Countries agree to create climate damage fund in historic COP27 deal

1 year ago 79

Despite a landmark woody connected concern for ‘loss and damage’, the bundle agreed successful Sharm El Sheikh falls abbreviated connected plans to chopped emissions and leaves country for enlargement of gas

Environment 20 November 2022

By Madeleine Cuff

Delegates astatine the COP27 clime acme successful Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, person agreed to make a planetary “loss and damage” money to supply currency for susceptible nations deed by the impacts of clime change.

After much than 20 years of campaigning by processing countries battered by progressively terrible droughts, storms and different utmost weather, affluent nations yet relented successful the aboriginal hours of 20 November and backed plans for a compensation fund.

Details of however the money volition operate, including the important question of which nations volition contribute, are inactive to beryllium worked out, but activists and delegates from susceptible nations said the statement was a historical triumph for clime justice.

Saleemul Huq astatine the Independent University, Bangladesh has spent decades pushing for a planetary nonaccomplishment and harm agreement. “This has been a request from the astir susceptible countries for a agelong clip and has ever been blocked by the developed countries,” helium says. “This clip each the processing countries were agreed nether the enactment of Pakistan and managed to get the developed countries to yet hold to found the money for addressing nonaccomplishment and harm from human-induced clime change.”

However, the European Union, the UK and different developed nations walked distant from the talks profoundly unhappy with the final outcome. They reason the woody does small to beforehand advancement connected cutting emissions this decennary – and truthful weakens immoderate accidental of limiting warming to 1.5°C supra pre-industrial temperatures, the people acceptable successful the 2015 Paris Agreement.

On 18 November, the EU’s clime argumentation main Frans Timmermans told reporters the bloc was consenting to reverse its presumption and enactment the instauration of a nonaccomplishment and harm fund. Observers said the determination marked a breakthrough that yet paved the mode for the last deal.

But the EU’s compromise connection came with conditions. In instrumentality for backing a nonaccomplishment and harm fund, the EU demanded tougher planetary commitments connected cutting emissions this decennary and phasing retired coal, lipid and state use.

“We request to determination forward, not backwards and each [EU] ministers… are prepared to locomotion distant if we bash not person a effect that does justness to what the satellite is waiting for – namely that we bash thing astir this clime crisis,” helium told reporters astatine the summit.

Yet fewer of those “mitigation” demands made it into the last pact, contempt hours of tortuous negotiations that ran precocious into the night. Attempts to propulsion for tougher c cuts faced beardown absorption from ample polluting countries and petrostates including Russia and Saudi Arabia.

No advancement connected cutting emissions

COP26 president Alok Sharma said the UK and others “had to combat relentlessly to clasp the line” connected what was agreed astatine past year’s acme successful Glasgow, UK, which saw countries urged to present much ambitious clime plans with faster emissions cuts this decade.

He expressed disappointment that the last statement did not see immoderate references to peaking planetary emissions earlier 2025, further enactment connected phasing down the usage of ember and the phasing retired of fossil fuels.

In fact, the last substance inserted a telephone for an summation successful “low-emission and renewable energy”, which countries fearfulness could beryllium interpreted arsenic allowing for an enlargement successful earthy state use.

“Friends, I said successful Glasgow that the pulse of 1.5°C was weak,” Sharma said. “Unfortunately, it remains connected beingness support. And each of america request to look ourselves successful the mirror, and see if we person afloat risen to that situation implicit the past 2 weeks.”

Without accelerating cuts to greenhouse state emissions this decade, clime scientists pass it volition beryllium intolerable to avoid a planetary emergence successful temperatures of much than 1.5°C.

Timmermans said the woody “does not code the yawning spread betwixt clime subject and clime policy.” “It does not bring a precocious grade of confidence,” helium said.

Despite the discontent, the Egyptian presidency claimed victory. “We roseate to the occasion,” Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian overseas minister, told delegates. “We worked astir the clock, time and night, but agreed successful moving for 1 gain, 1 higher purpose, 1 communal goal. In the extremity we delivered. We listened to the calls of anguish and despair.”

Sign up to our escaped Fix the Planet newsletter to get a dose of clime optimism delivered consecutive to your inbox, each Thursday