COP 27: An Agreement After Much Contention

In the weeks leading up to COP 27, activists attacked major works of art including the Mona Lisa at the Louvre hoping to bring attention to the urgency for action to mitigate the effects of Climate Change.

The United Nations Climate Conference took place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from November 8-20, extended by one day because countries could not come to a consensus on several major issues. After much discussion, the final released declaration includes the highly anticipated establishment of a fund that will provide financial support to developing countries from the wealthiest nations. This extensively debated fund will address ‘loss and damage’ caused by climate change disasters such as hurricanes and drought that result in economic and other hardships in developing countries However, the declaration does not detail the scope of contributions to the fund or how it will function. The hope is that these will be finalized before COP 28 in the United Arab Emirates.

In addition to the loss and damage fund, there were other commitments made at COP 27. An important issue was the 1.5°C vs 2°C as agreed upon in the 2015 Paris Agreement. The agreement stated that efforts should be undertaken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming well below 2°C. Furthermore, in Glasgow (COP 26), countries agreed on limiting warming to 1.5°C. However, at COP 27, there were countries that tried to back out of the 1.5 C. In the end, science prevailed and the declaration maintained the 1.5 C goal as previously agreed in Paris.

In Glasgow, the delegates had agreed to a ‘phase down’ use of coal. This time around, India, the U.S. and other countries wanted the declaration at COP 27 to include language to phase down the use of all polluting fossil fuels. This was supported by recent reports from the ​​Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which supported the reduction of polluting fossil fuels to reach the emission targets by 2030. This issue was debated intensely and the African leaders pushed back stressing that Africa’s development goals will only be met with the use of fossil fuels such as oil and gas reserves. Oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia also pushed back on the broader language. In the end, the agreed-upon language in Glasgow of phasing down coal usage remained intact.

COP 27 came close with some wins for the larger climate change community and a reminder that much more needs to be done especially as they relate to meeting financing commitments set by developed countries. In the end, activists were limited in their protests by restrictions imposed in Egypt but the voice of young people everywhere continues to rise in protest and inaction on climate change.