After a grand opening marked by speeches from diplomats and heads of state around the world about the “threat” of the climate crisis to the planet, the debate in Sharm el-Sheikh is beginning to turn itself into a very specific demand. Yesterday, on the third official day of talks at the Climate Summit, leaders of some of the poorest countries, who have also emerged as prime victims of climate disasters, demanded once again that those who are largely responsible for the global The climate crisis in the south is wreaking havoc.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Broe made a speech on behalf of the small island states that today, are in danger of disappearing due to rising sea levels. “Oil companies will have to pay for climate disasters,” Broe said, thus taking on a proposal introduced by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the summit’s inauguration. “It is time for the companies responsible for the climate crisis to pay taxes to finance the loss and damage,” said a spokesman for the islands at risk of extinction. Only in the first half of this year, “six fossil fuel companies made more money than they needed to cover the costs of climate damage in developing countries.”
The echo of this request was transferred with varying nuances to separate speeches before the UN General Assembly yesterday. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called on rich countries to “honor their commitments” to the victims of the climate crisis. The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, sought to specify a mechanism “without delay or bureaucratic artifice” to finance climate loss and damage in the planet’s most disadvantaged regions. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe denounced the “double standards” of Western governments that have “rushed to convert millions of dollars into war, but not to mitigate climate damage.”
A large portion of these requests are, for now, up in the air, awaiting official talks at the summit to reach a concrete agreement to finance climate disasters in the global south. Meanwhile, another part of these demands is something known as the Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, a plan introduced yesterday to help the world’s poorest communities resist the effects of global warming.
The initiative, promoted by the Egyptian President of the Summit, sets out thirty objectives to be achieved before 2030, for example, promoting more sustainable and resistant agricultural practices in the face of climate extremes. The initiative will raise about $300,000 million annually and will be launched this year.
According to various reports, an extreme weather event could mean a loss of up to 2% of GDP for countries in the global south. To this should be added material and human losses, for example, from hurricanes, floods or hurricanes in areas without the resources to raise their heads after such an event.
Sharm el-Sheikh has managed to re-open a debate that has been on the air for years, but until now, had never gone to the official negotiating table. To understand what it is, first you need to remember some important facts. On the one hand, as countless reports confirm, we know that the climate crisis is essentially to blame for emissions from the world’s richest countries. On the other hand, we see today that the consequences of this crisis are concentrated in the most deprived areas of the planet. For a decade now, countries in the global south have been demanding a fund from their counterparts in the north to compensate for the loss and damage caused by climate chaos in their regions. But who should contribute more to this cause?
A new analysis by the Carbon Brief Platform, published at the start of the Climate Summit (COP27), balances the biggest emitters in history and their contributions to the climate finance fund, and concludes that, today, the climate crisis is largely responsible for Those responsible continue to evade economic compensation for the global South. The most obvious example is the United States, which is the largest emitter in history and has accounted for nearly half of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere over the past century. According to this report, the country should contribute about $40,000 million out of the 100,000 that weak governments demand overall. But in 2020, according to the latest available data, the United States contributed only 8,000 million to the fund.
This loss has been repeated with the largest issuers in history. The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have also contributed far less than their “fair share” because of their historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, which have accelerated global warming.
UN identifies climate traps of companies
Greenwashing, or rather, a strategy used by companies and institutions to promote clearly more sustainable practices while continuing their polluting practices, poses a serious threat to achieving (and integrating) real climate goals. has become. This is the warning message launched by a panel of UN-appointed experts on the third day of the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh. In a report presented yesterday, the scientific community denounced how the “ecological whitewash” and “climate promises” of governments, companies and financial institutions “threatening to undermine global efforts to reduce emissions.” And in particular, to harm the zero emissions objectives set for the year 2050.
“no more excuses”
“The planet can no longer tolerate delays, excuses and greenwashing. “Emissions must be reduced without being deceived,” highlights Catherine McKenna, chair of the panel of experts leading this new analysis. The report, published at a critical moment, draws a series of “red lines” to avoid “fraudulent measures” and proposes a clear roadmap to guarantee pollution emissions reductions.
