Key takeaways from COP27 climate summit

• Nations agreed to establish a fund to compensate developing nations for “loss and destruction.”
• The continued usage of fossil fuels was reaffirmed.
• Brazil joined Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in creating a forest protection collaboration.
• China and the U.S. agreed to resume cooperation on climate change after a hiatus caused by Taiwan tensions.
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This year’s United States climate summit featured visits from world leaders, proposals from industry executives, and negotiations between almost 200 nations regarding the future of global action on climate change. Key takeaways from the two-week COP27 summit held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh are as follows:

Fund for ‘climate justice’

After years of opposition from wealthy governments, nations finally decided to establish a fund to compensate developing nations for “loss and destruction” caused by climate-related storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires.

Despite being the most significant achievement of the negotiations, it will likely take several years to iron out the fund’s operational elements, such as how the money will be distributed and which nations would be eligible.

Fossil fuels

Some critics criticized the final COP27 agreement for failing to do more to rein in climate-damaging emissions by setting more ambitious national targets and by reducing the use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

While the text of the agreement called for steps to phase down the use of unabated coal power and phase out wasteful fossil fuel subsidies, several countries pushed to phase out or at least phase down the use of all fossil fuels.

From the opening remarks through the signing of the final agreement, the continued usage of fossil fuels was reaffirmed.

President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, who will host the COP28 climate meeting next year, stated that his nation will continue to provide oil and gas “as long as the world requires it.”

CEOs of oil companies were present at this year’s summit, despite being marginalized during COP26. Despite the fact that gas companies in the United States have been sued for similar accusations, natural gas executives promoted themselves as champions of the environment.

Nonetheless, some electricity-deficient African nations advocated for their right to develop their natural gas reserves, despite worsening climate impacts like drought.

And fossil fuel phase-out clubs established around last year’s summit in Glasgow struggled to recruit new members in light of this year’s energy crisis resulting from the Ukraine war.

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“Brazil is back”

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was greeted by loud crowds as he declared “Brazil is back” in the worldwide fight against climate change and pledged to host COP30 in the Amazon region in 2025.

The climate summit in Egypt was the leftist leader’s first international trip since winning Brazil’s presidential election last month against right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who presided over the escalating destruction of the Amazon rainforest and refused to host the 2019 climate summit that was originally scheduled for Brazil.

On Monday, Brazil joined Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in creating a forest protection collaboration. The trilateral alliance was created over a decade of on-and-off negotiations, which continued even when the national forest policies and leadership of the participating nations changed. They are likely to exert pressure on wealthy nations to fund forest protection.

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China, the U.S. join hands once again

A crucial condition for the success of the climate talks occurred far from the Red Sea.

As the second week of the COP began, China’s President Xi Jinping and the United States’s President Joe Biden met in Indonesia for the G20, where the leaders of the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters agreed to resume cooperation on climate change after a hiatus caused by tensions over Taiwan.

Xie Zhenhua, China’s senior climate negotiator, had previously told reporters that informal dialogue had persisted with John Kerry, his U.S. counterpart and “close buddy for 25 years.”

Xie stated on November 19 that he expects to continue direct climate change work with Kerry once COP27 concludes, and presumably when Kerry recovers from COVID.

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Not enough money to fight global warming

The world of finance has failed to offer sufficient funds to assist nations in reducing carbon emissions and adapting their economies to the effects of global warming, but the COP27 talks indicate that this will soon change.

A plan to overhaul key public lenders such as the World Bank so that they can take on more risk and lend more money is among the measures likely to release additional funds. Countries hope that by doing so, more private investors will participate.

A groundbreaking agreement between the United States, Japan, and private investors to expedite Indonesia’s transition away from coal-fired power generation is among the agreements reached in the discussions that offer promises for more rapid action.

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