COP27 summit agrees on landmark climate ‘loss and damage’ fund, but does little to encourage rapid cuts to fossil fuel use
This article is more than 2 years old
This article is more than 2 years old
The world’s governments agreed on Saturday to create a new international climate fund that aims to help developing nations bear the brunt of the deadly threat of global warming.
But what is perhaps most significant about the Paris agreement – which includes $100bn (£80bn) in climate aid, for what amounts to $2,000 a tonne of carbon dioxide – is that governments have done little to encourage a much faster phase-out of fossil fuels.
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The fund would be a big boost to the climate fight and an opportunity to get more countries into serious negotiations and to create more space for the phase-out of traditional coal, oil and gas. But it is also a signal to the fossil fuel industry that there’s no rush to accelerate a rapid phase-out of carbon-intensive energy.
The Paris agreement is largely symbolic, but it is the second time governments have adopted a legally binding climate deal and one that may be the only way to avert the worst effects of climate change.
The fund would give developing countries money to invest in clean energy and to help them manage the transition away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels and away from fossil-fuelled growth.
In 2014, the world’s governments decided to hold an international conference to discuss the next steps in the fight against climate change – the 2016 climate summit at the UN in New York.
The Paris agreement agreed at the conference in France is seen as a landmark on this issue, but only a tiny fraction of the fund would be for clean energy, and the phase-out would be set at a globally negotiated pace.
However, the conference in Paris did give some much-needed breathing room to a small group of countries that depend on fossil fuels for their economies.
As the world began the summit, President Donald Trump called it a “bad deal” and said it was “not acceptable�
