COP27: news from the most important climate event
The 27th annual Conference Of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6 to November 18.
Last year’s summit in Scotland many decisions were postponed to COP27, so now there are a lot of expectations on the climate conference.
Let’s examine the four main topics of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit: the voluntary carbon market (VCM), the emissions gap with respect to the 1.5°C goal, the commitment to climate finance and the reduction of the use of fossil fuels.
1. The voluntary carbon market (VCM)
Last year the countries’ promises were not enough to „keep 1.5°C within reach“ (the mantra of the COP26). Then the summit ended up agreeing that “everyone must commit to present more ambitious climate goals by COP27”. How did it go?
Given that this was a voluntary commitment, very few countries have honored the promise made in Glasgow, to be precise: 23 out of 193. The deadline for submitting the updated climate plans to the UNFCCC, was September the 23rd. By then, only 23 of the nearly 200 countries participating in the COP process have „revised and strengthened“ their climate targets.
Not only: most of the documents presented, do not improve climate ambitions, but simply offer more details on previously announced policies. Moreover, the big polluters – China and USA – were the first to miss the deadline.
Both China and the United States of America have indeed refrained from making new voluntary national contributions. If in Washington Biden administration has struggled to get the Congress to approve the energy transition package (the Inflation Reduction Act); Beijing seems much more cautious than a year ago, due to the combination of the energy crisis, the economic slowdown and consequences of the geopolitical tension within Europe.
2. The 1.5°C goal
Before COP26, the emission cuts promised for 2030 would have led global warming to +2.7°C. With the new commitments announced in Glasgow, it should be reached +2.4°C: almost one degree above the target of +1.5°C. Not much has changed, since then.
Considering also that the “carbon neutrality by 2050″ has not being accompanied by details, intermediate steps and realistic policies, perhaps it might be achieved +1.8°C. Anyway, it is a bit disappointing that this goal was not even kept in the agenda.
3. Climate finance
Here, if possible, the situation is even worse.
In 2009, western countries promised $100 billion a year to the areas most affected by the impact of climate change. Unfortunately, so far they have not kept their wills. During COP26, they committed for 2023, but it is very unlikely that it will be accomplished.
Furthermore, during the preliminary negotiations to COP27, no progress was made on crucial issues such as Loss & Damage and the funds to dedicate to the climate change after 2025. Now more than ever, the last 12 months have demonstrated, once again, how much the changing climate can cause devastation and inflict suffering at all latitudes, especially in the most vulnerable countries .
4. The destiny of fossil subsidies
There aren’t consolidated data yet but, what is easy to guess, is that the direction taken globally is not the promised one. In 2021, carbon fossil in OECD countries practically doubled, reaching the figure of 700 million dollars. With government funds and tax benefits still very linked to the production and use of coal, oil, gas and other petroleum products, the fossil subsidies in the world’s top 20 economies have soared from 147 to 190 billion in 12 months. And with the Ukrainian war and the energy shocks, the outlook for 2022 is far from going better.
Conclusion
It is evident that climate anxiety is rising: it can be a good thing leading to more actions. Hopefully financial measures will be discussed for the poorest countries to deal with the damage caused by climate change. We will see what happens in the next days in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt and we are all waiting for the final outcomes: the eyes of the whole world are watching.