COP27 Key Outcomes: A Win for Climate Justice, but much remains to be done
By Varin S.
January 31, 2022
Every year, the UN organizes the Conference of the Parties (COP) that brings together governments from around the world to discuss and review how climate change should be managed. At their 27th conference on November 6th, 2022, 90 heads of state and over 30,000 delegates representing over 190 countries convened in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh to discuss their efforts in combating human-induced climate change.
The international response to the outcome of this event was mixed. On one hand, some breakthrough agreements and pledges were made, providing a great leap forward in humanity's fight against climate change. On the other hand, normal spectators and climate activists alike were disappointed by multiple agreements that, although brought to attention by activists, did not find their way to the podiums of conference speakers. Among the significant breakthroughs made during the conference were commitments by richer nations to "loss and damage" funds for developing and vulnerable countries affected by climate change and pledges to curb methane emissions.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) describes loss and damage as the "widespread adverse impacts… to nature and people" created by human-induced climate change. Loss and damage is a topic that has been glossed over by politicians since the 1990s, as governments have often believed that committing funds towards coping with loss and damage is ultimately futile. This year, climate change-induced severe weather events have caused more damage than in any other year — for example, during the conference, Pakistan's climate minister Sherry Rehman mentioned that the devastating floods which occurred from June to October 2022 in Pakistan have cost the country over $30 billion, an amount which "Pakistan cannot afford." Additionally, Europe saw record high summer temperatures and wildfires breaking out across the continent. By the end of the conference, Germany and Denmark had contributed 170 million Euros to the "Global Shield," a new fund created to give developing countries the money to cope with loss and damage from ongoing climate change impacts. New Zealand and Austria also pledged a combined $75 million for loss and damage funds. Such loss and damage funds were the first of their kind, hence its significance.
Another good outcome of COP27 was that over 150 nations pledged to lower their methane emissions. Although the main focus of lobbyists seeking reduction in greenhouse gas emissions has been carbon dioxide (CO2) — the gas with the most atmospheric emissions — other gasses such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), which are also emitted in large quantities, are far more potent than CO2. Methane is responsible for about 30 percent of the rise in global temperatures. Although a verbal pledge to lower methane emissions doesn't imply imminent action on the subject, the acknowledgment of the subject is significant as it paves the path for concrete government-sponsored action towards it.
Despite the significant achievement of COP27, it still fell short in multiple ways. Firstly, no commitments were made to phase out fossil fuels, such as natural gas or coal. Burning fossil fuels accounts for more than 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 percent of all CO2 emissions. Fossil fuels are used extensively in a variety of industries, such as transportation (for powering most cars, boats, and planes), steel production, and other manufacturing activities. Combustion of natural gas and coal emits carbon dioxide. In addition, extraction of such fossil fuels causes methane emissions and damages the environment; one extraction practice called fracking (short for 'hydraulic fracturing') destroys entire sections of the Earth's crust, causing earthquakes.
A commitment to phasing out fossil fuels is something that will not happen quickly, and according to some sources, we only have 6 years to limit average global temperatures from increasing above 1.5° C. The average global temperature has already increased by 1° C. Allowing the planet to heat beyond 1.5° C could be disastrous for humanity as this can lead to extreme heat waves, extreme sea level rise, and coastal flooding. Hence, a lack of action in this regard is a significant loss given that fossil fuels are a primary driver of the climate crisis.
COP27 also disappointed those who have been lobbying for a shift to veganism and an end to livestock production. At the event, some organizations created a pavilion dedicated to discussing the negative impact of livestock and agriculture on the environment. Livestock excrete methane and carbon dioxide after eating. Some animals used for livestock production, notably cows, require large tracts of land to graze. Thus, livestock production uses a large amount of land that could be used for other purposes if people simply ate less meat and dairy products. Clearing such an amount of land also requires mass deforestation, leading to clearing of habitats and endangerment of species.
Organizations promoting a shift to veganism lobbied for representatives to propose such a shift. The founder of the Indian Cultural Centre of London, Nitin Mehta, wrote that COP27 would be a failure if politicians did not propose that people "abandon meat, fish, eggs and dairy". No such proposition was made. Instead, governments proposed adaptive technologies such as capturing methane excreted by livestock, or altering their feed to minimize the amount of methane they produce.
In spite of some of these disappointments of COP27, the fund for "loss and damage" remains a significant achievement in the battle against climate change. The countries which have often contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions often end up bearing the brunt of climate change impacts. So, the loss and damage fund to help such countries and communities represents a major milestone on the road to climate justice.
However, the most significant strategies to mitigate climate change, namely phasing out fossil fuels and livestock production, were scantly discussed during the conference. Reparations for loss and damage will only get us so far; it's only a matter of time until the developed countries are hit harder by the ill-effects of climate change and will no longer be able to provide support to developing countries. So, lowering carbon dioxide emissions to mitigate climate change still remains a fundamental necessity.