COP27 kicks off in Egypt with the difficult task of relaunching the climate fight

Nearly 200 countries inaugurate this Sunday COP27, the annual meeting of the UN that aims to relaunch the fight against climate change in a world anguished by the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.

The UN intends this new COP to be the “implementation” of agreements already reached.

Last year, member countries committed themselves to increasing their greenhouse gas emission reduction quotas and reviewing those targets at Sharm el-Sheikh.

But only about twenty have so far announced more demanding commitments.

COP27 will also relaunch the debate on the $100 billion that developing countries should receive annually from rich countries, through loans or grants, to fight climate change.

A project only partially completed and that is two years late.

The year 2022 has been prolific in natural catastrophes, which scientists largely attribute to human influence on climate change.

The fight for climate is “a matter of life and death,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently stressed.

That is why the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, which will last until November 18, “must lay the foundations for faster and more courageous climate action,” he added.

The Chinese Balance

CO2 emissions should fall _{by 45% by 2030 to maintain a minimum hope that global warming will be limited to +1.5ºC, which was the most ambitious target that COP15 in Paris set seven years ago.}

But at the current rate the world is heading for at least an increase in average temperature of 2.4ºC, even 2.8ºC, according to the most alarmist models.

The year was marked, among other catastrophes, by the devastating floods in Pakistan or the destruction caused in Cuba and the southeast of the United States by Hurricane Ian.

And for record greenhouse gas emissions, due to the pressing need for gas and oil to alleviate the reduction in hydrocarbon exports caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Previous COPs had committed to reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

But the club of oil-exporting countries (OPEC) estimated this week that demand for crude will grow until 2035, particularly in developing countries.

China, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, intends to maintain a “balance” of its energy sources, between renewable and fossil sources, announced recently the president of the Asian power, Xi Jinping.

A dialogue on damage and loss

Rich and developing countries must sign a “historic pact” to tackle the climate problem, Guterres said.

But COP27 not only drags unfulfilled pacts, but also faces new and complicated debates, such as the damage caused by two centuries of massive use of fossil fuels.

The rich countries agreed last year in Glasgow (Scotland) to open the chapter of “damage and losses” caused by climate change, but only in the form of “dialogue”.

The developing countries, grouped in the so-called G77, managed to include this issue in the agenda of COP27, which must be approved by consensus this Sunday in the first stages of the conference.

And even so, that matter, which could represent lawsuits worth trillions of dollars, in principle should only be closed in 2024.

Following the formal opening of the conference, more than 120 heads of state and government are scheduled to attend a summit Monday and Tuesday.

Xi will miss the appointment. US President Joe Biden has promised to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh, but briefly, on November 11.

The presence of the president-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, unexpectedly invited by Egypt, is also expected later.

The leftist leader has already affirmed that the preservation of the Amazon will be one of his highest priorities, after the management of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, who favored logging and mining activities in the largest tropical forest on the planet.

A showcase of good intentions, the COP is also often the scene of major announcements by private foundations and governments, in the form of investments or alliances.

Source: France24