latest national climate pledges indicates the ongoing U.N. talks in Glasgow made 'œsome serious toddler steps'ť toward cutting emissions but far from the giant leaps needed to limit global warming to internationally accepted goals.

United Nations Environment Programme Director Inger Andersen said Tuesday that the new analysis found that the commitments from the last week weren't enough to trim future warming scenarios and reduced the 'œemissions gap'ť by a few tenths of a percentage point.

Pledges from countries to curb emissions would cut 8 billion metric tons out of the 55 billion metric tons that need to be eliminated to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. That's the goal of the 2015 Paris climate accord.

'œThere's some serious toddler steps,'ť Andersen said in an interview with The Associated Press a few minutes after the analysis was finished. 'œBut they are not the leaps we need to see by any stretch of the imagination.'ť

Andersen acknowledged that none of the three main U.N. goals for the two-week climate talks have been achieved so far. The goals are cutting greenhouse gas emissions by about half by 2030, securing $100 billion a year in aid from rich countries to poor nations because of climate change, and having half of that money go for developing nations to adapt to global warming's worst harms.

'œNo, we're not done yet. We still have a couple of days,'ť Andersen said. 'œAnd so we're certainly from our side, from the United Nations side, we're going to try to hold everyone's feet to the fire.'ť

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GLASGOW, Scotland - Denmark has come out on top, more or less, of a regular review tracking countries' efforts to combat climate change.

Thanks to its ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Nordic country bumped Sweden off the top in the ranking published by Germanwatch and the New Climate Institute.

But Denmark's performance was still only good enough for fourth place. The non-governmental organizations said none of the 64 countries reviewed met all conditions for a place on the winners' podium.

Morocco, Chile and India were the top countries outside of Europe, taking places 8 to 10 respectively.

Germany, Europe's biggest economy, was ranked 13th, while the United States came in 55th place, one ahead of Russia.

The U.S. was weighed down by its heavy reliance on fossil fuels, high emissions and energy use per capita, the groups said, but gained six places since the last ranking was published for announcing more ambitious climate targets.

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GLASGOW, Scotland - U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for putting women and girls at the center of efforts to fight climate change, saying they are disproportionately affected by the impacts of a warming planet.

Pelosi is leading a delegation of congressional Democrats to the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow this week to send a message that the United States has rejoined international initiatives to curb climate change after the Trump years.

Global warming 'œis a threat multiplier, amplifying and accelerating existing inequities in our economies and societies,'ť Pelosi said during a Tuesday meeting focused on gender and climate change.

A report by the U.N. Development Program has estimated that 80% of those displaced by climate change are women.

Pelosi said a a $1.85 trillion package of measures focused on health, family and climate change reflected the Biden administration's goal to 'œbuild back better with women.'ť Democratic holdouts have the bill currently stalled in Congress.

Echoing President Joe Biden, Pelosi said: 'œAmerica is back together for the planet, for the women, for our children'ť

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LONDON - The leader of one of England's few Green Party-run local councils has apologized for taking a plane to the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

Phelim Mac Cafferty, who heads the Brighton and Hove City Council, flew from London to Glasgow, Scotland where he made a speech. He also attended a large Saturday protest where participants urged world leaders to act urgently to curb carbon emissions.

Brighton, a city on England's south coast, is about 460 miles (740 kilometers) from Glasgow, or around six hours by train.

Mac Cafferty told The Argus newspaper in his home city that the decision to fly 'œwas a major failure of my judgement which goes against my political group's pledges and principles, and I unreservedly apologize.'ť

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GLASGOW, Scotland - U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought her climate-celebrity star power to the U.N. climate talks, saying she hopes to see the United States reestablish itself as a world leader in the fight against global warming.

Asked if she had a message to young activists who have pressed governments to cut climate-damaging fossil fuel pollution, Ocasio-Cortez told reporters inside the conference site: 'œWell, I would say, '~Stay in the streets. Keep pushing.''ť

Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat elected to Congress in 2018 on a platform of greatly ramping up U.S. efforts to cut emissions and otherwise deal with Earth's warming, was accompanying a delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Members had their first morning at the Glasgow, Scotland talks on Tuesday.

'œOne of the things we want to achieve is ensuring that the United States really reestablishes itself as a leader, and drives down our emissions,'ť Ocasio-Cortez told reporters. 'œAnd to encourage our partners to do the same.'ť

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LONDON - Britain is investing some 210 million pounds ($285 million) in small nuclear reactor research as the government seeks alternatives to fossil fuels amid fears over rising gas prices.

The investment, which will be matched with some 250 million pounds($340 million) from the private sector, comes amid hope the small modular reactors could be in use by the 2030s. Such reactors would have the potential to be less expensive and more easily moved, supporters say.

The recipient of the government funds, Rolls-Royce SMR, estimates that each small modular reactor it hopes to build could be capable of powering 1 million homes.

'œThis is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the U.K. to deploy more low-carbon energy than ever before and ensure greater energy independence,'' Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said.

Interest in atomic power has grown along with concerns that the world is reducing greenhouse gas emissions too slowly. But environmentalists have long eschewed nuclear power, citing the lingering issue of what to do with nuclear waste.

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BERLIN - Environmental group Greenpeace says it filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen alleging that the automaker has failed to do its part to fulfill the goal of limiting global warming.

Greenpeace said it filed the suit Tuesday at the regional court in Braunschweig, Germany. It said it acted after Volkswagen late last month rejected its demand for a legal commitment to phase out vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2030.

The group said the plaintiffs are 'œasserting civil liability claims for the protection of their personal liberties, health and property rights." The claims take a cue from a May ruling in which a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% by 2030 compared to the 2019 level.

Greenpeace said that by suing Volkswagen, it is enforcing an April ruling by Germany's top court that said the government must set clear goals for reducing emissions after 2030. The court said the legislation at the time risked placing too much of a burden for curbing climate change on younger generations.

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LONDON - Environmental groups are pressing the British government not to approve drilling in an undersea oilfield north of Scotland, saying it threatens marine species and will add to global warming.

Siccar Point Energy, in which oil company Shell has a stake, wants to extract oil from the Cambo field, west of the Shetland Islands.

A collection of 16 marine protection and climate groups, including Greenpeace U.K., WWF U.K., the Marine Conservation Society and Friends of the Earth, are urging the British government to refuse the application.

The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide says pipelines to export oil from the area could jeopardize hundreds of species, including rare deep-sea sponges, known and ocean quahogs, a type of clam, in a part of the ocean designated a Marine Protected Area.

Plans for new oil extraction and a proposed new coal mine in northern England are overshadowing U.K. government efforts to persuade other countries to take stronger action to cut carbon emissions at the ongoing United Nations climate conference in Glasgow.

The British government says U.K. oil and gas regulators will make the decision, after an environmental impact assessment and a public consultation.

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