What COP27 is telling the world
A week after the end of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, I would like to reflect on the outcomes and establish my personal view on the 2022 edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference. COP27 had widely been seen an opportunity for countries to transition from the target-setting to the implementation stage. While many were disappointed by the overall progress towards limiting global warming, it is important to look at how climate change has become such a complicated topic, with many intertwined, and sometimes conflicting, themes.
Climate change is no longer just a scientific concern
While, quite rightly, the key focus of COP27 was still on the limitation of global warming, a number of other topics were starting to take centre stage. These include:
- Fossil fuels and their contribution to global warming
- Climate catastrophes and climate justice
- Food and water security
- Impact on health
- Climate financing
- Carbon market
I would like to reflect on the first two topics as a) I am more familiar with these topics and b) significant decisions, or the lack of, have been reached at the COP27.
No plan to phase out fossil fuels
Many, including myself, are disappointed by the lack of commitment to phase out fossil fuels, which currently accounts for 90% of global CO2 emissions. While the language of “limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees” and “45% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030” remains in the text, the agreement demonstrates little progress towards actually achieving these targets. The goal to ensure greenhouse gas emissions peak at 2025 has been taken out. The proposal to phase out fossil fuels (proposed by India and supported by a number of countries) has been blocked by a number of gas/oil-exporting countries.
This last point is rather significant, as it reflects the current geopolitical situation. At the beginning of the War in Ukraine, many commentators saw the quest for energy resilience as a huge catalyst towards renewable energy development, as many European countries seek to reduce their reliance on Russian gas. Unfortunately, while renewable investment has probably gone up, many countries are scrambling to secure or re-establish alternative dirty energy supply, including coal. With this in mind, it is not a surprise that, many gas/oil-exporting countries are capitalising on this situation to preserve their short/mid-term economic position. While some complained about the influence of the fossil fuel industry during COP27, the position adopted by many of the gas/oil-consuming countries did not help the case. After all, it would be hypocritical for European countries to fire up their coal power plants and tell the rest of the world that they will no longer be able to make profit from their own resources.
I get that managing energy cost at a national level is very difficult, especially during a period of global recession, but this is an example of short-sighted decision-making the world is going to regret.
Action towards climate justice
If there is one positive outcome from COP27, it is the recognition of the importance of climate justice, and the historical “Loss and Damage” Fund agreement. The climate disasters in 2022 have highlighted two things: a) climate change is affecting everyone in the world b) sadly it is the poorer countries that suffer the most.
The narrative of the conference was no longer dominated by richer countries preaching the virtue of climate change reversal. Poorer countries had been campaigning for financial support to tackle damage caused by climate change, which is mostly caused by activities from the richer countries in the world.
While there are many details to be discussed — such as what constitutes “loss and damage”, or which countries should contribute what amount — this is definitely a significant step towards climate justice. It forces those of us living in richer countries to admit to the inconvenient truth that our consumerism lifestyle is disproportionally fuelling global warming. Assisting others that are in more vulnerable position is therefore not just an act of charity, but an absolute moral obligation.
Final thoughts
Throughout 2022, countries all around the world have witnessed the dire consequences of climate change, and altogether we are now willing to cooperate to adapt and to limit the damage. However, there is a real danger that we are losing momentum when it comes to tackling the primary cause of climate change — we must rapidly drive to eliminate the use of fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Human beings have the incredible ability to remain resilient and react to immediate disasters (Covid vaccine development being one great example), but we are also very quick to forget, and fall back to the old way. I really do hope COP27 does not go down in history as the moment when the world admits defeat to climate change, and settles for a lesser future for our next generations.
