Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The 27th World Climate Conference (COP27) ended with what many see as a step forward on the dispute topic of loss and damage but no progress on credible steps to keep the world below 1.5°C global warming.
Ahead of and in the early days of the COP, a number of EU Member States including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and the European Commission made loss and damage finance pledges.
Although most of this money is not new and additional, it is sais that this signal of support helped build momentum towards the establishment of the fund.
In fact, more progress was made than many believed possible, with a commitment to set up a financial support structure for the most vulnerable by the next COP in 2023 as costs from extreme weather soar to over $200bn annually.
An official delegation from the European Parliament was in Egypt last week to participate in the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, which took place in Sharm el Sheik.
The delegation chair was Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, NL) while the Vice-Chair was German MEP Peter Liese (EPP).
The Greens/EFA on Monday said they “welcome” the agreement on the establishment of a fund for loss and damages caused by climate change in the most vulnerable countries.
However, they also say that “the question of who is going to pay and who is going receive remains unclear.”
The negotiators, say the Group, “could not agree on clear language to increase their climate targets and binding measures, neither did they grasp the momentum to call upon a phase out of fossil fuels, they merely confirmed the coal phase down that was agreed upon last year in Glasgow.”
The Greens said, “As no real progress since last year’s climate conference, this was a lost year for climate action.”
Eickhout noted, “Europe had to fight to the end to maintain last year’s ambition. But this is insufficient if we want to meet the climate goals. I can therefore only conclude that 2022 has been a lost climate year. On ‘loss and damage’, the EU showed leadership and broke the deadlock by declaring itself in favor of a fund. As a result, the COP achieved something after all.”
Liese added, “I remain sad that we are so far from achieving the Paris climate goal but I am optimistic that, despite all the prophecies of doom, the multilateral process has not collapsed. There is progress, and hope for more.
“The EU has presented a good paper for more ambition and support for those suffering from climate change. Crucially, there is also renewed cooperation between the U.S. and China. After our conversation with Chinese negotiator Xie Zhenhua, I witnessed him having a bilateral talk with John Kerry, which is a good sign. However, it is a pity that the EU has not put more resources into preparing its good initiatives more thoroughly. Commission VP Frans Timmermans should work around the clock on international climate negotiations, but he does not have the time. We need a European John Kerry.”
