The prominent global conference on climate change, COP 27 hosted in Sharm-el Sheik, Egypt wrapped up with some ground-breaking declarations, with far-reaching implications for better or worse. Numerous publications have published analyses of the events and decisions from the conference, however, we have summarised some of our material takeaways from Africa’s COP in four priority areas – mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance. As the conference was hosted in Africa, developing countries took the opportunity to voice their frustrations at the disproportionate impacts of climate change and the developed countries’ responses to the climate-related challenges they faced.
Ultimately, the COP 27 conference ended with strong messaging about the urgency of climate action, reproach for developed countries’ shrugging of accountability, and calls for increased financial flow and technology transfer to developing countries to manage the adverse effects of climate change.
Mitigation
1. Parties welcomed the 2022 Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)and its Essential Climate Variables (ECV) requirement. One of the decisions taken at COP27 was to recognize the need for capacity building in climate observation and GHG inventory systems and establish the Global Climate Observing System to address the systemic observation gaps in understanding climate-related risks and provide actionable insights for mitigation. The introduction of a robust document on ECVs will also help to provide a basis for useful datasets for observation in data-deficient regions such as developing countries, oceanic, mountainous and polar regions.
Inaccuracies and deficiencies in climate change data, particularly in developing countries, have extensive effects on adaptation and mitigation strategies globally and regionally. Some key objectives of the GCOS will be to fill data gaps, improve data quality, consistency and availability, manage data repositories and streamline national climate observations into a robust global system. The conference highlighted that about 60% of Africa does not have access to early warning and climate information services, affecting mitigation and adaptation planning in the most impacted region.
2. Parties failed to commit to an all-inclusive fossil fuel phase-out plan. Despite fossil fuels being the largest contributor to global warming, parties failed to commit to an all-inclusive fossil fuel phase-out plan, merely recalling a landmark decision in Glasgow’s COP26 to “accelerate measures towards the phase-down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalise inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”. [1] With a total of 636 fossil fuels lobbyists participating in COP 27[2], there is an evident resistance to fossil fuels as coal and oil and gas are bedrocks of numerous economies. Expectedly, their indecision about fossil fuels garnered harsh criticism from activists, calling the proceedings an “abdication of responsibility”. [3]
Adaptation
3. Adaptation levels remain insufficient. Findings highlighted a serious gap between current adaptation levels and the levels required to build resilience and reduce climate-related risks globally. In line with the findings of the contribution of Working Group II to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report, adaptation efforts are reaching their limitations as “many natural systems are near the hard limits of their natural adaptation capacity and additional systems will reach limits with increasing global warming.”[4] A new report by the UNCC also highlighted that “the combined climate pledges of 193 Parties under the Paris Agreement could put the world on track for around 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century.” [5]
As climate change impacts are unequally distributed across systems, regions and sectors and are not adequately addressed by current financial, governance and institutional arrangements, particularly in vulnerable developing countries, strong calls were made to increase adaptation capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability for the least developed countries.
4. In a milestone decision, developed countries agreed to provide finance to help with costs associated with climate-related disasters called the Loss and damage fund. After decades of lobbying for developed countries to compensate for the disproportionate damages of the climate crisis to developing countries, talks reached a head at the African COP as developing countries argued their grievances with developed countries shrugging off responsibility for their contribution to climate change and their inadequate assistance with impact to developing countries. The Loss and damage fund which was “welcomed” made no figure commitment or established start date. Yet, EU actors pushed to revisit classifications of developed countries, arguing for including China as the world’s second-biggest economy and second-largest cumulative GHG emitter. However, external parties, including private sector actors, made significant pledges towards climate-related loss and damage in developing countries. Belgium, Germany, New Zealand, and Canada pledged a total of $32.5 million towards loss and damage and insurance associated with climate-related disasters. [6]
Finance
5. Scaling up finance for the climate transition was a key issue at the COP 27 events. Parties acknowledged an annual investment requirement of about $4 trillion in renewable energy up until 2030 to meet net-zero targets by 2050, and a further $4-6 trillion annually to facilitate a global transformation to a low-carbon economy. [7] To this end, new pledges by governments, private sector actors and international organisations totalling over $500 million were made towards loss and damage in developing countries and enabling the climate transition. Additional pledges were also made by external parties including a €247 million investment by the European Investment Fund (EIP), Europe’s largest venture capital and private equity financier, to drive delivery on Europe’s climate and energy targets. [8]
6. Parties acknowledged that global financial flow towards developing countries was paltry in comparison to their needs. According to the Adaptation Gap report 2022, estimated adaptation funding needs are between $160-340 billion by 2030 and up to $565 billion by 2050, annually. [9] Additionally, rich countries have yet to fulfil the decades-old commitment made in Copenhagen to fund less wealthy countries with $100 billion annually towards climate change mitigation and adaptation. Parties further reiterated that developed countries should increase their provision of adaptation finance by 2025.
Technology
7. There were calls for greater innovation in priority sectors such as healthcare, Agriculture, and energy to accelerate adaptation and mitigation efforts. A two-year Sharm El-Sheik Technology Implementation work plan was established to support the implementation of technology in developing countries. Also, parties acknowledged the significant challenges faced by developing countries in adopting low-emission technologies such as inadequate finance, and limited institutional capacity. They resolved to increase accessibility and affordability to climate technologies and reduce barriers to technology transfer for developing countries.
As the world returns to the rapidly increasing and diverse impacts of climate change, COP 27 has amplified the voices of developing countries and their inordinate challenges in dealing with climate change. At COP 28, which is scheduled to take place in the United Arab Emirates in 2023, we hope to see stronger action made by all parties towards fulfilling the commitments already made, increased financial flows towards developing countries and a resolute document outlining the loss and damages fund. The urgency of climate action is evident and so is our collective responsibility.
