At COP27, Macron says Ukraine war will not sacrifice climate goals

“We are not going to sacrifice our climate goals in the face of war,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech this Monday (7) at the opening ceremony of COP27, the UN climate conference, which runs until the 18th. , in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

In his speech, Macron reaffirmed his commitment to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, through investment in clean energy.

In the context of the Ukrainian War, Europeans are criticized for investing in new fossil fuel productions that must operate in the coming years. They claim, however, that they are accelerating the energy transition to renewables and that new investments in fossils should anticipate the bloc’s peak emissions.

The concern with this scenario was explicit in the speech of the UN Secretary General, António Guterres. “We’re on a road to climate hell with our foot still on the gas,” he said.

Until Tuesday (8), 110 heads of state and government are speaking at the leaders’ summit, ranging from economic powers such as Germany and France to the most climate-vulnerable countries, such as the island of Tuvalu.

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) did not attend COP27. In the last edition of the event —COP26, in Scotland—, he participated through a recorded video.

Lula, who was the first Brazilian president to participate in a climate COP, in 2009, is expected in the second week of COP27, when US President Joe Biden is also expected to attend the conference.

“I congratulate the newly elected president Lula for renewing his commitments to stop deforestation,” said Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, in a speech on Monday afternoon at a meeting of heads of state, for an audience made up of leaders of African and European countries, including the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.

Lula’s election and his announcements of resuming Brazil’s climate commitment also prompted praise behind the scenes at the COP. Diplomats from European countries told the Sheet that the change of government in Brazil is good news for the climate negotiations.

The speeches of world leaders this Monday valued for presenting engagement in climate action. In addition to highlighting their commitments, the countries tried to show a willingness to circumvent the distrust between the negotiating blocs and create more unity at this COP.

However, the messages from the leaders also end up reinforcing the arguments that hinder climate negotiations: the lack of funding, requested by developing countries, and the insufficiency of emission reduction targets in the world.

“The war in Ukraine cannot be an excuse for delaying commitments, but an impetus to accelerate the transition,” said Pedro Sánchez, from Spain. “We must respond to ignorance with ambition and determination.”

Al Gore, who was vice president of the United States, also emphasized that war cannot delay actions.

“The rich nations of the world should not be fooled by the sheer necessity of responding to the lack of fossil energy — caused by Russia’s cruel war in Ukraine — as an excuse to lock up long-term commitments with even more dependence and addiction to fossil fuels.” , said.

On the other hand, part of the speeches also defended the continued use of fossil fuels, a position already defended by the developing bloc.

“We want to continue, in the medium term, to use natural resources such as natural gas, which is less polluting and generates funding for climate adaptation and resilience actions,” said the president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi. “We are working on the balance and development binomial”, he added.

Representatives of developing countries also repeatedly hit on climate finance, reinforcing the need for rich countries to meet their targets. The request is considered by G77+China negotiators as a condition for the resumption of trust and cooperation.

“There is no choice but cooperation. There has been no progress in the last year. It is not enough to increase ambition [das metas] if we don’t implement it,” criticized Indonesia’s Vice President Ma’ruf Amin.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}