Climate change – Five key takeaways from COP27
A new funding arrangement on loss and damage has been hailed as a “historic moment” and can be seen as the most important climate advance since the Paris Agreement at COP 2015.
For decades the victims of a changing climate were the ghosts the richer world just couldn’t see.
Money has long been available to cut carbon or help countries adapt to rising temperatures - but there was nothing for those who had lost everything.
“For someone who has seen his home disappear in the floods in Pakistan, a solar panel or a sea wall isn’t much use,” explained Harjeet Singh from the Climate Action Network.
The COP27 decision on loss and damage won’t fix that immediately.
The fund comes with many unknowns. What will be the criteria to trigger a payout? Where will the money come from, and will it be enough?
Compare the EU’s $60 million contribution against the $30bn costs that Pakistan faces.
For many countries, the last hours of the negotiation represent a real step backwards in the fight against rising temperatures.
While the loss and damage text represented a big win, the overall cover decision is being seen as a missed opportunity in the fight against climate change.
The man who ran the COP26 negotiations in Glasgow put it bluntly.
“Emissions peaking before 2025, as the science tells us is necessary. Not in this text,” said Alok Sharma.
There’s a fifty-fifty chance over the next five years that we’ll go over this important marker of temperature increases, compared to pre-industrial times. We’re likely to pass it permanently by 2031.
But at COP27, the EU and other developed countries were willing to die on the hill of strengthening the promise to keep 1.5C alive.
Their efforts were ultimately in vain as the cover text failed to include a reference to the phasing out of all fossil fuels, seen as a necessary advance on last year’s decision to phase down the use of coal.
“I wish we got fossil fuel phase out,” said Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, the Climate Envoy of the Marshall Islands, who along with other island states fear annihilation if temperatures rise above 1.5C.
One key takeaway from COP27 was the presence and power of fossil fuel - be they delegates or countries.
Attendees connected to the oil and gas industry were everywhere. Some 636 were part of country delegations and trade teams.
The crammed pavilions felt at times like a fossil fuel trade fair. This influence was clearly reflected in the final text.
The undoubted darling of the COP was Brazil’s president-elect Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva.
Just as he did in Copenhagen in 2009, Mr Lula electrified the conference with his promise of zero deforestation by 2030.
More than his commitment to the Amazon, Mr Lula restored people’s faith in the power of the ballot box to solve the climate problem.
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