For decades the victims of a changing climate were the ghosts the richer world just couldn’t see.
 |
| “Fossil fuel industry finally out of the shadows” |
Five Key Takeaways From COP27 ⬇️
- The biggest win on climate since Paris…? A new funding arrangement on loss and damage has been hailed as a “historic moment” and can be seen as the most important climate advance since the Paris Agreement at COP 2015. For decades the victims of a changing climate were the ghosts the richer world just couldn’t see.
- …Or the biggest loss on climate change since Paris? For many countries, the last hours of the negotiation represent a real step backwards in the fight against rising temperatures. While the loss and damage text represented a big win, the overall cover decision is being seen as a missed opportunity in the fight against climate change.
- The spirit of 1.5C is strong, even if the text is weak. There’s a fifty-fifty chance over the next five years that we’ll go over this important marker of temperature increases, compared to pre-industrial times. We’re likely to pass it permanently by 2031. But at COP27, the EU and other developed countries were willing to die on the hill of strengthening the promise to keep 1.5C alive.
- The fossil fuel industry has finally come out of the shadows. One key takeaway from COP27 was the presence and power of fossil fuel – be they delegates or countries. Attendees connected to the oil and gas industry were everywhere. Some 636 were part of country delegations and trade teams.
- Democracy really matters for the climate. The undoubted darling of the COP was Brazil’s president-elect Luiz Ignacio Lula Da Silva. Just as he did in Copenhagen in 2009, Lula electrified the conference with his promise to of zero deforestation by 2030. More than his commitment to the Amazon, Lula restored people’s faith in the power of the ballot box to solve the climate problem.
