COP27 step towards climate justice, but much more needed, says EU

The UN Climate Summit ended Sunday with a positive agreement on a fund to address the impacts of climate change bringing justice to developing countries particularly vulnerable to climate change.

The loss and damage fund agreed by the participating countries, a request that dates back to even before the creation of the UNFCCC, was welcomed by the European Union as a crucial step forward, “because there can be no lasting action against climate The EU is the world’s leading contributor of international climate finance, she said, and it has “confirmed our commitment to support the most vulnerable on our planet through a first contribution on loss and damage.”

Key details remain to be discussed in the work of the ‘transitional committee’ setting the rules on the loss and damage response fund, however, so that the most vulnerable are eligible for these funds, the biggest polluters pay for them, and the funds are sufficiently fed with new and additional grants finance. “This particularly challenging COP brings one piece of hope, especially for the most vulnerable people, with an agreement to set up a Loss and Damage fund,” said Chiara Martinelli, Director of environmental group CAN Europe.

The EU, who has played a relevant role in pushing for keeping the 1.5°C limit alive, announced in the COP its readiness to update its NDC from 55% to 57%, however CAN Europe says this is far from what’s needed to manage to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 by 2030. CAN Europe is asking the EU to reduce emissions by at least 65%, carbon sinks aside, and the COP27 decisions reiterate the call for countries to update their NDCs in line with the 1.5°C limit.

Having played a key role in Egypt in keeping the 1.5 alive in COP decisions, the EU and Member States now have to follow “by reducing emissions at least by 65% by 2030 to contribute to achieving the Paris Agreement in an equitable manner and stop adding on to the climate crisis”, said Sven Harmeling, International Climate Policy Expert at CAN Europe.

It was widely acknowledged that little progress was made at COP27 on tackling the biggest challenge, that is, the phasing out of all fossil fuels.

Source: EUbusiness