COP27 summit 2022: Informal draft has little new for poor nations

Focus is on coal 'phase-down', 'phase out and rationalise' fossil fuel subsidies

As the climate negotiations at the Conference of the Parties (COP27) at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, come to a close, the emerging negotiation text seems to be tilting again more in favour of the Global North with nothing much or new to offer to developing nations.

From new finance pools for adaptation needs of poor nations to their energy transition planning, the informal draft text, released by the UN on Thursday, steers clear of any strong support for the demands of the Global South.

The negotiations on the outcome text are going on and the final text is expected on Friday, said sources involved in the process in Egypt.

The text has provided no dollar billion figure for the historical polluters to pay as compensation to poor nations suffering from climate extremes.

The informal text takes into account the various agendas under negotiation. The language of the final text will be discussed on the penultimate day of the conference. Last year, on the last day of COP26, because of the push from India, China and other developing nations, “coal phase-out” (shutdown) was changed to coal “phase-down” (gradual reduction). The then COP26 president, Alok Sharma, cried during the concluding press conference, saying he was terribly sorry for this last-minute change in the language on coal.

As the world grapples with the energy crisis and European nations fall back on fossil fuels, the informal text has laid responsibility for emission reduction on only coal, something that developing nations, including India, vehemently opposed.

The draft said: “(It) encourages the continued efforts to accelerate measures towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, in line with national circumstances and recognizing the need for support towards just transitions.”

The Indian delegation, while citing the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said there was “need for phase down for all fossil fuels, in the context of a clean energy transition”.

The negotiating text during COP26 had also used similar language with the onus on coal and none on oil or gas.

The draft said: has, however, pointed out: “Expresses deep regret that developed countries who have the most capabilities financially and technologically to lead in reducing their emissions continue to fall short in doing so, and are taking inadequate and unambitious goals to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, while they continue to emit and disproportionately consume the global carbon budget.”

It was expected that developing nations, especially from Africa and South Asia, would have a chance to present their demands more strongly than ever at COP27 and there would be an enhanced focus on “loss and damage funding” (LDF) and climate adaptation solutions.

But the draft text has not mentioned any separate funding for either. There has been no enhancement on the decade-old $100-billion climate-funding goal.

The text has recognised the need of $4 trillion annually for renewable energy capacity addition in developing countries but the responsibility has been put on global institutions. It has reiterated the need to double the adaptation finance to match it to the corpus towards mitigation.

“Highlights that about $4 trillion a year needs to be invested in renewable energy until 2030 – including investments in technology and infrastructure – to allow us to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Furthermore, a global transformation to a low-carbon economy is expected to require investments of at least USD 4-6 trillion a year. Delivering such funding will require a transformation of the financial system and its structures and processes, engaging governments, central banks, commercial banks, institutional investors and other financial actors,” the text said.