Breakthrough with a caveat

The COP27 was held in Sharm-al-Shaikh, Egypt, from November 6-20, 2022. The conference was the second conference being held in the aftermath of the terrible COVID-19 pandemic. To add to that, there were trade wars going on, primarily between the USA and China, and Russia had invaded Ukraine in February 2022. There was also an urgency among the climate governance community because average temperature had risen by 1.1 degrees Celsius. Not only that, the impact of climate change was manifesting itself in the worst possible ways, such as extreme heat, erratic rainfall and droughts and floods. While the conference was mainly related to process and implementation issues, the three main issues on the table were: the road to net-zero and to keep the target of 1.5 degrees Celsius ‘within reach’, the raising of long-term finance of USD 100 billion for developing countries, and the loss and damage issue for especially vulnerable countries. Continuing with the practice of having a World Leaders’ Summit, the COP27 featured the Sharm El-Sheikh Implementation Summit, where over 100 Heads of State and Government attended.

Discussions

One of the early wins at COP27 was the decision to protect the most vulnerable nations. It may be recalled that no decision on loss and damage was taken at COP26, and was left for future conferences to negotiate. The groundwork for a positive outcome on loss and damage had been done even before the summit began, when the Special US Envoy on Climate Change, John Kerry, and German Foreign Minister, Annalina Baerboack, agreed to discuss the financing of loss and damage to vulnerable countries as a result of extreme climate change events. Even after this, developed countries continued to drag their feet over the inclusion of loss and damage in the agenda for discussions. Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, urged countries to take loss and damage seriously and come to a concrete agreement in the conference. In her speech, she stated: “I don’t need to repeat that this is the COP that needs action; all of us as a chorus have said that. I don’t need to repeat the horror and the devastation wreaked upon this Earth over the course of the last 12 months since we met in Glasgow [for COP26]; whether the apocalyptic floods in Pakistan, or the heatwaves from Europe to China, or indeed in the last few days in my own region, the devastation caused in Belize by tropical storm Lisa, or the torrential floods a few days ago in St Lucia. […] We have the collective capacity to transform; we are in the country that built the Pyramids; we know what it is to remove slavery from our civilisation; we know what it is to be able to find a vaccine within two years when a pandemic hits us [COVID-19]; we know what it is to put a man on the Moon and now we’re putting a rover on Mars. We know what it is, but the simple political will that is necessary, not just to come here and make promises, but to deliver on them and to make a definable difference on the lives of the people that we have a responsibility to serve, seems still not to be capable to be produced. […] The global south remains at the mercy of the global north on these issues. […] This world looks still too much like when it was part of an imperialistic empire. The global north borrows at interest rates of between 1 and 4 per cent; the global south at 14 per cent. And, then we wonder why the just energy partnerships are not working.”

At the end of discussions, the Sharm-al-Shaikh implementation Plan was adopted. Some of the important decisions in the Plan were:

• Loss and damage: It was agreed that countries that were especially vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change would be financially compensated. A Loss and Damage Fund was established for this purpose, and the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage operationalised.
• Mitigation: It was agreed that the mitigation ambition would be scaled up and countries would raise ambition on emissions reductions before 2030. This would be reflected in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and align with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Furthermore, sectors such as energy, transport, and agriculture were highlighted for targeted decarbonisation efforts.
• Adaptation: A Global Goal on Adaptation, or GGA, was set up and global adaptation targets were set for 2030 which would enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability. This would be driven by the High Level Champions (who were people appointed to help countries raise their ambitions in their NDCs) and the Marrakech Partnership (a group that works to implement the Paris Agreement by helping collaboration between governments and cities and investors).
• Coal power: The decision in COP26 to phase down thermal power from coal and do away with fuel subsidies was reaffirmed.
• Just transition: It was agreed that all efforts would be made to ensure that the transition to a low-carbon economy is equitable and inclusive, providing support for workers and communities affected by the shift away from fossil fuels.
• Climate finance: It was agreed that developed countries would be urged to provide USD 100 billion annually by 2020 to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change. It was also agreed that financial flows to support the transition to a low-carbon economy and enhance resilience to climate impacts would be scaled up.
• Global stocktake: The first stocktake to review the decisions taken in the implementation of the Paris Agreement was held during COP27, whereby NDCs were evaluated and gaps identified.
• Carbon markets: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement dealing with the development of carbon markets and trading of carbon credits was discussed in great detail. It was agreed that rules to avoid double counting and ensuring that real emissions reductions occurred, would be framed.
• Civil society and private sector involvement: It was agreed that non-government actors such as NGOs and private sector corporations would participate increasingly in the climate action effort.

Conclusion

COP27 will be remembered for the agreement on the Loss and Damage Fund, which was a hard-fought win and came after 30 years of negotiations. The developed countries also came around after sustained pressure from Small Island States and the G77 group of developing countries. As Simon Steill, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary commented: “This outcome moves us forward; we have determined a way forward on a decades-long conversation on funding for loss and damage – deliberating over how we address the impacts on communities whose lives and livelihoods have been ruined by the very worst impacts of climate change.” However, this win on loss and damage perhaps came at the expense of ambition in mitigation measures. The ambition levels for emissions reductions, particularly the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming target, was diluted. Alok Sharma, the COP26 President and UK Climate Secretary, who had worked hard to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius alive, was disappointed. He commented: “I said in Glasgow that the pulse of 1.5 degrees was weak. Unfortunately, it remains on life support. And all of us need to look ourselves in the mirror and consider (whether) we have fully risen to that challenge in the past two weeks.” The fight against climate change was getting tougher as time went by, and the next Conference had much to achieve.

The writer is Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Mass Education Extension and Library Services and Department of Cooperation, Government of West Bengal