UN Climate Chief says COP27 begins a ‘new era to do things differently’

UN Climate Chief says COP27 begins a ‘new era to do things differently’

6 November 2022: Simon Stiell, the new Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Convention (UNFCCC), stated on Sunday at the opening of COP27 that the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, should push the world toward implementation of previously agreed plans to address humanity’s greatest challenge.

“Today marks the start of a new age, and we start acting differently. We received the agreement from Paris. We received the blueprint from Glasgow and Katowice. The focus moves to implementation in Sharm el-Sheik.

No one on this journey can be merely a passenger. This is a proof that the times have changed, Mr. Stiell said the delegates gathered in the Tonino Lamborghini International Convention Center’s main plenary room.

Presidents, Prime Ministers, and CEOs will all be held accountable for the commitments they made last year in Glasgow, according to the UN climate head.

He emphasized that “our policies, enterprises, infrastructure, and actions—whether private or public—must be in alignment with the Paris Agreement and the [UN Climate] Convention.”

On March 21, 1994, the UNFCCC convention went into effect in an effort to stop “dangerous” human intervention with the climate system. 198 nations have approved it as of today, making membership nearly universal. The 2016 Paris Agreement serves as an expansion of previous agreement.

 

UNFCCC/Kiara Worth
Deliver what has been promised is a banner outside the plenary room at the COP27 meeting facility in Sharm El-Sheikh.

In light of the current challenging geopolitical environment, Mr. Stiell stated that the COP27 presents an opportunity to establish a secure political environment, free from whatever is happening “out there,” in order to work and bring about global change.

He added, “We have a duty to step up our international efforts to translate words into deeds here in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Three crucial avenues of action for the Conference were highlighted by the UNFCCC Executive Secretary:

Put negotiations into action to show a transformation from negotiation to implementation.
Make progress in the important workstreams of loss and damage, mitigation, adaptation, and funding.
Improve how accountability and openness are delivered throughout the process.

He addressed the audience, “I welcome comprehensive proposals on how we fulfill what we have promised.

 

Zbynek Burival on Unsplash
A sizeable portion of the total emissions from burning fossil fuels comes from the extraction of crude oil.
No reversing is permitted

Mr. Stiell, who calls himself a “accountability chief,” claimed that although 29 nations have now submitted strengthened national climate plans since COP26 and five more after the release of the UNFCCC NDC Synthesis report last week, a majority still has not been reached.

So, he remarked, “I’m standing here looking out at 170 countries that are expected to review and enhance their national pledges this year.

He emphasized to the delegates that the Glasgow Climate Pact was adopted at COP26 last year and that he expected them to keep their word.

“Hold on to your promises. Here in Egypt, build on them. I won’t keep track of backsliding, he declared.

 

Markus Spiske/Unsplash
In Nürnberg, Germany, protesters take part in the worldwide climate strike.
an open procedure

The UN climate chief emphasized that women and girls must be put at the center of climate decision-making and action in remarks that garnered an ovation in the plenary session.

He also emphasized the significance of civil society organizations and the youth in the COP27 process, saying that “their empowerment leads to better governance and better outcomes.”

 

Alok Sharma, COP26 President and UNFCCC/Kiara Worth UK delegate, speaks the opening plenary of the most recent UN climate change conference, COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
New Administration

During the opening session, Alok Sharma, the president of COP26 on behalf of the United Kingdom, officially handed the gavel over to Sameh Shoukry, the new president of Egypt.

Mr. Sharma highlighted the accomplishments accomplished in Glasgow the previous year, including strengthening financial pledges and finalizing the so-called Paris Rulebook, which sets forth the procedures for implementing that Agreement.

“Our common long-term destiny do not lay in fossil fuels,” the UN Secretary-General has stated, and “I agree with him entirely,” he remarked.

According to the COP26 President, the world would be on a road to 1.7 degrees Celsius warming by the end of the century if all promises made last year, including the net-zero pledges, were implemented.

Recognizing the magnitude of the crisis the world is facing, he said, “Still not 1.5C, but progress.”

He urged governments to take action despite the current geopolitical difficulties, echoing Mr. Stiell.

We must learn to be able to focus on more than one issue at once, he stressed, since as difficult as the situation is right now, doing nothing is myopic and can only postpone climatic catastrophe.

 

UNFCCC/Kiara Worth: Egypt calls for adoption

President of COP27 Sameh Shoukry urged delegates to increase their ambition and start putting their commitments into practice.

He later praised the nations that have already shared updated national climate plans, saying that transitioning from negotiations and promises to an era of implementation was a priority.

Mr. Shoukry noted that the $100 billion wealthy countries had agreed to provide for adaptation to developing nations should be delivered and that money must also be a major topic of discussion.

“I hope the conversations [over the next two weeks] are successful. I implore you all to pay close attention, make a commitment to action, and translate political promises into agreements, understandings, texts, and resolutions that we can all put into practice.

The ramifications of the negotiations would have an influence on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people throughout the world who are suffering from the effects of climate change, he added, adding that “zero-sum games will have no winners.”

He emphasized, “We cannot afford any carelessness or weaknesses; we cannot endanger the destiny of future generations.

 

UNICEF/Ricardo Franco Damage and loss

The agenda issues for the COP27’s next two weeks of discussion were also decided upon on Sunday during the procedural opening.

After lengthy talks among the 194 parties to the UN Climate Convention, negotiators from the Group of 77 and China (which essentially comprises all developing nations) proposed the issue, “Loss and Damage,” which was still up in the air prior to the summit.

Extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change, such as tropical cyclones, desertification, and rising sea levels, cost nations a lot of money to repair.

Developing countries, which are frequently the most affected, have long claimed that they should receive compensation because the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from rich industrialized countries, is what is causing the intensity of these otherwise “natural disasters.”

The question of these payments, also referred to as “loss and damage,” will now be a key discussion point at COP27.