Representatives from around the world gathered on Sunday in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or COP27. Egypt said over 120 world leaders confirmed attendance to the November 6 to 18 summit, which takes place under the presidency of Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry.
Held annually since the first UN climate agreement in 1992, the conference serves as a forum for governments to agree on policies to limit global temperature rises and adapt to impacts associated with climate change. Apart from world leaders, more than 40,000 participants have registered for this year’s conference.
A major issue seen taking center stage in this year’s summit is the $100 billion-a-year promise made by developed nations that is already two years past its deadline. At the 2009 UN climate summit in Copenhagen, rich nations promised to channel $100 billion a year to less wealthy nations by 2020, to help them adapt to climate change and mitigate further rises in temperature.
Climate experts said the $100-billion pledge is a small amount compared with the investment required to avoid dangerous levels of climate change. They said trillions of dollars will be needed each year to meet the 2015 Paris agreement restricting global warming to “well below” 2°C, if not 1.5°C, above pre-industrial temperatures. And developing nations will need hundreds of billions of dollars annually to adapt to the warming that is already inevitable.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week that the planet was heading toward irreversible “climate chaos” unless countries find a way to put the world back on track to cut emissions and help poor countries cope with the impacts of global warming. However, major world leaders like China’s President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi are reportedly not attending the summit, casting doubt on whether the talks in Egypt could result in any major deals to cut emissions without two of the world’s biggest polluters.
Headed by DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga, the Philippine delegation to COP27 include representatives and negotiators from the House of Representatives, Climate Change Commission, Department of Finance, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy, as well as advisers from scientific and civil society organizations. Yulo-Loyzaga said the Philippines will reiterate our “call for bolder climate action and demand the delivery of what is due for the developing countries that hardly produce any greenhouse gas emissions, yet they suffer the most and continue to bear the brunt of the adverse impacts of climate change.”
“As developing countries need resources for climate adaptation, the Philippine delegation will call on developed countries to step up to these obligations and deliver without delay on their commitments on climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building,” Yulo-Loyzaga said.
As government leaders meet in Egypt for the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, the phrase “loss and damage” is expected to be the main subject of discussion. This refers to the costs, both economic and physical, that developing countries are facing from climate change impacts that are getting worse. Many of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries have done little to cause global warming, yet they are experiencing extreme heat waves, super typhoons, floods and other climate-related disasters. Developing countries want rich nations—historically the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions—to pay for the harm.
Countries that are most vulnerable to climate change, including the Philippines, are hoping that the ongoing COP27 in Egypt will finally develop an urgent plan to assist millions of people suffering the ravages of extreme weather. Now is the time for rich countries to seriously start thinking about loss and damage in a meaningful way that does not get lost in political rhetoric.