Climate negotiations are theaters, with their share of postures and reversals of situation. Representations of a particular kind, of which we know in advance neither the number of acts nor the register. The world climate conference (COP27), which was held against the backdrop of the seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt), was no exception to the rule, ending on Sunday November 20, with thirty -six hours late compared to the official closing, after many twists and turns. It ended on a double tone: that of the epic and the tragic.
Because if it recognized for the first time the need to financially help the most vulnerable countries which are already suffering from climate damage, it has not succeeded in sufficiently accelerating the fight against climate change.
The 196 countries marked a historic step forward on the crucial issue of the conference: they decided to create a fund for “loss and damage”in order to provide financial assistance to developing countries “particularly vulnerable” to cope with the irreversible damage caused by global warming. This decision, greeted with loud applause, is the culmination of a request that the countries of the South have been making for thirty years.
“COP27 did what no other COP had done”welcomes Mohamed Adow, executive director of the NGO Power Shift Africa. “This issue was not even on the agenda at the start of the negotiations and today we are making historyhe praises. It shows that the UN process can work and that the world can recognize the plight of vulnerable people. »
“Climate debt”
In the conference center located on the Red Sea, the vulnerable States have constantly hammered it: they are the main victims of droughts, floods or hurricanes while they have contributed less to greenhouse gas emissions. . Impacts that cause human and economic losses, aggravate their debt and hinder their development.
” It’s a cvicious circle that must be broken”, pleaded the Senegalese Minister of the Environment, Alioune Ndoye, on behalf of the least developed countries. More than a question of solidarity, this request for financial assistance is a « obligation morale » and one “climate debt”, recalled the small islands, while the developed countries have built their wealth thanks to fossil fuels – coal, oil, gas – the main causes of global warming.
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