COP27 draft climate deal published but gaps remain

THE DOCUMENT, WHICH FORMS THE OVERALL POLITICAL DEAL FOR COP27, WILL NEED APPROVAL FROM NEARLY 200 COUNTRIES AT THE SUMMIT IN EGYPT

SHARM EL SHEIKH: The UN climate agency on Saturday published an updated draft of a proposed final agreement for the COP27 summit, fleshing out some key parts of the deal countries are struggling to reach.

The document, which forms the overall political deal for COP27, would need approval from the nearly 200 countries at the climate summit in Egypt. Negotiators will spend the next few hours studying the texts and deciding whether they can back them. The so-called ‘cover decision’ sits alongside a host of other agreements still subject to intense negotiation a day after the summit was due to have closed.

The draft contained only a partial text on the contentious issue of “loss and damage” payments to countries hit by climate-driven disasters. It left a placeholder in the section for funding arrangements on loss and damage where text could be added later if countries reach agreement.

In line with earlier iterations, the draft did not contain a reference requested by India and some other delegations to phasing down use of “all fossil fuels”. It instead referred to a phase down of coal only, as agreed at last year’s summit.

In an attempt to close the yawning gap between current climate pledges and the far deeper cuts needed to avert disastrous climate change, the draft requests that countries which have not yet done so upgrade their 2030 emissions cutting targets by the end of 2023.

Earlier, on November 17, Egypt’s COP27 presidency had published a non-paper or an unofficial draft of what would become the cover decision text (negotiated document) at the United Nations Climate Conference in Sharm El Sheikh. The draft was published following overnight work to reflect the needs and demands of the parties. The 20-page text retains the distinction between rich and poor nations, and highlights the Paris Agreement principles of “equity” and “common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR)”, which relates to the fundamental understanding that countries will act as per their national circumstances and respective capabilities.

Previously, negotiations had heated up with developed countries pushing to remove the distinction between developed and developing parties in their obligations on delivering climate finance and mitigating emissions. “We are at crunch time in the negotiations. COP27 is scheduled to close in 24 hours — and the parties remain divided on a number of significant issues,” UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres had said at that time.