Intern reporter Wang Shihan
In the early morning of November 20th, local time, the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as COP27) was officially closed in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
After two weeks of climate negotiations, diplomats from nearly 200 countries and regions reached a final draft agreement. Agreeing to set up a "Loss and Damage" fund is a breakthrough resolution of the draft and the most significant progress of the COP27 conference. The relevant provisions were approved at the subsequent plenary meeting.
This oneThe fund will provide funds for fragile countries to make up for their losses caused by climate disasters. Specifically, it includes irreversible economic costs (such as life, food, land, etc.) and non-economic costs (such as culture, sovereignty, human rights, biodiversity, etc.) caused by extreme weather events such as hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, and long-term climate disasters such as sea level rise and glacier melting.
At last year’s COP26 conference, the Group of 77 and China proposed to establish a "loss and damage financing mechanism", but it was rejected by developed countries. One year later, the establishment of the "Loss and Damage" Fund marked a key breakthrough in the pressure exerted by developing countries and small island countries on developed countries over the years.
However, because many important details have not been finalized, it will take some time for the "loss and damage" fund to come out. According to CNN’s report, there are still some issues to be clarified, including determining when the terms will be finalized and put into operation, and how to determine and expand the sources of funds. The latter is particularly tricky, that is, it is necessary to determine which countries should contribute to the "loss and damage" fund.
Decisions on these issues will be postponed until next year.
Official website, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as UNFCCC), shows that governments have agreed to set up a "transition committee", which will make corresponding suggestions at the COP28 conference to be held next year. The first meeting of the "Transition Committee" is expected to be held before the end of March 2023.
In addition, the COP27 Conference also launched a plan led by the Group of Seven (G7) called "Global Shield Financing Facility", which will provide funds for countries suffering from climate disasters. Led by Germany, the G7 will provide 105.6 million US dollars (about 750 million yuan). Pakistan, Ghana and Bangladesh will be the first recipients of funds.
At the same time, the final draft resolution of COP27 is also criticized. Little progress has been made on many issues of great concern, especially the failure to make a commitment to "gradually reduce the use of all fossil fuels" in the final resolution, which has disappointed the proponents’ expectations.
During the congress, India took the lead in making suggestions, hoping to expand the scope of reducing the use of fossil fuels from coal to all fossil fuels, including oil and natural gas. This proposal was supported by the European Union, the United States, Britain and other economies, but it was not adopted by the final resolution of the General Assembly.
The provisions on fossil fuels in the resolution still continue the contents of COP26, that is, gradually reduce coal use and gradually cancel inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
In personal social media, Ani Desgupta, president of the World Resources Institute, commented that the result was "disappointing". "The provisions of the COP27 agreement on curbing emissions have basically copied and pasted the contents of the Glasgow Summit (COP26) last year, without any new major measures." He said.
Although a few countries expressed their opposition, COP27 still adhered to the temperature control target of 1.5 C. The Group of Twenty (G20) also reiterated its support for the temperature control target of 1.5°C at the G20 Summit held in Indonesia recently.
It should be pointed out that this goal faces severe challenges. An analysis released by UNFCCC in October showed that only 24 of the 193 countries that agreed to strengthen climate action at COP26 submitted new climate plans; If greenhouse gas emissions are not greatly reduced, the earth will warm up by an average of 2.1 to 2.9°C by the end of this century.
Ursula von der Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told the Guardian that "Cop27 has maintained the temperature control target of 1.5 C.. Unfortunately, it has not fulfilled the commitments of the world’s major emitters to gradually reduce fossil fuels, nor has it fulfilled its new commitments to slow down climate change. "
During the COP27 conference, China also made new progress in climate cooperation and emission reduction. On November 19th, local time, China’s special envoy for climate change, Xie Zhenhua, said in a special press conference of the China delegation that after the leaders of China and the United States met at the G20 Summit, according to the requirements of the leaders of the two countries, the special envoys for climate issues of China and the United States had formally negotiated in Sharm el-Sheikh how to cooperate to promote the success of COP27.
"The climate consultation between China and the United States is very constructive." Xie Zhenhua said, "We agreed to continue formal consultations and even face-to-face consultations after this conference."
On the afternoon of November 14th, China countries.Chairman XiJin Ping and US President Joe Biden met at the G20 Summit and mentioned that the global response to climate change cannot be separated from the coordination and cooperation between China and the United States. Earlier, China and the United States suspended climate change talks for several months.
As early as November 9, local time, Xie Zhenhua said that he had started informal talks and exchanged letters with John Kerry, the US President’s special envoy for climate.
On the same day, Xie Zhenhua also revealed the latest progress in methane emission reduction in China. Methane is the second largest greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. He said that China has compiled a national strategic plan to strictly control and reduce methane emissions, mainly including three important areas: energy and natural gas, agriculture and garbage disposal; And initially determined the emission reduction targets.