Page 7 - AsianOil Week 46 2022

AsianOil COMMENTARY AsianOil

next year. However, there was no mention of Climate finance failure
how much sash the fund would contain. Perhaps the biggest scandal of COP27 was the
The good news is that the loss and damage target of $100bn per year of climate finance
fund will take on the recommendations of the flowing from the developed world to developing
Santiago Network for Loss and Damage, which economies has still not been met, and there was
lay out what developing countries need to repair no commitment to finally meet this target.
the adverse effect of climate change that have The final document did say that $4 trillion
already happened, such as floods, droughts, poor per year was needed to invested in renewa-
harvests, rising sea levels and extreme weather. ble energy by 2030 if the world is to have any
chance of reaching net zero emissions by
Adaption 2050. Meanwhile, a global transformation to
The UN also said that governments have agreed a low-carbon economy is expected to require
to push Adaption up the agenda at COP28 in a investment of at least $4-6 trillion per year.
bid to improve resilience amongst the most vul- Again, these are merely aspirational targets,
nerable countries. and there was no detail of how to raise this
Adaption means investing in infrastructure money.
to prevent disaster climate change that have yet Fossil fuels are still being treated softly, with
to happen. New pledges, totalling more than only coal to be phased down. The final cover doc-
$230mn, were made to the Adaptation Fund ument refers to boosting “low-emission energy
at COP27 as part of the grandly named Sharm systems,” as well as “clean power generation and
el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda. These pledges will energy efficiency measures.” It does not single
help many more vulnerable communities adapt out oil or gas, allowing countries to continue to
to climate change through concrete adaptation invest in fossil fuels as long as they use clean tech-
solutions. nology, which effectively means various bits of
There was also a commitment to double the kit that can reduce emissions, such as better flue
annual spending on adaption from $20bn per technology at power stations and more efficient
year at present to $40bn. petrol engines for cars.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen was luke- All in all, the language of the final COP27 deal
warm in welcoming the final COP27 decision, was stronger and more forceful than at COP26,
saying: “COP27 marks a small step towards cli- but the agreement was still as toothless as in
mate justice but much more is needed for the Glasgow, with no progress on winding down
planet. We have treated some of the symptoms consumption of coal or other fossil fuels.
but not cured the patient from its fever.” The world now moves forward to COP28 in
“COP27 has kept alive the goal of 1.5C. Abu Dhabi, where a key event will be the First
Unfortunately, however, it has not delivered on Global Stocktake, which will independently eval-
a commitment by the world's major emitters to uate the progress made by then in implementing
phase down fossil fuels, nor new commitments the 2015 Paris Agreement. COP27 will probably
on climate mitigation,” she lamented. not receive the most glowing assessment. ™

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