Turmoil prevailed in the negotiation rooms of the UN Cop27 summit in Egypt. Delegates raced from room to room as countries tried to decide their response to a latest proposal from the European Union that would establish a new fund that would provide cash to countries suffering climate-related disasters, known as loss and damage. Such a fund was the main demand of developing countries during the two weeks of these negotiations. The EU offer was announced earlier in the day. Late on Friday night, a formal draft proposal backed by the EU, US, UK, Australia and New Zealand was released to delegates. According to the Guardian, the proposal included a fund to be operational within two years and options to set up a committee to consider whether it could work with other existing financial institutions, such as the World Bank. Groups of developing countries were discussing the proposal late at night. Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission, said earlier that EU member states would only provide cash if “the donor base was broadened”. That means we expect payments – and tougher targets to cut greenhouse gases – from countries like China, the world’s biggest emitter and second-largest economy, as well as high polluters with huge oil revenues like Saudi Arabia and Russia, and possibly from rapidly industrializing nations such as South Korea and Singapore. All of these countries have been classified as “developing” since the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the parent treaty of the Paris Agreement, was signed in 1992. This means they have been exempted from contributing to climate finance for vulnerable people, and many have relaxed targets for reducing emissions. But over the past 30 years, their emissions and economies have soared. China’s cumulative emissions are now second only to the US, with Russia, India, Indonesia and Brazil also in the top 10. The draft proposal calls for a “wide variety of parties and sources” to contribute money and to “expand funding sources,” but does not specify that major emerging economies such as China must contribute cash. China did not respond to requests for comment earlier on Friday. Last week, the country’s climate chief, Xie Zhenhua, said China faces no obligation to pay for loss and damage in vulnerable countries. “We strongly support the concerns of developing countries, especially the most vulnerable countries, to deal with loss and damage, because China is also a developing country and we have also suffered a lot from extreme weather events,” he said, through a translator. “It is not China’s obligation to provide financial support under the UNFCCC.” The most important stories on the planet. Get all the week’s environmental news – the good, the bad and the must-haves Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Some vulnerable states warmly welcomed the EU’s proposal. Seve Paeniu, finance minister for the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, said it was a “major breakthrough”. Vanuatu and Palau took similar positions. “For me, this is a big concession,” Paeniu said. “We hope it will end up in the text of the conference decision.” Others responded with silence or ambiguity to the EU’s proposal, despite calling for the establishment of a damage and loss fund. Many poorer developing countries have traditionally tried to present a united front with China, which has offered investment in African, Latin American and Southeast Asian economies. Carla Barnett, secretary-general of the Caribbean Community group of countries, said: “There is only one option for small island developing states, a financing fund that offers a fair path to our countries’ future. Divide and delay tactics will not work. This is an issue that we defend based on fairness.” Many others would not respond officially, but the Guardian understands that some are satisfied with the EU’s proposal but will not speak out for fear of angering their allies. Civil society activists and some countries have accused the EU of trying to create division in the developing world. Mohamed Adow, director of thinktank Power Shift Africa, said: “The fund should not be used as a poison pill to fix old differences around expanding the donor base. [This] it will not meet the needs of vulnerable countries.” A negotiator for the G77-China alliance told the Guardian: “It is a predictable attempt by the EU to break up the G77 in the talks. Of course, it is not a breakthrough. It is completely disingenuous.” Timmermans denied these allegations. “I’m doing this for my kids,” she said. “We cannot afford to have a failure. If our steps forward are not reciprocated by others, there will be failure. I hope this can be avoided.” Meanwhile, John Kerry, Joe Biden’s special climate envoy, began self-isolating on Friday night after testing positive for Covid. He had been closely involved in the negotiations and although he will continue to negotiate over the phone, the news comes as a blow as talks between Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Xi, were seen by some as a possible way to break the deadlock. A State Department spokesman said: “Secretary Kerry is in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 in Sharm el-Sheikh. He is fully vaccinated and up to date and has mild symptoms. He is working by phone with the negotiating team and his foreign counterparts to ensure a successful outcome of Cop27.” In addition to the EU proposal, the frantic final official day of the fortnight of talks saw:
The final publication of the revised draft text for a “cover decision” by the conference of the parties, reduced from 20 pages in its original version to 10, includes commitments to increase funding to help developing countries adapt to the effects of extreme weather . Fears of countries trying to backtrack on the goal of limiting global temperatures rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Some language in the draft text highlighted the 2C cap from the Paris agreement, which scientists have shown would bring dangerous levels of extreme weather and flood small islands. India appears to have failed in its bid to commit to phasing out all fossil fuels included in the conference outcome, which was missing from the draft. The Egyptian hosts came under fire as representatives worried the talks were moving too slowly, with the timetable for the negotiations still unclear and an end point still in sight as the official deadline of 6 p.m. local time for the end of the conference has passed. Calls for reform of the World Bank are included in the draft text, to the relief of many countries that have made it a key target of these talks.
