The second day of the Climate Summit in Egypt (COP27) was marked by the presentation of a United Nations report highlighting it hard on companies and their promises of energy transition: demanded that they be prohibited from calling themselves “net zero emissions” while they continue invest in fossil fuels.
“The carbon neutrality is totally incompatible with sustained investments in fossil fuels “, explains the report, commissioned by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, who calls for an end to the the “toxic deception” what these practices entail.
The panel of experts that drafted the report is in charge of defining the criteria for check the green promises of companiesbanks, cities and regions.
greenwashing
It was created in March to curb the so-called greenwashing or the “greenwashing” of non-state actors (companies, financial institutions, cities or regions), given that emissions continue to rise although there have never been so many promises to reduce them.
The report denounces that this phenomenon threatens to undermine global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and provides a “crucial” roadmap for integrating the commitments of these actors.
Among other measures, experts recommend that these actors get involved immediately reduce its absolute emissions along its entire value chain (including scope 3 emissions) with science-based short, medium and long-term goals.
To prevent them from practicing “rogue” climate accounting and other actions designed to circumvent the need for deep decarbonisation, they are asking them to publicly report on the progress of their transition plans with verified information that can be compared with their peers.
Gustavo Petro’s decalogue to tackle the climate crisis
During his presentation at COP27, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, presented a handbook to fight the climate crisis, and said that the environmental problem will only be solved “if the world leaves behind oil and coal“.
Petro, a historical activist in environmental issues, argued a mobilize humanity to correct the course of the climatethat it will not be solved by what he called “technocrats influenced, by many, by the interests of the coal, oil and gas companies”.
One of the central points of the Decalogue is the call to save the Amazon jungle. Petro announced that Colombia it will provide resources for two decades for this purpose.
“We must first of all save the pillars of the planet’s climate. The Amazon rainforest is one. Colombia will grant $ 200 million annually for 20 years to save the Amazon rainforest. We look forward to the global contribution, “she said.
The decalogue presented by Petro is the following:
1. It is time for the mobilization of humanity, with or without the permission of governments.
2. The market is not the main mechanism for overcoming the climate crisis.
3. Only global and multilateral planning will make it possible to move towards a decarbonised economy.
4. It is the mobilization of humanity that will correct the course and not the fossil companies.
5. We must save the pillars of the planet, such as the Amazon rainforest.
6. The climate crisis can only be overcome by stopping the consumption of hydrocarbons.
7. The WTO and the IMF are opposed to solving the climate crisis.
8. The IMF must promote debt swapping with investment in adaptation and mitigation.
9. Private banks must stop financing hydrocarbons.
10. Peace negotiations must begin. War takes vital time.
Liability and compensation, a thorny issue that divides the waters
Climate finance has historically been one of the great axes of discussion at the COPs, which seems to resonate more strongly in this edition due to the urgency of the issue. The unfulfilled commitments by developed countries not to contribute to those funds is one of the most heard statements.
The Head of State of Barbados, Mia Mottley, was among those who raised their voices on this issue. You have suggested a 10% tax on oil and gas producers to supply those flows.
“How is it possible that companies have made $ 200 billion in profits in the past three months and don’t expect to contribute at least 10 cents of every dollar of profits to a loss and damage fund?” Asked Mottley.
“I come from a small island country that has big ambitions. But this is not able to satisfy that great ambition. Our ability to access electric cars or batteries or photovoltaic panels is limited by countries that have a dominant presence and that they can produce themselves. But the South of the world remains at the mercy of the North of the world on these issues “.
For rich countries, such a fund must be voluntary and this does not imply the possibility of legal action in international courts. Furthermore, it is also pending who should pay more.
The “non-European” countries and the large emitters, namely the United States and China, are the ones who it has to bear the heaviest weightFrench President Emmanuel Macron warned on Monday.
“Since there are other priorities, we think the climate can wait, but no. The climate urgency is already here, we don’t have to wait for tomorrow. Our obligation is to continue to act on mitigation and adaptation despite the fact that there has been a war on European soil. We will not sacrifice our climate commitments for the threat of a war from Russia, “Macron added.
“We must be present and support with 100,000 million dollars to the poorest countries to fight the climate crisis ”, he concluded.
But the figures managed, only in terms of investments in the fight against the climate, are astronomical. Southern countries would need it more than $ 2 billion a year for this reasonaccording to a report commissioned by the COP presidency.
Just under half will have to come from outside these countries, through funding from large institutions, governments and the private sector.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, proposed to feed this fund with a special tax for companies in the fossil fuel sector.
Source: EFE, AFP and journalists for the planet
Source: Clarin
