The 27. th United Nations Climate Conference (COP14), which what happens in Egypt, has reached the halfway point without rich countries having sent a clear message to developing countries about their position in relation to the debate on compensating for the loss and damage caused in their territories by the effects of climate change.
The so-called “technical” phase of the summit began on 6 November with the inclusion – for the first time on the agenda of a UN climate summit – of a point to decide how to finance compensation to the most vulnerable countries.
The main difference lies in deciding which instrument to channel these offsets through: a newly created specific instrument linked to the Framework Convention of the United Nations on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or through existing mechanisms.
Poor countries want m specific fund for damages
Developing countries are pushing for the creation of a specific fund to have more guarantees that there will be money earmarked specifically for damages, while the other side defends the use of existing instruments, such as the Green Climate Fund or the Adaptation Fund (both under the aegis of the UNFCCC).
The argument they defend is to gain agility, since setting up a fund with these characteristics it would take years.
Some countries also argue that the debate on loss and damage transcends the UNFCCC because it covers other aspects, such as migration or humanitarian aid, that affect other UN framework conventions.
Accepting this argument would open the door for compensation to fall to organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which grants debt-generating loans, a possibility rejected by the countries of the Global South, which demand direct aid.
Political phase of conference starts n this Monday
With this debate open, this Monday (14) the “ministerial” or “policy” without there being, for the time being, any technical documents related to damages on which the delegations can begin to negotiate the semi-colons of what will be the final agreement of the COP27, according to sources close to the negotiators explained to EFE.
“These two groups of countries are close to understanding each other, but they have stopped the debate until the politicians arrive to see what bridges, what kind of proposals can be made to bring us closer to a solution”, declared the head of the European Union (EU) delegation in the COP negotiations14, Jacob Werksman.
The United States Special Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, assured that his country advocates that compensation for damages caused by climate disasters be given within the framework of existing financing vehicles that work intensely to get to an agreement.
Contributions to UN-sponsored funds are voluntary and the loss and damage budget can be used to finance, for example, the reconstruction of areas that may be devastated by natural disasters associated with climate change, such as floods, or the creation of warning systems to avoid them.
Mitigation, financing and adaptation
With regard to mitigation (emission reduction), the debate is centered on specifying the degree of fulfillment of the current commitments, which everything indicates that will be pending for the next year, as well as deciding the duration of the program of revision of the objectives that are fixed for periods of ten years.
In terms of financing, the discussion revolves around the commitment to endow the Green Climate Fund with US$ 100 billions, an objective that is expected achieve in 2023, a decade later than expected, and about how much to raise the target to 2025 (US$ 2025 billion).
In addition, environmental organizations and the most vulnerable countries are pushing to somehow ensure that 50% of this fund goes to mitigation (decarbonization) and the others 50% for adaptation (climate change resilience).
Delegations must also prepare the roadmap to fulfill the roadmap outlined in Glasgow (COP26), which asks developed countries to double contributions to the Adaptation Fund in 2023 compared to 2019.
