Cop 27: Loss and damage hinges on stricter targets

The EU's lead climate negotiator Frans Timmermans has proposed the creation of a loss and damage fund for "the most vulnerable" countries but said such a fund should only be implemented if global emissions reduction targets are tightened.

As negotiations at the Cop 27 UN climate summit head into the final stretch, a draft cover decision released today shows formal decisions have still not been made regarding a loss and damage fund. Loss and damage is the term used to refer to the destructive effects of global warming, and is a priority for many vulnerable countries experiencing extreme climate-related events such as storms and rising sea levels.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit today, Timmermans noted that many "important" negotiating parties are insisting on the creation of such a fund. The EU in principle is not in favour of it, but if it is the only way to get an agreement at Cop 27, then "we can live with a fund", he said. However, it would need to be implemented under two "very important conditions", he added.

Under Timmermans' proposal, the fund should be targeted "towards the most vulnerable" countries and have a "broad funder" base. Decisions on which countries should contribute to the fund should take into account current economic situations, he said. This would include countries like China, which have so far refrained from being included in a funding list. Ireland's environment, climate, communications and transport minister Eamon Ryan yesterday floated the idea of contributions from oil and gas companies, as well as levies on air tickets and shipping containers, to contribute to a loss and damage fund.

But the mechanism only has an effect if "we seriously reduce our emissions", Timmermans said. "Mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage all go together," he said. The fund will therefore only be agreed on if serious emission mitigation measures are included, and "we will insist on this", Timmermans said.

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — countries' emissions reduction strategies — would have to be updated, yearly progress reports would have to be created and an agreement on when emissions "peak out" would have to be made, he said, adding that further emissions reduction targets are needed to make all other efforts regarding climate change worthwhile.

Options varied on NDCs

A draft text from ministers on mitigation ambition and implementation, released in the early hours today, still contains several options and bracketed text throughout — typically a sign that the language remains under negotiation. And while the options laid out vary, some include language suggesting that ambition to strengthen NDCs is not advancing.

Under the mitigation work programme, two of the available options say the outcomes of the programme "will neither result in new targets or goals beyond those agreed in the Paris Agreement nor call for the updating or enhancement of nationally determined contributions". These options also say the outcomes "will be non-prescriptive, non-punitive, facilitative, respectful of national sovereignty and national circumstances, and take into account the nationally determined nature of nationally determined contributions".

Options for progress vary, with some more focused on "the urgent need for parties to increase their efforts to collectively reduce emissions through accelerated action and implementation of domestic mitigation measures", and others that concentrate on recognising the difference in scope that developed and developing countries have for emissions reduction. Part of the text notes that "enhanced support for developing country parties will allow for higher ambition in their actions".

The text reiterates the need to limit global warming to below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, and that "this requires immediate, deep and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions". While the cover text does not include these multiple options, neither does it call for additional enhancements and more ambitious targets that reach beyond the Paris Agreement, in terms of NDCs.

Action on fossil fuels unclear

The draft Cop 27 text leaves room for interpretation with regards to the language surrounding fossil fuels and in particular coal. Whereas Thursday's draft version still made reference to a phase-down of unabated coal power, today's version highlights both a "phase down" and a "phase out" of the fuel.

By Florence Schmit and Georgia Gratton