Dear delegates, do you know the meme where angry customers left a message of disappointment after not being served at a restaurant? ECO is pretty sure you don’t want to be that restaurant. Meaning that the pledges you made must be implemented and trust rebuilt after all your broken promises.
But guess what? To address Loss and Damage, people have not been waiting for 30 minutes but for over 30 years. It’s been that long since the small island states brought the issue of Loss and Damage to the international negotiations. Rich nations did just enough to be able to say that they would not completely abandon them, some technical assistance here, some dialogue there, but never has the issue been addressed properly.
After 30 years of inaction, this COP, on African soil, after witnessing one of the warmest years in one of the most vulnerable regions of the world, it is time to finally deliver on Loss and Damage. COP27 must set up a Loss and Damage Finance Facility to coordinate information on the needs to address Loss and Damage and provide the financing mechanism to address it.
Pay up for loss and damage now. As in any restaurant, someone will have to pay, and ECO recommends innovative finance with a subsequent process to map this out. So far, people have literally paid with their lives for this inaction. ECO knows some delegates like to play games and will say “these are the early stages of negotiations”. ECO would like to kindly – no, actually angrily- remind you that it has been 30 years already. It is long overdue to change that, it is time to deliver!
Another overdue promise is the delivery of the US$ 100 billion per year in climate finance. Leaders from rich countries must ensure that this pledge first made in 2009 is finally delivered upon and that the shortfalls since 2020 are compensated for. Developed countries must also implement their commitment to double adaptation finance by 2025, and then go beyond the doubling, reaching a full 50% share of climate finance going to adaptation. The COP27 cover decision must not only deliver a milestone on the Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh Work Programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation, but send a strong political signal that starts with a sober recognition of the glaring adaptation finance gap. ECO is sure that a roadmap specifically for the delivery of adaptation finance, which includes time-bound milestones, will help you to deliver on this promise and build trust. The first step will be to finally fulfill the outstanding adaptation fund pledges.And please stop cooking some rather dubious ingredients into your $100b delivery, such as loans at market rates.
Yet, to deliver on the Paris Agreement, ECO knows you must think bigger. Ultimately, this struggle is not only about who gets which slice of the cake, but it is about reforming the entire bakery (which includes exchanging some bakers, goodbye World Bank President Malpass!). COP27 must send a strong signal on finance system transformation. ECO applauds the vision of Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados and believes this COP must send really strong signals not only on fundamental reform of the MDBs but of the wider finance system as well.
Finally, leaders must keep their promise and deliver on limiting global warming to 1.5°C. As the IPCC continually reminds us, halving global emissions by 2030 is not only needed but also doable with the right set of enablers. COP27 outcomes need to reflect this reality. Looking towards the first Global Stocktake, COP27 must call on countries – particularly large and rich emitters – to raise their NDCs in line with the temperature goal and principle of equity. We need a strong and functional Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) that enshrines equity and enables discussions on sectoral approaches to accelerating decarbonization, lasting until 2030. And do not forget, the more mitigation actions you put in place, the less you’ll need to do on adaptation and loss and damage, and vice-versa — the less mitigation, the bigger the adaptation and loss and damage burden.
Speaking of the energy transition, it is fossil fuels that got us into this mess. Dependence on oil, gas, and coal drives wars, inflation, biodiversity collapse and human rights abuses. The MWP can also be the landing zone for following up on the crucial energy transition decisions from COP26, promoting renewables and cutting fossil fuels.This climate COP is definitely not the place to promote dirty fossil fuels as either a short or a long term solution. And while protecting and restoring nature is important, nature cannot pick up the climate bill created by fossil fuels. This is a COP where countries must acknowledge and act on the IPCC‘s key finding that an immediate and rapid reduction in fossil fuel-based emissions is a prerequisite for climate-resilient development pathways.