COP27: Conference has determined way forward on funding for loss and damage - UNFCCC chief
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (PANA) - UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Simon Stiell has said thata at the latest UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, participants have determined a way forward on a decade-long conversation on funding for loss and damage.
In his closing remarks att the end of the conference on Sunday morning, he said among other positive steps that “we have been given reassurances that there is no room for backsliding. It gives the key political signals that indicate the phase-down of all fossil fuels is happening”.
The negotiations at COP27 had not been easy. “…Not been easy at all. But this historic outcome does move us forward and it benefits the vulnerable people around the world,” he stated.
And with that in mind, he said: “There is no need in putting ourselves through all that we have just gone through if we are going to participate in an exercise of collective amnesia the moment the cameras move on,” and called for all Parties and delegations to hold each other accountable for the decisions that had just been taken.
Mr. Stiell added that he would personally shepherd the drive forward on Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, which are at the core of the Paris Agreement and embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
He said that civil society should take significant credit for bringing the international community to this historic moment in the combat against climate change.
“Without the voices of individuals, whether they are activists, scientists, researchers, youth or indigenous peoples, we would not have gotten this far…your voices have a direct impact on the way we find our way forward at the multilateral level.”
COP27 convened over 35,000 people, including government representatives, observers and civil society.
The highlights of the meeting included, among others, the launch of the first report of the High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities.
The report slammed greenwashing – misleading the public to believe that a company or entity is doing more to protect the environment than it is – and weak net-zero pledges and provided roadmap to bring integrity to net-zero commitments by industry, financial institutions, cities and regions and to support a global, equitable transition to a sustainable future.
Also during the Conference, the UN announced the Executive Action Plan for the Early Warnings for All Initiative which calls for initial new targeted investments of $ 3.1 billion between 2023 and 2027, equivalent to a cost of just 50 cents per person per year.
Meanwhile, former US Vice-President and climate activist Al Gore, with the support of the UN Secretary-General, presented a new independent inventory of greenhouse gas emissions created by the Climate TRACE Coalition.
The tool combines satellite data and artificial intelligence to show the facility-level emissions of over 70,000 sites around the world, including companies in China, the United States and India. This will allow leaders to identify the location and scope of carbon and methane emissions being released into the atmosphere.
Another highlight of the conference was a so-called plan to accelerate the decarbonisation of five major sectors – power, road transport, steel, hydrogen, and agriculture – presented by the COP27 Egyptian Presidency.
The Egyptian leadership also launched the Food and Agriculture fir Sustanable Transformation unitiative or FAST, to improve the quantity and quality of climate finance contributions to transform agriculture and food systems by 2030.
This was the first COP to have a dedicated day for agriculture, which contributes to a third of greenhouse emissions and should be a crucial part of the solution.
-0- PANA MA/RA 20Nov2022
