Conclusion of the Cop 27 – “Crown” on COP 27: This is how we fail with the climate

The last remaining delegates – including the Austrian negotiators led by Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler – had struggled to the point of utter physical, mental and spiritual exhaustion to achieve a result that humanity so longed for! And yet—just as the sun rose fiery red over the desert—the battle against global warming was in shambles, but at least not in ruins! “The outcome of the climate conference is an outrageously minimal compromise. If we are to break our course to climate hell, states must radically reduce their climate-damaging greenhouse gases. However, there was a lack of courage in Sharm El-Sheikh,” concluded Jasmin Duregger, a climate and energy expert at Greenpeace in Austria, who had followed the negotiations in Egypt as an on-site observer, at dawn.

Only coal is gone
Her boiling point of criticism: “Once again, the international community shies away from calling the devil by his name and announcing the clear end of oil and gas. Fossil energy is responsible for about 70 percent of all greenhouse gases worldwide and fuels the climate crisis. . Duregger furious: “That’s not progress! It won’t get us an inch!” And yet there is also a success to report.

Money pot for climate victims
Because after years of calls from the island states that were literally hit by the sinking, the subject of climate-related damage and losses was officially on the agenda of the climate conference for the first time. It was talked about all night. As a result, there is now – as reported – a separate pot of funds that mainly benefits those people who have already been severely affected by the climate crisis. “It is now up to the states to quickly determine the details of the financial pot, so that the money can flow quickly and accurately. Millions of people are already suffering from droughts and floods and are in urgent need of help,” Duregger’s crystal-clear demand reads!

Millions of people are already feeling the effects of climate change
The NGO ‘Südwind’ was slightly more positive about the outcome of the UNO meeting of 35,000 participants, which was in chaos! The agreement on a compensation fund is a historic milestone. This finally meets a long-cherished demand from the Global South. For the people hardest hit by the climate crisis, this means hope for the first time after a long wait. But there is still a long way to go towards real climate justice,” said Joachim Raich from Südwind with mixed feelings. Because millions of people in the Global South would already feel the dramatic climate damage firsthand!’

End of the World Fund
In the field of preventing climate damage, the final text lacks ambition and urgency. Another missed opportunity to pave the way for phasing out all fossil fuels i.e. coal, oil and gas. This contradicts all scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We need progress in international climate policy – what we have here is a standstill. So we continue to sleepwalk in the climate crisis,” WWF climate spokesman Thomas Zehetner criticized. He denounced the undignified negotiations and literally spoke of a “fund for the end of the world”!

Financial aid not thought through to the end
“Damage and Loss Fund negotiations have overshadowed other important financing issues. So no progress has been made in closing the gap to the promised USD 100 billion per year to support developing countries in climate protection and to protect their populations,” says Martin Krenn, climate expert of the coordination office of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, bitterly disappointed! His devastating diagnosis: “The problem of the over-indebtedness of countries in the South due to climate credits is recognized in the final statement, but countermeasures are sought in vain. And there is still no implementation plan for the doubling of resources for adaptation measures pledged last year by industrialized countries.”

There is no more talk about the Paris goals
Far too slowly and controversially, work is finally starting on the third target of the Paris Agreement, the end of all global investment in fossil fuels, which apart from climate finance commitments is essential to meeting the 1.5 degree target. Compliance with this emission limit, which is so important to the survival of humanity, almost becomes an afterthought in the desert sands. WWF climate expert Zehetner: “There has been almost no talk of it lately.”