Decisive hours at the UN summit on climate: between obstacles and the hope of an agreement

The United Nations climate conference, held in Egypt (COP27), entered a decisive phase this Saturday after an apparent first agreement on one of the most important points, a fund for losses and damages caused by climate change, according to the sources. European.

But negotiations seemed to be stalled And it’s unclear whether a final document will be delivered this weekend, in the extra time world leaders have given themselves to avoid another bankruptcy.

“An agreement has been reached” on the creation of this specific fund for the most vulnerable countries, indicated a source, on condition of anonymity.

Egypt’s presidency distributed a new draft to the nearly 200 half-time negotiating parties afterwards a night of intense discussions, after the official conference deadline passed on Friday.

The new Egyptian text came later a European ultimatumwho denounced what he considers an “unacceptable setback”.

The EU prefers “no result to a bad result” announced the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans.

According to Europeans, the Egyptian presidency wanted to cancel the commitment of the nearly 200 member countries of the COP to continue reducing greenhouse gas emissions, known as chapter on mitigation in negotiations.

“The vast majority of the parties indicated to me that they consider the text balanced” and that “it can lead to a consensus”, replied Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri, who chairs COP27, shortly after.

Mitigation is essential to meet the goal of limiting global warming to +1.5ºC, set in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“We are not here to make statements, but to keep the 1.5ºC target alive,” asked German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Causes and divisions

The new project mixes the demands of developed countries, mainly the United States and the European Union, and the demands of developing countries.

The countries of the South most affected by natural disasters have been asking for this fund for thirty years.

Y that was the overriding theme of the 27th United Nations climate conference which opened on 6 November.

Negotiations accelerated after Europeans opened up to contemplating such a creation, in exchange for basically two conditions.

First of all, “widening the donor base”, that is, integrating those countries that have become major emitters of polluting gases, such as China.

And in second place, a strong and explicit commitment to mitigationto maintain the target of +1.5ºC.

obstacles

Those links between a remediation fund, its contributors, and emissions mitigation have come to the surface stalled negotiationsaccording to various sources consulted by the AFP agency.

“It seems that there is an agreement with the groups’ chief negotiators, but we await the hammer blow” that will mark the final pact, the head of the Jamaican delegation, Matthew Samuda, told AFP.

“As you can imagine, neither group can say that all their interests are met,” Shukry explained.

“There is dissatisfaction on all sides, but there is an overwhelming majority who support the text”, insisted the Egyptian foreign minister.

Shukry had recalled on Friday that all the issues were “intertwined”.

At the UN climate conferences All decisions must be consensual.

The United States remained silent before the debates, although it was active in the negotiating rooms, according to sources consulted.

According to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which laid the foundations for the current commitment against climate change, responsibility for climate change is common but differentiatedthat is, developed countries would have to contribute much more based on their history of emissions and use of natural resources.

Among developing countries there is considerable Distrust of broken promises.

In 2009, developed countries pledged that $100 billion a year from 2020 would help poor countries adapt to climate change and reduce their emissions, while making the energy transition.

And that amount of 100,000 million dollars, which has not been completed, must be increased in principle from 2025.

Source: AFP

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