COP27 Draws Criticism For The First Draft Of Its Climate Pledge

The COP27 climate summit reiterated the global pledge to accelerate efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, an initial draft of an agreement showed on Thursday, but many questions are left unanswered ahead of the final document that will be published on Friday.

The first draft shared by the UN today as a “Non-paper by the Presidency on the cover decisions” stresses the importance of boosting the share of renewables in the energy mix at all levels.  

The document, however, doesn’t call for the phase-out of coal-powered generation or fossil fuels subsidies, in a language environmental organizations described as even weaker than the one in the final pledges of the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year.

The COP27 summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, says in the first draft that it “encourages the continued efforts to accelerate measures towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, in line with national circumstances and recognizing the need for support towards just transitions.”

Catherine Abreu of the non-profit organization E3G, told Reuters “Instead of a reference to phasing out all fossil fuels we have an even weaker version of the language around coal and fossil fuel subsidies than we got last year.”

The draft also notes the findings of the emission gap report that current unconditional and conditional targets are estimated to reduce global emissions in 2030 by 5% and 10% respectively, and that “to get on a least-cost pathway to limiting global warming to 2°C and 1.5°C, these percentages must reach 30 per cent and 45 per cent respectively by 2030.”

The COP27 draft also “Expresses deep regret that developed countries who have the most capabilities financially and technologically to lead in reducing their emissions continue to fall short in doing so, and are taking inadequate and unambitious goals to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, while they continue to emit and disproportionately consume the global carbon budget.”

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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