COP27 summit has missed an opportunity with fossil fuels, critics say

Fossil fuel producers benefited from a sympathetic deal in Egypt at COP27 climate talks, senior government officials said, weighing their influence on the rushed final negotiations and frustrating those hoping for a more ambitious outcome.

Senior officials said host Egypt, a natural gas exporter and frequent recipient of funds from Gulf oil producers, was partly responsible, though the war in Ukraine and the subsequent European energy crisis also had an impact.

Egyptian spokesmen have said their priority was to provide an atmosphere conducive to negotiations and act as a neutral mediator. The presidency denied that fossil fuel producers had received favourable treatment.

“The final decision of COP27 was a compilation of inputs reached by consensus from all parties to the UNMICK, which were consulted,” he said in a statement, referring to the nearly 200 countries participating in the summit under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Demands by environmental groups and scientists for governments and companies to leave oil and gas in the ground have been less powerful this year as European countries have rushed to replace Russian gas.

The COP27 meeting garnered mixed results, with a hard-fought agreement on a fund for countries hardest hit by climate change that was welcomed by vulnerable nations, but an entry decision that some representatives said lacked ambition due to the influence of fossil fuel producers. The entry decision summarizes the main outcomes of the summit.

LOW-EMISSION ENERGY

The COP27 agreements are in line with what was agreed at last year’s Glasgow meeting, to accelerate “efforts towards phasing out coal power and eliminating inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”, rather than reinforcing the phase-out of fossil fuels, as some countries had pushed.

A new reference to “renewable and low-emission energy” was also included. The Egyptian presidency said the language reflected part of the “just transition” adopted by all parties, which includes the use of hydrogen and nuclear power to reduce emissions.

Egyptian COP27 President Sameh Shoukry acknowledged that there had been “disappointment in certain sectors,” but told reporters after the agreement that “one side cannot achieve its full ambition, and this does not detract from what has been achieved.”

For some, the Egyptian presidency had reached a satisfactory agreement by managing to create a loss and damage fund. The idea had been resisted for years by some of the biggest emitters, such as the United States and Europe, concerned about the extent of responsibilities.

The loss-and-damage fund was “what we wanted for a long time, and for it to be resolved at a COP hosted by a developing country, is in itself a great victory because it shows its diplomatic strength,” said Selamawit Wubet, an adviser to a group of countries highly vulnerable to climate change.

However, climate activists and some delegates said little progress had been made on most other issues, and argued that the tone had been set by fossil fuel producers, who played a more public and prominent role in Sharm el-Sheikh than at previous summits.

A “DIFFICULT TRANSITION”

“It has now become quite clear that the transition away from fossil fuels is going to be difficult,” Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, said, citing the impact of the war in Ukraine.

In the last 24 hours, the COP presidency held a meeting that did not heed calls from negotiators from countries and groups, such as Switzerland, the United States, Latin America and small island states, for Egypt to include language initially proposed by India to phase out all fossil fuels. according to the representatives. At least 80 countries supported that text, they said.

Some negotiators expressed concern that Egypt has made progress on its proposal without thorough consultation, as major emitters and producers positioned themselves against more ambitious targets to limit the use of fossil fuels.

Egypt will hold the presidency of the COP until it hands over the baton to the United Arab Emirates, an ally and major producer of hydrocarbons, in just under a year.

Source: EuroNews