COP27 concluded on Sunday 20 November with the almost 200 participants agreeing to a landmark decision through which developed countries would set up a fund to pay “loss and damage” compensation to developing countries. The poorer countries are the worst hit by climate change. They need funds to cope with climate change consequences such as rising temperatures and sea levels, actions they never initiated or are responsible for, yet were inflicted on them by emissions generated by the developed world.
Together for implementation
Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Foreign Minister and President of COP27, held at the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, said that the agreement embodied the conference slogan: “Together for implementation.” The deal puts all climate related issues into an implementation framework, Mr Shoukry said, noting that Egypt, as president of this year’s talks, would continue to push forward climate action.
As reported by Reuters, Frédéric Gagnon-Lebrun, director of climate policy, finance and carbon markets at Swiss carbon finance consultancy South Pol commented: “For the ‘loss and damage’ fund to have a true social and climate impact, we need clarity on how it will be funded, how disbursement will happen without bureaucratic bottlenecks, and we cannot let that funding be a point of contention.”
Developing countries had fought a full 27 years to reach an agreement that would get rich countries to help foot the bill for “loss and damage” caused by global warming. The arduous negotiations around the issue caused COP27 to miss its Friday 18 November deadline and stretch into the early hours of Sunday morning on 20 November. Applause broke out at the conference as the historic fund was approved over on Saturday 19 November, following negotiations that had run through the night. Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman described the fund as “a downpayment and investment in climate justice.”
Critics, however, say the COP27 UN summit did not go far enough on cutting the emissions that cause climate change. The fund, they say, helps poor countries battered by climate disasters, but does not boost efforts to tackle the emissions causing these disasters. UN Secretary General António Guterres said COP27 did not address the need for drastic reductions in emissions, and the planet is still “in the emergency room”.
BBC Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt said that “the Egyptian hosts of this UN climate conference have achieved something extraordinary in addressing this issue which has been a cause of conflict since these talks first began 30 years ago.” But he also said that “they had not raised ambition on tackling the root cause of climate change: the greenhouse gas emissions warming our planet.”
Shattered hopes
According to Mr Shoukry, the Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda introduced by Egypt during the two-week COP27 summit represented another action plan to limit warming to 1.5 degree Celsius. That limit was endorsed by COP26 in Glasgow last year, and is the limit recommended by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement signed by 195 countries. The agreement committed to maintaining the global temperature rise to “well below” 2C, and to attempt to limit it to 1.5C, the degree above which climate related disasters are sure to ravage the planet. Today, global temperature increase stands at 1.1C, and is set to rise if no action is taken.
At Glasgow, there was agreement to “phase down” the use of coal; this year there were hopes to also phase down oil and gas, the fossil fuels that are major contributors to climate change
However, COP27 committed to more “low emissions” energy alongside renewable power as the energy sources of the future. But this raised concerns that it might represent a backdoor through which cleaner fossil fuels such as gas may be pushed.
UN’s António Guterres said: “We need to drastically reduce emissions now; this is an issue this COP did not address.
“A fund for loss and damage is essential, but it’s not an answer if the climate crisis washes a small island State off the map, or turns an entire African country to desert.
The world still needs a giant leap on climate ambition.”
“Not in this text”
Commenting on the loss and damage deal approval despite having no agreement for tougher emissions reductions, a visibly upset German Climate Secretary Jennifer Morgan said: “We went with the agreement here because we want to stand with the most vulnerable,” meaning achievement of climate justice.
“It is more than frustrating to see overdue steps on mitigation and the phase-out of fossil energies being stonewalled by a number of large emitters and oil producers,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.
Instead of “phasing out” fossil fuels, COP27 called on countries to take steps towards “the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies,” as agreed at the COP26 Glasgow summit.
According to a disappointed Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Union, “this is the make or break decade, but what we have in front of us is not enough of a step forward for people and planet.
“I urge you to acknowledge when you walk out of this room, that we have all fallen short in actions to avoid and minimise loss and damage. We should have done much more, our citizens expect us to lead.”
As to UK’s Alok Sharma who had presided over last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, her remarks expressed utmost frustration. “Not in this text,” she said, “Clear follow through on the phase down of coal. Not in this text. A clear commitment to phase out all fossil fuels. Not in this text. And the energy text weakened in the final minutes.”
What’s in it for Egypt?
Egypt’s Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad urged everyone at COP27 to work to change the erroneous concept that transition into green economy hinders growth, saying that it could lead to direct economic gains worth some 26 trillion dollars until 2030, and provide more than 65 million low-carbon new jobs.
The African continent will witness huge social and economic change by 2050 as the population goes through an expected increase from 1.2 billion to 2.5 billion, she said.
Egypt was able to consolidate its African role through the USD150 million package pledged at COP27 by the US in support of African countries to address the consequences of climate change.
A number of Egyptian initiatives were launched, among them the Sustainable Cities initiative that, according to Ms Fouad, would maintain the balance between decarbonisation and adaptation.
A few days earlier, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly launched the voluntary carbon market platform from the Egyptian Pavilion at the COP27 Blue Zone, with participation by the private sector. The Environment Minister said the platform would ensure more commitment from the private sector to confront climate change and accelerate low-carbon practices.
At COP27, the EU and Egypt took a further step to boost their long-term cooperation on clean energy transition by establishing a strategic partnership on renewable hydrogen and preparing the ground for a just energy transition in Egypt. They signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a strategic partnership on renewable hydrogen, also a Joint Statement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Rania El Mashat, announced the European Commission’s contribution of up to 35 million Euros in support of Egypt’s Energy Wealth Initiative.
Green economy
Egypt secured several financing packages during COP27. US President Joe Biden announced that the US, along with Germany and the EU, pledged USD500 million to finance Egypt’s transition to clean energy. Egypt also signed USD83 billion worth of agreements in the renewable energy field—solar and wind energy, and green hydrogen—during the summit.
COP27 also delivered 15 million Euros to protect Egypt’s coral reefs.
Fakhri al-Fiqi, head of the Egyptian parliamentary Planning and Budget Committee, said that the economic returns from hosting the climate conference will be reflected in macroeconomic indicators such as growth, job opportunities, low inflation rates and public debt.
Mr Fiqi pointed out that green investments would help further transform the Egyptian economy into a green economy, and can be used to reduce Egypt’s external debt through debt swap.
Watani International
21 November 2022