COP27, Day 1: Loss and damage funding introduced as an agenda item

Ahram Online , Monday 7 Nov 2022

Ahram Online is providing daily live update coverage of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27) taking place in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh from 6-18 November.

 U.N. climate
Leaders of the U.N. climate conference attend the opening session at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

 

21:00 For the first time since the adoption of the UN climate convention, Parties agreed to introduce the loss and damage funding as an agenda item.

19:20 In TV remarks, Shoukry urged countries of the world to honour their climate commitments, warning against backsliding on climate action amid economic crises. He stressed that the efforts aiming to end reliance on fossil fuel and expand the use of clean and renewable energy sources have suffered a major setback as a result of the  Russia-Ukraine crisis.

18:35 French President Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak will hold their first meeting since the British prime minister took office, talking on the sidelines of the UN climate summit on Monday, Macron's office said Sunday.

17:35 Yeb Saño, Greenpeace’s COP27 head of delegation, says: “It is a significant moment that loss and damage finance has been agreed as an agenda item for the first time since the most vulnerable countries raised the clarion call decades ago,” emphasising that the “fight is far from over” because the rich countries, who are most responsible, may practice more “delay and diversion tactics” in the future.

Sano called on developing countries to stand firm in their demand that the conference reach a  “dedicated loss and damage finance facility” that defines the collection and distribution of money needed to compensate the worst-hit countries coping with the unavoidable impacts of the climate crisis. “Developed countries should act on these demands and make sure fossil fuel polluters are made to pay for the damages they have caused,” he said.

17:00 The 57th session of the subsidiary body for scientific and technological Advice (SBSTA) and subsidiary body for implementation (SBI) kicks off with comments from participating delegations on each country’s vision on the implementation stage.

16:20: Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated the Green Zone of COP27, a platform that aims to promote dialogue and awareness through various events in which young people, members of the business community and civil society, academics, and artists will participate. In a presser, Madbouly said the COP27 Green Zone is larger than that of earlier COPs so as to accommodate local and regional organisations.

15:40 Over 41,000 people are participating in COP27, including heads of state and government and media professionals, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a presser on the sidelines of the event.

14:30 Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrives in Sharm El-Sheikh to take part in the leaders' summit set to be held on Monday and Tuesday, local media reported.

14:00 In a post on his official Facebook page, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed pride and honour over the start of COP27 in Egypt.

The president said that the conference is being held at a very sensitive and crucial time when the world is "facing existential and unprecedented crises that impact our planet's survival and [humanity’s] ability to live in it."

 

13:42 The plenary of CMP17 concludes. The next plenary is set to start at 3:00pm.

13:15 The opening plenary of CMP17 kicks off; conference president Shoukry reviews the event agenda. (Check full statements)

13:10 Shoukry announces the conclusion of the opening plenary of COP27.

12:50 Shoukry reviews conference agenda.

The conference will discuss for the first time funding arrangements to deal with climate change-related losses and damages, according to the agenda announced by the COP27 president.

Poor and vulnerable countries, who are little responsible for global warming but very exposed to its devastating consequences, have been insisting for months that this issue of "loss and damage" be officially placed on the COP agenda, which rich nations had been reluctant to do.

Negotiations and informal discussions (huddles) across the conference’s blue and green zones stretched for 20 hours until 4am on Sunday morning, as developed countries stressed that financing loss and damage would take the form of support, rather than liability or compensation. Read more here.

12:25 “The implementation of climate commitments rests with everyone, everywhere in the world,” Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in his address at the opening of the climate gathering.

Stiell called for focusing on three tracks during the two-week summit: the transition from the negotiations stage to that of tangible action, the provision of climate finance to achieve the Paris Accord goals, and reinforcing the principle of transparency and environmental reliability.

12:20 COP27 president Shoukry highlighted several obstacles in the way of climate change efforts, saying “climate change-related efforts over the past decades were remarkably polarised, which has slowed down progress of the negotiations … and the current mobilisation efforts have raised many concerns, that the $100 billion a year pledge has not yet been honoured.”

“Also, the currently available financing focuses on curbing emissions, not adaptation efforts. Also, most of the financing is based on loans,” he pointed out.

“We have to change our approach to this existential threat. We have to work diligently and honestly and listen to one another and to the concerns of other parties and understand them, and we also have to work to reach consensual solutions that can be implemented,” Shoukry said.

12:10 Sameh Shoukry, COP27 president, started his speech highlighting the climate incidents that have impacted several areas worldwide, most recently in the floods in Pakistan as well as African and European countries.

“We have witnessed during this year painful events in Pakistan, the African continent and various parts of Europe and America. All these events and the destruction and impact represent a lesson to be learned and alarm all over the planet … to invite us to more precaution, and to act quickly to take all necessary measures as per our commitments and pledges," he said.

Shoukry underscored the necessity of the participation of non-state actors, including private sector, banks, international finance institutions, civil society, youth associations, indigenous associations, and others -- for the sake of an efficient implementation of pledges and commitments.

11:50 In his speech, Alok Sharma, president of COP26, called for unity moving forward to keep the 1.5-degree goal within reach, emphasizing the important role that finance will play in this COP. “We know that we have reached a point where finance makes or breaks the progress of the program ahead of us,” he said. “This summit must be about concrete actions and I hope when the world leaders join us today, they will explain what their countries achieved during the last year and how they will go further,” he added.

11:38 The opening ceremony of the 27th session of the UN Conference on Climate Change Conference (COP27) kicks off.

The conference started with a speech by Alok Sharma, president of COP26, CMP16 and CMA3 – that was held in Glasgow last year.

Sharma will hand over the presidency of the annual climate gathering to Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry who is president designate of COP27, CMP17 and CMA4.

10:30 Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad tells Al-Ahram Weekly that the COP27 presidency will present 14 initiatives addressing equitable energy transition, agriculture, food security, water security, climate adaptation, and sustainable cities. Six of the 14 initiatives to be proposed by the presidency have a clear focus on Africa, and two more include Africa in their aims. Read the full interview here.

 

Today is the launch of the annual climate gathering with a somehow quiet schedule that includes a few side meetings, as the formal opening of the summit itself is due to start on Monday. The first day of the climate implementation summit as host Egypt dubbed includes meetings of groups of Convention (COP27), Kyoto Protocol (CMP17), and Paris Agreement bodies (CMA4).

Several heads of states and governments are expected to arrive in Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday, but no national statements is expected for today. 

Day 1, 6 November agenda:

From 10am to 1pm: Opening plenaries of COP 27 - CMP 17 - CMA 4

From 3am to 5pm: Opening plenaries of SBSTA 57 - SBI 57

From 5pm to 6pm: Joint plenary to hear statements

 

 

To know

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and the COP summit is attended by the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – a treaty that came into force in 1994. COP is a supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC. All the parties participate and review the implementation of the UNFCCC and make decisions.

CMP is the conference of the parties serving as the meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol. All the parties of the Kyoto Protocol participate and review the implementation of the Protocol and make decisions. CMP is held once a year and kicked off during the COP11 conference in Canada in 2005.

CMA is the conference of the parties serving as the meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement. All the parties of the Paris Agreement participate and review the implementation of the Agreement and make decisions. CMA is held once a year and kicked off during the COP22 conference in Morocco in 2016.

SB is a subsidiary body for scientific and technological advice (SBSTA) and subsidiary body for implementation (SBI). SBSTA provides scientific and technological information and advice regarding the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. SBI evaluates and reviews the effective implementation of the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. SB meetings are held twice a year and kicked off in 1995.

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