Historic loss and damage agreement at COP27 must now be honoured by rich countries, Greens warn
20 November 2022
Responding to the final Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan [1] from the COP27 climate negotiations in Egypt, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:
“The agreement to set up a fund for loss and damage is a significant and historic step towards climate justice for the poorest and most vulnerable countries, those least responsible for the climate crisis.
“However, the fund is currently empty and we now need rich countries like the UK to step up, honour their commitment to this fund and pay for the harm they have inflicted through historical emissions.
“But the real failure at Sharm el-Sheikh was that no significant progress has been made in commitments on fossil fuels, which is unsurprising given the hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists who were active inside the negotiation. In terms of the commitment to eliminating fossil fuels from the global economy, COP27 represents a backward step.
“Future COPs must keep out the oil and gas giants and open the door wider to those with real solutions to offer as well as to a much greater proportion of women, who are bearing a disproportionate burden from climate breakdown yet made up only a third of the negotiating delegates [2].
“There has been a failure of international leadership from the world’s most powerful leaders. That includes the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who had to be dragged kicking and screaming to Egypt, before rushing home to back his chancellor as he announced a continuation of business as usual – new licences for North Sea oil and gas, windfall tax loopholes for the fossil fuel giants [3] and billions on new roads.
“This COP was billed as an implementation summit where countries were supposed to come with detailed action plans showing how they would create the credible path that the UN says is missing to keep global heating to below 1.5C. Yet there is scant reference to the 1.5C target, let alone a credible path to get us there.
“We needed to make giant strides toward achieving net zero and holding down global heating below 1.5C. Instead global leaders have, at best, taken a few tiny, teetering steps back from catastrophe.”
Notes
1. Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan. Revised draft decision -/CP.27 | UNFCCC
2. COP27: Lack of women at negotiations raises concern – BBC News