Geopolitical battle traces have been drawn on the UN local weather summit in Egypt as negotiations entered the ultimate scheduled day, with the intractable difficulty of monetary help for growing international locations among the many unresolved issues.
A possible breakthrough second got here within the early hours of Friday, when the EU stated it might help the creation of a brand new fund for “loss and damage” to assist poorer international locations struggling destruction from local weather change, so long as the donor base of nations was broadened.
This was taken to imply that China and different high-emitting nations similar to Saudi Arabia ought to contribute to any fund.
Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s overseas minister, stated it was clear that whereas rich industrialised international locations ought to lead the hassle to fund a brand new loss and injury facility, others ought to contribute too.
“We need a financing system that includes the biggest emitters,” she informed a COP27 press briefing, in a thinly veiled reference to China, by far the world’s largest carbon polluter. “We know how tremendous this task is.”
The EU proposal, raised with the US and China amongst different international locations earlier within the week, additionally stipulated that the cash should go solely to essentially the most susceptible nations, and that international locations should decide to extra bold motion on reducing greenhouse fuel emissions.
At the second, China and Saudi Arabia are among the many international locations labeled as growing nations below the 30-year-old UN system, and have resisted the suggestion they need to contribute to worldwide local weather financing regardless of their improved financial standing over the previous three many years.
The US was silent concerning the EU proposal after it was put ahead. US local weather envoy John Kerry had the earlier night reportedly held a number of hours of talks together with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua.
The lack of response from the US to the EU proposal was “stark”, stated Preety Bhandari, a senior adviser on the World Resources Institute. “That was a deafening silence.”
However, an individual conversant in the talks stated they remained “optimistic” the US and EU may attain a “joint position”. The EU wouldn’t settle for a compromise that didn’t see the donor base elevated not directly, they added.
“Everything really depends on the resolution of this loss and damage issue,” stated Alden Meyer, a UN local weather negotiations professional at think-tank E3G. “If we get a breakthrough . . . I think a lot of other things will fall into place.”
As COP27 appeared destined to pull into the weekend, tensions went past the same old posturing after two weeks of wrangling. Observers reported that discussions over the meals and agriculture phase on Thursday turned heated and “personal”.
“I am here to appeal to all parties to rise to this moment and to the greatest challenge facing humanity,” stated the UN secretary-general António Guterres. “The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver.”
The draft of the ultimate textual content that landed on Friday morning confirmed little advance on that delivered on the finish of the COP26 summit in Glasgow a 12 months in the past. It reaffirmed the 1.5C goal for international warming, which mirrored the place outlined by G20 leaders in Bali this week.
The Paris settlement of 2015 was the primary to set goals for a lower in greenhouse gases sufficient to maintain international warming nicely beneath 2C from pre-industrial occasions, and ideally 1.5C.
Outstanding points at COP27 included the scope of a “work programme” designed to chop emissions quicker within the years to 2030.
Missing from the draft textual content was a proposal floated by the Indian delegation that the settlement cowl the phase-down of all fossil fuels, versus coal alone.
Another space of minimal progress was the hassle to ascertain a brand new UN-organised carbon offset market. This is now anticipated to transcend COP27 and proceed into subsequent 12 months.
“My initial reaction is that it is a bit concerning,” stated Tom Evans, from E3G. The draft textual content “does not represent a move forward from Glasgow”.
With a lot nonetheless excellent, some delegates privately criticised the Egyptian COP27 presidency for not offering better management.
COP27 president Sameh Shoukry held conferences with nation blocs all through Friday. Delegations “made us know how they felt”, stated COP27 ambassador Wael Aboulmagd. “Not everyone was completely happy.” The Egyptian staff was “following a very clear game plan”, he added.
Additional reporting by Pilita Clark
Climate Capital
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