After long and difficult negotiations which far exceeded the scheduled timetable, COP27 ended this Sunday, November 20, at dawn, after the adoption of a highly disputed text on aid to poor countries affected by the climate change. On the other hand, no trace of new ambitions for the reduction of greenhouse gases. “It was not easy” but “we finally fulfilled our mission”, underlined the Egyptian president of the conference, Sameh Choukri.
However, the results remain mixed and the commitments deemed insufficient in relation to the extent of the climate crisis. “The world will not thank us when it only hears excuses tomorrow,” laments Frans Timmermans, Vice-President of the European Commission.
This edition was therefore marked by the adoption of an emblematic resolution, described as historic by its promoters, on compensation for the damage caused by climate change already suffered by the poorest countries. This issue of climate “losses and damage” almost derailed the conference, before being the subject of a last-minute compromise text. While it leaves many questions unanswered, it nevertheless enacts the principle of the creation of a specific financial fund.
“Loss and damage in vulnerable countries can no longer be ignored even if some developed countries had decided to ignore our suffering,” said young Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate. Poor countries, often among the most exposed but whose historical responsibility for global warming is very low, have been demanding for years funding for the “losses and damages” they suffer.
The final declaration adopted, the result of many compromises, calls for a “rapid” reduction in emissions, but without new ambition compared to the last COP in Glasgow, in 2021. “We must drastically reduce emissions now – and that is a question that this COP has not answered”, regretted the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. In the aftermath, the European Union said it was “disappointed” by the emissions agreement.
Many countries considered that the texts proposed by the Egyptian presidency constituted a step backwards on the commitments, made in Glasgow, to regularly raise the level. In particular on the most ambitious objective of the Paris agreement, that is to say to contain global warming at 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era – which is however reaffirmed in the final decision. “This COP has weakened the obligations for countries to present new and more ambitious commitments”, regretted Laurence Tubiana, architect of the Paris agreements of 2015.
The COP fails to tackle fossil fuels, yet the main culprits of global warming. Coal had been cited in 2021 after tough exchanges but in Sharm el-Sheikh, the “usual suspects”, in the words of one delegate, once again opposed it for oil and gas. For example Saudi Arabia, Iran or Russia, countries often cited. The development of renewables is however the subject of an unprecedented mention alongside “low emission” energies, an expression generally applied to nuclear power.
COP27 only mentions that countries commit to “accelerating efforts towards the gradual reduction of the use of carbon without capture (of CO2) and the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”. Oil and gas are not mentioned, while achieving carbon neutrality means no longer building any fossil fuel facilities. CO2 emissions produced by the consumption of fossil fuels – oil, gas or coal – will exceed their record level in 2022, after the air hole due to Covid, according to a reference study published on November 11.
Organizing the United Nations climate conference, which brings together up to 35,000 people from 195 countries each year, is a huge logistical challenge. But this year, the problems encountered at this event held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh were such that it was impossible to ignore them, perhaps the most fundamental being the accessibility. In addition, the COP was marked by calls to release Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abdel Fattah, who ended his hunger strike earlier this week.
