The UN climate talks in Dubai could be in jeopardy after some nations reacted furiously to a draft deal on fossil fuels they call "weak". The draft removed language included in a previous text suggesting that fossil fuels could be "phased out".
DUBAI: Countries at the COP28 climate conference are considering calling for a formal phase-out of fossil fuels as part of the U.N. summit’s final deal to tackle global warming, a draft negotiating text seen on Tuesday shows. The proposal is set to spark heated debate among the nearly 200 countries at the two-week conference in […]
1: The biggest win on climate since Paris...?
A new funding arrangement on loss and damage - a pooled fund for countries most affected by climate change - has been hailed as a "historic moment". It can be seen as the most important climate advance since the Paris Agreement at COP 2015.
For decades the victims of a changing climate were the ghosts the richer world just couldn't see.
Money has long been available to cut carbon or help countries adapt to rising temperatures - but there was nothing for those who had lost everything.
"For someone who has seen his home disappear in the floods in Pakistan, a solar panel or a sea wall isn't much use," explained Harjeet Singh from the Climate Action Network.
The COP27 decision on loss and damage won't fix that immediately.
The fund comes with many unknowns. What will be the criteria to trigger a payout? Where will the money come from, and will it be enough?
Compare the EU's €60m contribution against the $30bn costs that Pakistan faces.
But establishing the loss and damage fund is about more than money or compensation or reparations - it is really about solidarity and rebuilding trust.
Despite the dramatic impacts the rising temperatures will inflict on the world, this fund signals that no one will be left behind.
It is a concrete demonstration that we really are all in this together.
2: ...Or the biggest loss on climate change since Paris?
For many countries, the last hours of the negotiation represent a real step backwards in the fight against rising temperatures.
While the loss and damage text represented a big win, the overall cover decision is being seen as a missed opportunity in the fight against climate change.
The man who ran the COP26 negotiations in Glasgow put it bluntly.
"Emissions peaking before 2025, as the science tells us is necessary. Not in this text," said Alok Sharma.
"Clear follow-through on the phase down of coal. Not in this text."
As well as all these limitations there was also a sharp U-turn on the language around fossil fuels.
The text now includes a reference to "low emission and renewable energy".
This is being seen as a significant loophole that could allow for the development of further gas resources, as gas produces less emissions than coal.
3: The spirit of 1.5C is strong, even if the text is weak
There's a fifty-fifty chance over the next five years that we'll go over this important marker of temperature increases, compared to pre-industrial times. We're likely to pass it permanently by 2031.
But at COP27, the EU and other developed countries were willing to die on the hill of strengthening the promise to keep 1.5C alive.
Their efforts were ultimately in vain as the cover text failed to include a reference to the phasing out of all fossil fuels, seen as a necessary advance on last year's decision to phase down the use of coal.
"I wish we got fossil fuel phase out," said Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, the Climate Envoy of the Marshall Islands, who along with other island states fear annihilation if temperatures rise above 1.5C.
"The current text is not enough. But we've shown with the loss and damage fund that we can do the impossible. So we know we can come back next year and get rid of fossil fuels once and for all."
There's a deep sense of solidarity by the richer nations with the island states on this issue of keeping below 1.5C
Faith in the threshold has also become a key differential between the US, EU and other richer countries and China, which is markedly less concerned about the goal.
While the world will undoubtedly be a better place the closer we stay to the 1.5C guiderail, belief in the ideal is also a political and economic bridge to the developing world.
So even as the science and the COP process falter on 1.5C, expect the diplomatic attachment to grow stronger in the coming years.
4: The fossil fuel industry has finally come out of the shadows
One key takeaway from COP27 was the presence and power of fossil fuel - be they delegates or countries.
Attendees connected to the oil and gas industry were everywhere. Some 636 were part of country delegations and trade teams.
The crammed pavilions felt at times like a fossil fuel trade fair. This influence was clearly reflected in the final text.
Demands from India and others for all fossil fuels to be phased down didn't survive, despite the backing of the EU and many other countries rich and poor.
Many African countries were also keen to use the COP as a platform to promote new oil and gas initiatives in their countries.
"The fact that the outcome only talks about 'phase-down of unabated coal power' is a disaster for Africa and for the climate," said Babawale Obayanju, from Friends of the Earth Africa.
"We don't need more gas extraction in Africa, devastating our communities for the benefit of rich countries and corporations. What we needed from COP27 was agreement to a rapid, equitable phase out of all fossil fuels."
That battle will resume at COP28 in Dubai.
5: Democracy really matters for the climate
The undoubted darling of the COP was Brazil's president-elect Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva.
Just as he did in Copenhagen in 2009, Lula electrified the conference with his promise of zero deforestation by 2030.
More than his commitment to the Amazon, Lula restored people's faith in the power of the ballot box to solve the climate problem.
So too, in his un-showy way did President Biden. The retention of the Senate by the Democrats most likely ensures that his Inflation Reduction Act will not be overturned or watered down.
At a stroke it puts the United States' carbon cutting goal for 2030 within reach.
The affirmation that democracy is an effective weapon against climate change was also demonstrated in the actions of the host country.
With security and surveillance everywhere, the conference took place in an atmosphere best described as barely restrained intolerance.
As well as the ongoing troubles over human rights, the Egyptian hosts paid scant attention to basic functional needs of a conference such as food, drink and decent wifi.
When push came to shove, there was a distinct lack of empathy from negotiators for the presidency. This really mattered in the final showdown.
COP27 could have been a major advance against climate change. That it ultimately didn't hit that mark is at least partly down to the hosts. (with inputs from BBC)
KATHMANDU, August 2: Prem Suwal, Member of Parliament from the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, has said that the government has not paid attention to seeking an alternative to fossil fuels.
GENEVA, April 5: Almost the entire global population, or 99 percent, breathes air that exceeds air quality limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN health agency said in a statement on Monday.
Even though a record number of more than 6,000 cities in 117 countries now monitor air quality, people in those cities still breathe in dangerous levels of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide, with people in low and middle-income countries suffering the highest exposures, WHO said.
The findings prompted WHO to call for a reduction in fossil fuel use and other concrete measures to lower air pollution levels.
"High fossil fuel prices, energy security, and the urgency of addressing the twin health challenges of air pollution and climate change, underscore the pressing need to move faster towards a world that is much less dependent on fossil fuels," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Particulate matter, especially PM2.5, is able to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream, causing cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and respiratory disorders, the statement said, adding that nitrogen dioxide is associated with respiratory diseases, especially asthma.
WHO estimated that more than 13 million deaths worldwide each year are due to preventable environmental causes, including seven million deaths related to air pollution.
"After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have seven million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution," said Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health under the WHO.
To improve air quality and health, WHO recommends safe and affordable public transport systems and networks suitable for pedestrians and cyclists, investment in energy-efficient housing and power plants, improved management of industrial and municipal waste, reduction of agricultural waste incineration and some agro-forestry activities such as charcoal production.
A new draft of the final declaration being negotiated at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow published on Friday appears to back away from a previous call to end all use of coal and phase out fossil fuels.
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