“Progress has been made but certainly more remains to be done if we want to reach a solid conclusion which will be a driver for ambitious and inclusive climate action”, summed up Monday evening the president of this 27th UN conference on climate change. climate Sameh Shukri.
The first draft of the final declaration published overnight from Monday to Tuesday is only a bulleted list, with however the reaffirmation in a few words of certain disputed principles such as “the urgency of acting so that the objective of 1 .5°C remains within the realm of possibility”.
The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit warming to well below 2°C compared to the pre-industrial era, if possible 1.5°C. While each tenth of a degree leads to an increase in climate disasters, the signatories of the agreement committed themselves last year at COP26 to “keep alive” the most ambitious objective.
But observers say Saudi Arabia and China have made known their reluctance, already expressed in the past, to see this reference again in the final text, as the world heads towards a catastrophic warming of 2.8°C. vs.
– “Wrong side of history” –
Another crucial point at the heart of the negotiations, the demand of developing countries for the creation of a dedicated mechanism to finance the “losses and damages” already suffered due to the impacts of global warming.
The G77 China group, which represents more than 130 emerging and poor countries, presented on Tuesday its plan for the creation from this COP27 of a “fund to help developing countries cover the costs of coping with non-economic loss and damage and economic”.
“Wealthy, industrialized nations, especially the US and the EU, can decide to join them or continue to be on the wrong side of history, while millions of people are suffering,” said Harjeet Singh, of the network of NGOs Climate Action Network.
But the EU, reluctant, for its part underlined its preference for the “launch of a process”; just like the facilitators appointed by the Egyptian presidency of the COP, who, reflecting the various clear-cut positions, mentioned a possible “process” of continuing discussions, possibly until 2024.
The countries of the South nevertheless ensure that they are ready for combat. “Antigua and Barbuda will not leave here without a loss and damage fund,” said Conrod Hunte, Caribbean state negotiator who chairs the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis).
Taking turns at the podium throughout the day, developing countries also castigated the lack of ambition of developed countries.
– Lives “sacrificed” –
“The lack of leadership and ambition in terms of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is worrying”, launched the Senegalese Minister of the Environment Alioune Ndoye, on behalf of the group of least developed countries, denouncing three decades “marked with disappointment”.
“How many COPs have we called for urgent climate action? How many more will be needed? big polluters.
Many participants at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh are also waiting to see how the G20 leaders meeting in Bali on Tuesday and Wednesday will take into account the climate crisis and their ambition to act, hoping for good news that would give a boost to the negotiations in Egypt.
The EU, for its part, is committed to stepping up its commitments. “Don’t let anyone tell you, here or anywhere, that the EU is backtracking. Don’t let them tell you that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is killing the European Green Deal and we are in a gas rush,” said European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans.
He thus announced that, thanks to the adoption of several pieces of legislation in recent weeks, “the EU is ready to update its commitments”. To reduce net emissions by at least 57% by 2030 compared to 1990, compared to at least 55% currently.
Much like Turkey’s announcement to raise its ambitions, the EU’s rhetoric was met with cold reception by climate activists. “The climate emergency we find ourselves in does not deserve crumbs from the EU,” criticized Chiara Martinelli of Climate Action Network Europe.
