COP27 – Achievements and Disappointments

In this Energy Insight James Henderson reviews the key conclusions from COP27, which was held during November 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The COP was framed as a “COP for Africa” and “An Implementation COP”, and the focus was very much on issues which concern the Global South. Top of the list was climate finance, with the major achievement of the conference being the establishment of a Fund for Loss & Damage. However, other issues, in particular Mitigation and the setting of more ambitious climate targets, got less attention than many delegates would have liked, leading to the Final Communique being regarded as unsatisfactory by many of the key participants. Having said this, there were some positive steps taken. The issue of methane emissions was high on the agenda, with more countries signing the Global Methane Pledge; the world’s largest emitters, the US and China, started talking again; the role of Multilateral Lending Banks and the provision of lower cost finance to the Global South was discussed at length. However, although these successes were important, they were not enough to leave those present at the COP feeling that the conference had achieved enough progress to keep the world on track to restrict the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Indeed, one of the key messages from the conference was that much more work needs to be done ahead of COP28.

By: James Henderson