With just one day remaining until COP27 in Sharm el-Sheihk concludes, a 20-page draft of the conference document falls woefully short of addressing the hopes and demands of developing and climate-vulnerable regions, climate activists, and other nongovernmental officials in attendance.
Instead, the draft, which though certain to see numerous alterations over the next few days, is a milquetoast document whose one accomplishlment is maintaining the commitment not to exceed a global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees C as set forth in the Paris Agreement.
“As climate impacts and injustice accelerate, lives, livelihoods, cultures and even whole countries are lost, the latest draft cover note from the COP27 Presidency pushes the pedal to the metal on the highway to climate hell,” Yeb Saño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement.
The climate talks, which began November 6, promised to be “an African COP”, with a focus on implementation of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and progress made on climate finance for the most vulnerable regions in the world.
"This was intended to be a COP for implementation, where governments could showcase their progress and commit to significant new climate finance, action and targets, but that is not what we have seen," said Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF global climate and energy lead, in a statement.
Axios reports on what is missing from the COP27 document.
- On climate damages, which concern the significant toll global warming is already taking in the countries that did the least to cause the problem, the document does note “deep concern towards the significant financial costs associated with loss and damage.”
- However, talks between industrialized countries and developing nations over establishing a fund to pay for climate damages are bogged down, which led to placeholder language about a possible fund for compensating countries for climate damages.
- Wording on fossil fuels and specifics on payments for "loss and damage" are two of the most contentious and still-unresolved topics.
Another concern is that the phasing out of fossil fuels is not in the draft document, which remains aligned with Glasgow Climate Pact in limiting phase-out to only coal. Failure to reach agreement on this topic would be a disappointment to India, the EU, the US, and small island states.
“We came to Sharm el-Sheikh to demand real action on meeting and exceeding climate finance and adaptation commitments, a phase out of all fossil fuels and for rich countries to pay for the loss and damage done to the most vulnerable communities within developing countries by agreeing a Loss and Damage Finance Fund,” Saño said.
“None of that is on offer in this draft. Climate Justice will not be served if this sets the bar for a COP27 outcome.” www.greenpeace.org/...
In the lead up to COP27, Egypt had promised that the conference would focus on Africa, which contributes less than 4.8% of global GHGs yet has disproportionately been impacted by the effects of a changing climate. Hopes were dashed early on when a request to include Africa’s “special needs and circumstances” on the official agenda were denied.
“The bad news is, it’s off the agenda,” said Peter Osano, director of the Stockholm Environment Institute’s Africa Center. “But it’s very complicated, because other parts of the world – especially small island states, developing countries – everybody is kind of having a special circumstance when it comes to climate.”
Climate finance and transitioning to clean energy were also potential agenda items for many African countries cojming into the COP, Osano said.
Carolyn Kimeu writes in The Guardian:
It’s still acceptable in the US to question anthropogenic climate change, with some denying that the climate is changing, or dismissing the scientifically proven consequences of it. But you’ll rarely find a climate denier in east Africa. Most people have either witnessed or been affected by extreme weather events.
- snip -
Every week, I see at least one story on how the drought in the north of Kenya is pushing millions of people towards starvation, and it is a devastating story to cover. The situation there mirrors what’s happening in much of the Horn of Africa, which is facing its worst drought in decades. Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo have all faced deadly flooding this year, displacing thousands. The situation is far worse in south Sudan, where last month, record rains flooded two-thirds of the country.
The US has faced fires, hurricanes and cyclones. But it’s very obvious that the capacities of governments in the global north to respond to these emergencies are far greater than those in the global south can muster. The US government can send huge rescue and support efforts in climate emergencies such as Hurricane Ian, with thousands of responders and tens of millions of dollars in support for affected families. It’s absolutely right – but it’s impossible for most developing country’s governments.