After two weeks of negotiations in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, the COP27 global climate summit ended on November 20, again with insufficient results. The goal of preventing the temperature from exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels has been on paper for seven years.
However, the “Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan” that was agreed to does not include any mention of reducing the use of fossil fuels. In other words, there is a goal without a plan.
The summit was saved from failure because developing countries managed to secure, after decades of effort, a commitment to create a compensation fund for damages. With this fund, developed countries would compensate vulnerable countries for the impacts derived from climate change.
What was promised? Only US$ 260 million dollars, which is not even known where exactly it will come from and to which countries it will be directed. The details of this initiative will not be finalized until the next summit. This commitment is not very encouraging, considering the unfulfilled commitment in 2009 by rich countries to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 in climate finance for poor countries.
Although it is becoming increasingly clear that little can come out of these types of summits to resolve a problem of such magnitude as the climate crisis, it is interesting to observe how the dynamics of rivalry in climate issues are configured between the largest emitters of CO2 and at the same time world powers, China and the United States, and, on the other hand, the role of regions such as Latin America, keys to the protection of the environment and located in the midst of hegemonic disputes.
In the case of China, President Xi Jinping did not attend the summit and, instead, sent Xie Zhenhua as an official delegate who reiterated China’s position, indicating that it is up to the United States to eliminate the barriers created by the visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan, in order to unblock the bilateral negotiations on climate change that began in 2021. Regarding the compensation fund, China supports it, but not with money, and emphasized its status as a vulnerable country affected by extreme weather events.
For his part, US President Joe Biden’s delegate, John Kerry, focused attention on China and on the hope that the Asian giant will live up to its global responsibility. In the end, the “good news” from the world’s two biggest polluters was “we are back at the table to try to meet our commitments”.
The strategic challenges of Latin American countries
The politicization of the climate agenda by the world’s largest emitters is worrying. Faced with this, a strategic repositioning of Latin America and the Caribbean is necessary, especially in the current context of overlapping crises – food, energy, geopolitical, economic and debt.
It is well known that Latin America and the Caribbean does not act as a unified actor in the climate negotiations. However, the joint communiqué presented by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) during the climate finance negotiations is notable.
Another aspect that saved the region from invisibility was the participation of the new president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who, in addition to announcing national plans for Brazil (zero deforestation and the creation of a Ministry for Indigenous Peoples), left the message , for many hopeful, that “Brazil is back” to reposition itself as a proactive player in climate issues.
On the other hand, presidents Gustavo Petro, from Colombia, and Nicolás Maduro, from Venezuela, proposed a great alliance to protect the Amazon rainforest and relaunch the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACTO).
It is not clear whether the reconfiguration of forces in the region towards the left and the increasingly coordinated position of Celac imply a future regional climate agenda or a common position in relation to developed countries.
Naturally, it is encouraging to know that the days of climate denialism in Brazil by the government plan are numbered. But how will President Lula da Silva be able to reconcile a climate agenda with the interests of Brazilian agribusiness and its powerful lobby? A similar reflection applies to the rest of Latin American countries dependent on agroindustry and increasingly close links with China in the raw materials sector.
* This text was originally published on the REDCAEM website
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.
