COP 27 at Sharm El-Sheikh Concludes 

Context 

Recently COP 27 to UNFCCC concluded at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt concluded with the adoption of the Fund for Loss and Damages.

Probable Question 

What were the major outcomes of COP 27 and mention India’s Long Term Low Emission Development Strategy? (150 words, 10 marks)

Background of COP to UNFCCC

The conference of Parties is the highest decision-making body of UNFCCC. It meets annually and COP 27 was its 27th meeting which was held at Sharm El-Shaikh.

Agenda of COP27

• Mitigation:
  • The aim of mitigation is to keep the global temperatures rise below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to keep the rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
  • The progress made by major GHG emitters since COP 26 has been insignificant as highlighted by the Emission Gap Report of UNEP.
• Adaptation:
  • Small Island nations, and developing and vulnerable countries (Mozambique, South Sudan, India, Pakistan(floods), etc.) were the nations most affected by extreme weather events.
  • Over USD 350 million and USD 600 million were committed to the Adaptation Fund and the Least Developed Countries Fund, at COP26.
  • Timely disbursement and political will are needed to implement an adaptation strategy.

• Finance: In  2009 at the COP15 meeting, developed countries agreed to contribute $100 billion per year by 2020 to GCF(Green Climate Fund)  further extended until 2025 during Paris agreement COP21 to assist developing countries to adapt and mitigate climate change. But still developed countries have not fulfilled their pledge.
• Collaboration: There is a need to call upon governments, civil society, and private sector to coordinate to change the way humans interact with the world through LiFE approach, as proposed by the Indian PM.

 Outcomes of the COP27 on the Above Agendas

• The Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan: It emphasized that a global transition to a low-carbon strategy for development will require at least USD 4-6 trillion annually.
• Mitigation work program: 

This would begin in 2022  and last in 2030. Governments were requested:

• To revise and strengthen NDCs for 2030 in their national climate plans by the end of 2023.
• To enhance efforts to phase down unabated coal power and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
• To reduce greenhouse gases(GHGs) in selected sectors through increased renewable and low-emission energy share.

• Loss and damage (L&D) Fund: 
  • Delegates at the UNFCCC COP-27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt thrashed out an agreement on 20th November to establish a Loss and Damages fund to compensate the most vulnerable countries for damages from climate-linked disasters.
  • Crucial questions — such as who will manage this fund, whether contributions are expected from large developing countries, and what the fair share of contributors will be — have been left to a “transitional committee” that will make recommendations to enable the actual adoption of the fund at the next Conference of the Parties (COP) of the U.N.’s Framework Convention for Climate Change, to be held in the United Arab Emirates next year.
• Fossil fuels: India proposed to include a commitment to phase down all fossil fuels (and not just coal). But the resolution could not be adopted.
• Other outcomes:
  • The New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate finance and the Global Goal on Adaptation, on the lines of the global goal on mitigation of limiting global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius has been adopted.
  • The CMA (countries who have signed and ratified the Paris Agreement) also adopted Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which allows countries to voluntarily collaborate with each other to achieve GHG emission reduction goals set out in their NDCs.
  • World Bank Reforms: Recapitalization of the development banks to make them capable of providing more assistance to developing nations.

 Challenges

• No real contributions have been made to the Loss and Damage fund.
• Extra burden on the developing nations. They have been asked to revise their NDCs(Nationally Determined Contributions).
• Developed countries have failed to meet the target of USD 100 billion per year for the Green Climate Fund.

 The Way Forward

 To provide financial assistance for mitigation, adaptation, and Loss and Damage the financial systems and their processes need transformation by collaborating with governments, central banks, commercial banks, institutional investors, and other financial actors.

News Source: DTE

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/a-new-dawn-for-humanity-cop27-ends-loss-and-damage-fund-other-agendas-adopted-86087

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