Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt — The EU vowed Tuesday at
UN climate talks to
raise its emissions reduction target, as developing nations admonished rich
polluters for falling short on efforts to help them cope with global warming.
اضافة اعلان
The COP27
conference in
Egypt has been dominated by calls for wealthy nations to fulfil
pledges to fund the green transitions of poorer countries least responsible for
global emissions, help build their resilience, and compensate them for
climate-linked losses.
The meeting
comes as global CO2 emissions are slated to reach an all-time high this year,
making the aspirational goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C compared to preindustrial
levels ever more elusive.
European
Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told delegates that the EU would
exceed its original plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent
by 2030.
The 27-nation
bloc will now be able to cut those emissions by 57 percent from 1990 levels, he
said, pointing to agreements on phasing out fossil fuel-powered cars and
protecting forests that serve as “carbon sinks”.
“The EU is here
to move forwards, not backwards,” Timmermans told COP27 delegates.
The invasion of
Ukraine by energy exporter Russia has cast a shadow over the talks in Egypt,
with activists accusing Europeans of seeking to tap Africa for natural gas
following Russian supply cuts.
But Timmermans
denied the bloc was in a “dash for gas” in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.
“So don’t let
anybody tell you, here or outside, that the EU is backtracking,” he said.
Watchdog groups
were not impressed.
“This small
increase announced today at
COP27 doesn’t do justice to the calls from the most
vulnerable countries at the front lines,” said Chiara Martinelli, of Climate
Action Network Europe.
“If the EU, with
a heavy history of emitting greenhouse gases, doesn’t lead on mitigating
climate change, who will?”
Major emitters’ ‘hypocrisy’
Addressing a high-level session, ministers from developing nations took
turns criticizing wealthy nations.
Belize Climate
Change Minister Orlando Habet called for more action from the G20 group of the
world’s wealthiest nations, which are responsible for 80 percent of global
emissions and are meeting at a summit in Indonesia.
“In how many
COPs have we been arguing for urgent climate action? And how many more do we
need, how many lives do we need to sacrifice?” Habet said.
Shawn Edward,
the sustainable development minister from the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia,
said major emitters were “backpedaling” by making “small gains” in clean energy
initiatives while raising fossil fuel investments and profits at the same time.
“We the people
of Saint Lucia suffer the consequences of this hypocrisy,” he said, describing
millions of dollars in damages caused by a recent tropical storm that wracked
his island nation.
UN climate
negotiations often go into overtime and COP27, scheduled to end on Friday,
could be no different.
The first draft
of the final declaration — which must be approved by all parties — only has
bullet points so far, including a line on the “urgency of action to keep 1.5°C
in reach”, something top emitter
China has opposed in the past.
Compensation fight
Wealthy and developing nations are sharply divided over money.
Developing
countries say this year’s floods in Pakistan, which have cost the country up to
$40 billion, have highlighted the pressing need to create a “loss and damage”
compensation fund.
In a small
breakthrough, the US and the EU agreed to have the issue discussed at COP27,
though they favor using existing financial channels.
The draft
declaration mentions the “need for funding arrangements to address” loss and
damage — language previously used by the US and Europeans.
Timmermans told
reporters that the
EU has “demonstrated openness to discuss moving forward on
loss and damage” but that he was “not quite sure we would be able this week to
find consensus on the new financial mechanism”.
Conrod Hunte of
Antigua and Barbuda, lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States,
said stalling talks would be a “devastating blow”.
“Antigua and
Barbuda will not leave here without a loss and damage fund,” he said.
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