Cop 27: 'Not perfect' loss and damage deal close

Negotiators and observers at the Cop 27 UN summit have signalled a breakthrough today in talks on the contentious issue of a loss and damage fund, while further steps for the implementation of Article 6 were agreed. But draft texts on work programmes still under discussion show a lack of ambition on mitigation, when compared with the outcome of Cop 26.

Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman, who has been speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 (G77) plus China group during the negotiations, said that an outcome on loss and damage was "close". "Not perfect or optimal, but one that addresses the basic demand of developing nations", she said. Non-governmental organisation Climate Action Network (CAN) said they could not be certain everything in the draft text published this afternoon was agreed until the final plenary session, but said that this was the best compromise for now.

The G77 plus China, an inter-governmental organisation of developing nations comprising 134 members, pushed for a loss and damage fund to be put on the Cop 27 agenda at the start of the conference. Loss and damage refers to the destructive effects of global warming and is a priority for vulnerable, and often developing countries, experiencing extreme climate-related events such as rising sea levels. It has been the foremost issue of this Cop, often overshadowing focus on other points on the agenda.

A loss and damage fund, requested by vulnerable countries, would see developed countries contributing money. The EU late on in the conference proposed the creation of a fund, but on the basis that global emissions reductions targets are tightened, and countries that are large emitters — such as China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — also pay into a fund.

International Climate Diplomacy Director Eddy Perez from climate action network Canada has warned earlier today that "the US could and might block progress on loss and damage up until the last minute of this conference".

On mitigation, draft texts on the work programmes under discussion — which have been updated throughout today — still show a lack of ambitions. The latest draft cover decision notes the emissions gap and reaffirms the commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, in line with the Paris Agreement, but it does not call for further enhanced nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — countries' emissions reductions pledges. The text simply reiterates last year's Cop 26 language.

"If the mitigation text goes through as it stands I think many people will say this is a lost year", policy adviser at non-governmental organisation E3G Tom Evans said today. Mitigation refers to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The draft texts contain no new language on the phasing down or out of fossil fuels, simply reiterating the Cop 26 call to "phase down" unabated coal-fired power. This is "striking", Evans said. "It is not responding to the calls I think we heard throughout the week", he added.

Evans noted that a number of fossil fuels economies — such as Saudi Arabia and China — said they did not want the text to focus on energy sources, but on emissions overall. "Even though India was a proponent of trying to push forward this language, ultimately many of their allies took a different position," he said. He also said that the US has failed to championed the proposal of a fossil fuel phase out.

Other issues discussed at the Cop have been less antagonistic, and there is an agreement on the final text for Article 6-related matters that will come out of the talks. This will help fill in key details around the international trading of emissions credits under the Paris climate agreement. But more work will need to be done over the next year.

By Georgia Gratton, Florence Schmit, Michael Ball and Caroline Varin