Global risk facts at COP27 flashing lights
Following the inception of COP in Rio de Janeiro 30 years ago, delegates from nearly 200 countries have gathered this year in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The aim is to influence the global climate negotiations, and find new ways to keep climate change from spiralling out of control. Here are the highlights:
Week One
The first half of COP27 touched on various topics such as loss and damage compensation, agriculture, decarbonisation, and youth. First, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres kicked off the climate conference with a powerful phrase: “We’re on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.” He reminded us that the time to act is now, and that we’re the last generation who can do something about climate change.
Second, one of the top discussions was the viability of a Special “Loss and Damage” fund to compensate vulnerable states hit by climate-fuelled disasters. Also, there was a debate on whether rich nations should pay the costs incurred by catastrophes such as rising sea levels.
Another key moment of COP27 has been the pledges by dozens of countries and organisations to steer more than $8 billion into projects to reduce the farming climate impact. In fact, this is the first time a COP has a Food and Agriculture dedicated pavilion (courtesy of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), CGIAR and The Rockefeller Foundation).
Third, financial commitments to tackle the climate crisis brought together 26 countries that announced billions of dollars in additional financing to accelerate the pledge made at COP26 — to end deforestation by 2030. Similarly, the UK has this year tripled funding to support climate adaptation from £500m in 2019 to £1.5bn in 2025. For context, the provisional report on the State of the Global Climate in 2022 reaffirmed the urgency for stronger climate action by showing that the last eight years have been the warmest on record, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations. If the trend continues, it’s just a matter of time before we reach 1.5℃ global warming above pre-industrial levels.
Fourth, a high-level expert group created by the UN secretary general to crack down on the greenwashing of organisations’ net zero pledges, released a report saying policies should be “about cutting emissions, not corners.” The group of experts called for “red lines” to stop support for new fossil fuel exploration and overuse of carbon offsets.
Fifth, leaders at COP27 emphasized the need to find sustainable substitutes for plastics. It was highlighted that the total value of global exports of plastics or goods made from plastic was about $1.2 trillion in 2021. In other words, if a country was to exclusively export all this plastic, it would become the world’s fourth largest exporter of goods.
Lastly, to have a significant chance of staying below 1.5℃ of global warming, countries will need to accelerate ambition in both pledges and actions on emission reductions. With that in mind, the City of London Corporation’s Policy Chairman Chris Hayward, alongside Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, announced the 2023 Net Zero Delivery Summit to facilitate the future transition steps.
In his own words, the Policy Chairman noted: “There is no pathway to sustainable economic growth around the world unless we deliver on the terms of the Glasgow Climate Pact. A crucial precondition of the Pact’s success is the pursuit of an economic transition that is fair, just and inclusive. That is why the Egyptian COP Presidency, and the City of London Corporation are partnering to host the Net Zero Delivery Summit in London, in 2023.”
Again, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Founding Partner of Global Optimism, discussed how non-state actors are working to figure out what happens next. “Collaboration remains the key to making progress. Climate change is now such a big issue that no one can deal with it on their own. It’s critical to figure out how we work together.”
All in all, global leaders were in agreement that there’s need to take action and come together with the objective of transforming and rescuing our planet’s resources.
Juna Margariti, LCAG Core Group Member