The world has already recognized the need for a strong green transition to mitigate climate change, and is implementing relevant policies.
At the United Nations climate change conference (COP27) starting this weekend in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the Commission will call on all parties to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the commitments have undertaken in the framework of the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Pact on climate.
At the United Nations climate change conference (COP27) starting this weekend in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the Commission will call on all parties to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the commitments have undertaken as part of the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact, concluded at last year’s COP26 conference.
On 7-8 November President von der Leyen will represent the Commission at the world summit, which officially kicks off COP27.
From 14 to 18 November, Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans will lead the EU negotiating team.
The COP27 events will also be attended by the Commissioners for Energy, Mr. Kadri Simson, for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Mr. Virginius Sinkevičius, and for Agriculture, Mr. Janus Wojciechowski.
President von der Leyen will participate in a leaders’ roundtable discussion on investing in the future of energy on the second day of the conference.
He will deliver the EU joint statement to a plenary session, together with the President of the European Council.
He will also participate in a series of events and sign bilateral declarations with a range of partners, with a particular focus on forest and climate partnerships and the clean energy transition.
At COP27, the Commission’s negotiating team will press for the implementation of existing commitments so that ambitious words are translated into tangible projects, including through the adoption of a mitigation work program to urgently strengthen the level of ambition of mitigation work and implementation within the of this critical decade.
In terms of climate change adaptation, the EU is committed to achieving clear progress towards the Global Adaptation Goal (GGA).
Nature-based solutions, as highlighted in last year’s Glasgow climate pact, play a key role in adapting to climate change and conserving biodiversity, which will also be a key theme at this year’s COP15 on Biodiversity .
On the issue of loss and damage, the EU will seek effective solutions to meet the multifaceted needs of vulnerable countries around the world facing the effects of climate change.
The EU supports a formal agenda item on avoiding, minimizing and addressing loss and damage to enable parties to discuss how best to facilitate rapid access to finance and scale up support for vulnerable countries and communities.
We will work with developed countries to ensure that funding for adaptation is doubled by 2025 compared to 2019 levels and that their financial contributions to tackling climate change are increased to meet the annual target of 100 billion, to which the EU contributed $23.04 billion in 2021 — a steady contribution and by far the largest of all.
During the conference, the Commission will organize over 125 side events at the EU pavilion in Sharm El Sheikh, as well as online.
The events will address a wide range of climate-related issues, including biodiversity protection and nature restoration, energy security and the green transition, sustainable finance, food and water security, and research and innovation.
Since biodiversity loss and climate change are mutually reinforcing, many events will also highlight the link between COP27 and the upcoming COP15 dedicated to biodiversity.
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Under the Paris Agreement, in 2015, 194 countries agreed to submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which represent their individual emission reduction targets.
Overall, the ETS are expected to help keep the global average temperature change below 2 °C and as close as possible to 1.5 °C by the end of the century.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2022 reports warn that the planet is expected to reach the 1.5 °C level within the next two decades and that only with the most drastic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions possible of carbon already today an environmental disaster can be avoided.
This level of warming would have extremely painful effects, constituting an existential threat.
The European Union is a world leader in climate action, having already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter since 1990, while its economy grew by more than 60%. With the European Green Deal, presented in December 2019, the EU further increased its climate ambition, pledging to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
This target became legally binding with the adoption and entry into force of European climate legislation in July 2021.
The climate legislation also sets an interim target to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
This 2030 target was announced at the UNFCCC in December 2020 as the EU’s ETS under the Paris Agreement.
The European Commission presented a set of proposals in 2021 to make its climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies fit to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
On October 27, a first agreement was reached on zero-emission cars and vans. The EU will update its ECS accordingly as soon as possible after all these proposals have been adopted.
Climate finance is vital to support vulnerable communities to protect themselves from the impacts of climate change and support sustainable economic growth.
Developed countries have pledged to mobilize a total of $100 billion in international climate finance each year from 2020 to 2025 to help the most vulnerable countries and especially small island states in their mitigation and adaptation efforts.
The EU is the biggest funder with a steadily increasing contribution up to around a quarter of the target. The rest of the countries must now step up their efforts and cover the current deficit.
Factsheet on EU research and innovation in climate action.
President Ursula von der Leyen said: “This year’s COP27 is taking place against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the implications this is having for energy and food prices in Europe and elsewhere.
Now we find that we need to accelerate the green transition and not become hostage to such predators.
Climate change is not going to wait a day, which is why Europe remains on track to meet our international climate commitments, as demonstrated in particular by the EU’s agreement on zero-emission cars last week.
Europe will be a reliable partner and ally for all who desire a sustainable future on our planet.”
The Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Mr. Frans Timmermans, said: “This year we have once again seen terrible floods, devastating droughts and devastating storms around the world. These are the latest reminders of the damage the climate crisis has already caused.
Mitigation is still of existential importance: no amount of funding, no matter how much, will be enough to deal with the climate extremes we will see if temperatures rise to 3 or 4 degrees Celsius.
At the same time, at COP27 we need to advance our work on adaptation, loss and damage, and climate finance to ensure that every country gets the support it needs to respond to the impacts of climate change it has already happened”.
Athena Papakosta
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