How a dispute over coal nearly sank the Glasgow Climate Pact

Alok Sharma, the president of the U.N. climate conference in Scotland, had convened the final meeting of representatives from nearly 200 countries to deliver the Glasgow Climate Pact, a deal meant to ensure the world still has a chance to avert the worst impacts of global warming. As envoys prepared to take their seats to adopt the accord on Saturday night, an unresolved dispute over coal threatened to derail it, and most of the people in the room had no idea. China, India, and other developing nations rich in coal reserves were threatening to scupper the deal over language that asked governments to "Phase out" their use of coal, a demand they considered unfair and damaging to their hopes of economic growth. U.S. special climate envoy John Kerry had been working the room and caught wind of the issue while chatting with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua. "You're supposed to be phasing out coal over the next 20 years, you just signed an agreement with us," Kerry told Xie as they stood together in the buzzing plenary hall. Despite withering criticism from nations ranging from Switzerland to Mexico, who were concerned a "Phase down" would open the door to endless coal use, none were willing to leave Glasgow without a deal. For Kerry, who helped to broker it, it was the one that held the Glasgow Climate Pact together.