The vice president of the E.U. Frans Timmermans criticized the COP27 announcement commenting that “what we have before us is not a sufficient step for people and the planet”.
After the long and difficult negotiations which led to its extension UN Climate ConferenceCOP27 ended early today after adopting a controversial final communiqué, which for the first time includes aid to the poor countries most affected by climate change, but no new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
After more than two weeks, COP27 held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt it ended two days behind schedule, making it one of the longest Climate Conferences in history.
“It wasn’t easy,” but “we finally accomplished our mission,” said COP27 president Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
The final communication, the result of many compromises, was finally accepted unanimously and calls for a “rapid” reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but does not include any new targets compared to the previous Glasgow COP.
“We need to drastically reduce emissions now and that is a question that this COP did not answer,” commented UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The EU said it was “disappointed” this morning at the lack of ambition to reduce greenhouse gases.
Estimating that “in this decade” something must be done to tackle climate change, otherwise it will be too late, the vice-president of the EU. Frans Timmermans criticized the COP27 announcement commenting that “what we have before us is not a sufficient step for people and the planet”.
“It does not foresee enough additional efforts by the major polluters to increase and accelerate the reduction of emissions” of greenhouse gases, he stressed.
However, the final announcement envisages the creation of a fund to cover the “losses and damages” already suffered by “particularly vulnerable” poor countries due to climate change. A decision that was greeted with cheers by many delegations and which is described as “historic” by those who support it.
This issue threatened to derail COP27. It was not put on the agenda of the conference until the last minute, after the many hesitations long expressed by the rich countries, and only on the condition that potential liability and the payment of reparations would be excluded. Developed countries were categorically opposed to the idea of ​​creating such a special purpose fund.
However, many issues remain unclear, as the details for the implementation of the decision, i.e. the creation of the fund and the collection of funds, are expected to be defined by a special committee and put up for approval at COP28, at the end of 2023, in the United Arab Emirates.
Retreat
The text on reducing greenhouse gas emissions has also sparked backlash, with many countries complaining that it falls short of commitments set at previous conferences, notably limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era.
Although this forecast is mentioned in the final announcement, based on the current commitments of the countries, the goal cannot be achieved, while the goal of limiting the increase in the Earth’s temperature to 2 degrees Celsius also seems unattainable.
Under the current commitments of countries, the world is heading for a temperature increase of 2.4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century and at the current rate of emissions towards the catastrophic scenario of 2.8 degrees Celsius.
Another topic that caused turbulence at COP27 was that of limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Many countries assessed that the texts proposed by the Egyptian presidency were a step back from the commitments made last year in Glasgow.
“This COP limited countries’ commitments to present new and more ambitious targets,” complained Laurence Tubiana, architect of the Paris Climate Agreement, in 2015.
Without taking into account the issue of reducing the use of fossil fuels, which are responsible for global warming, but are not mentioned in most Climate decisions.
The COP26 text contained a reference to coal after intense negotiations, but in Sharm el-Sheikh the “usual suspects”, as one delegate put it, once again refused to make any mention of oil and gas.
An unprecedented reference in the final text of the conference envisages the development of renewable energy sources, along with “low emission” energies, an expression usually used for nuclear power.
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
