[Op-Ed] What COP27 Got Right and What it Got Wrong
World leaders convened in Egypt in mid-November to discuss climate issues. Photo: Sayed Sheasha / Reuters
From Nov. 6 to Nov. 20, world leaders and delegates convened for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Party, hosted in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The conference, which was attended by 35,000 representatives of various parties, was overseen by Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry. But while the conference made progress on issues like climate debt and financing, it failed to meet critical temperature and fossil fuel goals.
The conference succeeded in creating a “Loss and Damage” fund, and while details are still being worked out, the general premise of the fund will see richer countries finance climate relief efforts in countries with less money available for such projects. The fund was first proposed by Vanuatu in the early 1990s but was subject to much pushback from wealthier countries, especially the United States.
A transitional committee for the fund will be established before next year’s COP28. The committee is targeting an inaugural meeting by March 2023, and will deal with topics like establishing guidelines for the fund and making recommendations on how the fund should be operated. The conference produced the Sharm el-Sheik Implementation Plan, with the transitional committee and the fund established specifically to address growing concerns about failure to meet the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. Molwyn Joseph, chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States, said that “the agreements made at COP27 are a win for our entire world.” COP27 also took steps to reaffirm a commitment to curbing emissions and rising temperatures.
The creation of a loss and damage fund is a major step in global climate policy. For true climate progress to be made, it is crucial that every country works together to reduce emissions and temperatures. While details of the fund remain to be determined, the recognition of unity marks a major step from wealthier countries. China, the United States, Russia, and India are the four biggest emitters of CO2, and the addition of these countries to a fund to support smaller nations will help balance the bill of climate debt.
On the other hand, the conference missed the mark in key areas. As the Earth approaches a critical period of the climate crisis, COP27 failed to address two of the most pressing issues: temperature goals and fossil fuels. The conference failed to establish a plan to phase out fossil fuels, and instead left in vague wording that a phase down in fossil fuels would occur. Representative of the Marshall Islands, Kathy Jetnil-Kjiner, said that “the current text is not enough.”
Within the next five years, there is a one-in-two chance of global temperatures exceeding the 1.5 degree Celsius target. As long as temperature action stagnates, the risk of permanently exceeding temperature goals will only continue to grow. Exceeding the pre-industrial temperature goal will likely lead to coral reefs being killed off, severe storms increasing in frequency, flooding to intensify, and heat waves becoming frequent. For the sake of the planet, it is critical that the temperature goals are met.
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, delivers a speech at the conference. Photo: Gehad Hamdy / AP Images
Over 600 delegates from the oil and fossil fuel industry ran rampant at the conference, a presence that was evident in the conference’s plan. At the conference, many African countries sought to open new nonrenewable fuel ventures in their countries, especially oil and gas. Fossil fuel industry delegates played a much larger role at COP27 than in any previous COP, and the failure to root out this influence has left many activists and experts disappointed. Norwegian climate and environment minister Espen Barth Eide urged that the final agreement “does not fully reflect the urgency of the climate crisis and did indeed cater too much to the more fossil fuel and backward-looking forces.”
While effective in creating a Loss and Damage fund, COP27 dropped the ball on the necessary steps to create a healthier planet. By allowing the influence of oil lobbyists into the final agreement, the conference compromised the potential for collaborative action on fully phasing out critical nonrenewable energy sources. The battle, which will continue at COP28, is a battle for the very health of the planet. To protect the planet, next year’s agreement must go above and beyond the Sharm El-Sheik Implementation Plan.