COP27 needed an extra day to reach an agreement on the creation of a compensation fund for the poorest countries that are victims of climatic conditions exacerbated by the pollution of rich countries. “Agreement has been reached on the creation of this specific fund for vulnerable countries,” a source, who requested anonymity, said yesterday. Initially, this conference was planned to end on Friday, but it was decided that the nearly 200 delegations would work one more day to leave Egypt with an understanding to present to the world, thus avoiding the failure of this meeting .
The Egyptian presidency of COP27 circulated a new draft of the final communiqué to delegations early yesterday afternoon, after a night of intense negotiations. This new text was presented after a European ultimatum, denouncing an “unacceptable setback”. The European Union would rather have “no deal than a bad deal,” European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said in Sharm El-Sheikh yesterday morning.
According to the European representatives, the Egyptian presidency wanted to provoke a withdrawal from the commitment of the almost 200 member states of the COP to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “The vast majority of the parties indicated that they consider the text to be balanced and to be able to lead to a consensus,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who chaired COP27, responded shortly afterwards.
The proposed final text confirms the goals of the Paris Agreement, which aim to limit global warming to an average temperature “well below 2°C” compared to the pre-industrial era and, if possible, to 1.5°C, emphasizing that the impact of climate change will be significant if the variation is 1.5°C. “We are not here to make any statements, but to keep the 1.5°C target alive,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had already said.
As for compensation to be given to countries already affected by climate change – which required the creation of a fund 30 years ago – the document proposes to “establish new forms of finance to help developing countries” to “create new and additional”. But also the “establishment of a damage control fund”, the operation and financing of which will have to be worked out by a “transitional committee” at COP28 until the end of 2023.
Rich countries have resisted the idea of dedicated funding for years, but the EU set a precedent on Thursday by accepting the principle of a “loss and damage response fund” reserved for “the most vulnerable” with “a broad base of taxpayers”. , implying that China, which has become richer over the past 30 years, must also contribute.
Ecologists had expected more
This draft agreement disappointed environmentalists, for whom the text virtually reproduces the last document presented at last year’s COP in Glasgow. “While the text emphasizes the need to urgently increase renewables through a just transition to reach the 1.5°C threshold, it does not go beyond the Glasgow Pact statements on coal phasing out and ending fossil fuel subsidies is inefficient,” said Sven Harmeling, climate advocate and policy expert at Climate Action Network Europe.
Greenpeace, on the other hand, “called on EU countries to urge the presidency to include a conclusion on the phasing out of coal, gas and oil”.
In the parts related to financing action or climate adaptation, NGOs believe that the new proposal is even weaker. Because, they argue, there is no step-by-step plan for doubling adaptation funding by 2025.
Source: DN
